Ways That Socialsm Can Be Better Than Capitalism

[PoliTalker]

Now, before you get all triggered and go off about how capitalism is always better than socialism, just hear me out.

Capitalism is a wonderful engine of ingenuity and there is no way we want to abandon capitalism.

And the old BS about how socialism is a creeping weed that will completely displace capitalism over time is just, well, BS. We've had both for a long time, and that has not happened.

So now that we understand the best economic system is really a mixture of both, let us talk about some of the ways where socialism can be better than capitalism.

I am going to give you two examples of ways you might be getting ripped off by capitalism. There are myriads of ways, but here are two that come to mind.

Charcoal starter fluid and tire wet.

Have you ever purchased either of these two products?

No big deal. Like many of us, you may have bought one or both of these products and used them for the intended purpose. No big deal, right? That's what they are for, right?

Well, they do a good job at what they say they do, but ya got ripped off.

What?

How do I know that?

Well, I hate to spoil the 'ingenuity of capitalism' for ya, but the only ingenuity in both of these products is packaging and taking advantage of an unsuspecting public.

Both of these products are not products at all. They are simply common substances repackaged to appear to be something new, formulated for a specific purpose.

Here's what you are getting when you buy these products:

Charcoal starter is really mineral spirits. If you paid $4 - $7 for a quart of charcoal starter, you could have paid about $7 - $9 and gotten a gallon of mineral spirits and done the same thing. There's more going up in smoke than the charcoal starter. Your money.

How about 'tire wet?' That's really mineral oil. If you spent $7 - $12 or $16 for a bottle of 'tire wet,' you got ripped off. Once again, a greedy corporation took advantage of the fact that you probably didn't know the 'product' is really a common substance that you could have paid far less for.

That's because part of the 'ingenuity of capitalism' is to find a way to exploit an unsuspecting public by getting them to pay more for something than they really have to.

A socialist government department of consumer awareness could alert the public of these and similar scams to keep the worst of capitalism from taking advantage of good people who worked hard for their money.

I'm all for competition and coming up with ingenious new inventions and useful products. Socialism isn't going to do that. What it can do is protect us from shysters and legal 'scams.'

Let's embrace socialism, and stop getting ripped off! This will force capitalism to be at it's true best. Doing what is really beneficial to society, instead of simply (and lazily) looking for easy money, ways to rip people off, and generally just trying extract as many dollars out of the general public as possible, whether true value is delivered or not, to be gathered together for the richest previous holders of vast wealth.

The last thing we really want is a society where wealth inequality grows ever more extreme. But that's what we've got. And that big money doesn't want you to know how you're getting ripped off.

The true measure of a country is not how wealthy the richest are, but how well that country treats the least advantaged members of society.

The richer the richest get, the more taxes they need to be paying to support the least advantaged. And that is just pure logic.

We don't have to abandon capitalism to get smart and stop wasting money.

Remember: Benjamin Franklin was right. A penny saved is a penny earned.

The only difference is these days it is a dollar. LOTS of them.

Capitalism will use all it's power to try to get your money out of your hands. It's time we use all OUR collective power to keep the greedy side of capitalism at bay. We need use socialism to force capitalism to stay focused on creating useful new products and ways to do things that truly help people.

That's a win/win for America.

Because making America greater doesn't always mean making the rich richer.

We all need to consider how socialism can help capitalism provide better healthcare, too.

That's one of the biggest ways we are getting ripped off.

[Cypress]

My favorite short list of American socialism are:

Public libraries
NASA-space program
Public universities
Medicare
Green Bay Packers

[Trumpet]

My favorite short list of American socialism are:

Public libraries
NASA-space program
Public universities
Medicare
Green Bay Packers

Don't forget public roads and highways.

[Iolo/Penderyn]

Capitalism has been a brilliant method of totally revolutionising societies and producing more wealth, but unfortunately it turns people into commodities, concentrates the wealth in fewer and fewer hands, alienates us from our work and one another, has frequent huge breakdowns and is unable to deal with the needs of the species, which it is likely to burn off the earth. There are different definitions of 'socialism', many of them hugely muddled by the use of the word in justifying various eastern regimes. For many it is a natural modification of capitalism such as you see in most advanced countries, for others control of society by the democratic majority who do all the productive work. I feel that anything but the second, very, very soon, will mean the end of humanity, the sort of destruction Trump embodies, and which horrifies me.

[Eagle_Eye]

Don't forget public roads and highways.

Who owns the highways and roads?

[Frank Apisa]

The far right notion that socialism is always a failure...is BS also, Poli.

China is doing very well...and it has been socialistic since 1950. It will almost certainly surpass the US as a world economic power within a decade or two.

Yeah, it freely borrows capitalistic ideas...which is the smart thing to do. If it weren't for the troglodytes of the American far right...we would be borrowing elements of socialism.

[Trumpet]

The plutocrats have been very successful to indoctrinate the uncritical thinking masses to hate the word socialism. It is very ironic that so many hate the word socialism, and yet don't really understand what the word means. The reason that the plutocrat have put so much effort into demonizing the word socialism is because, socialism is not to the plutocrat's benefit.

[Trumpet]

Who owns the highways and roads?

Suppose you tell me.

[Phantasmal]

The far right notion that socialism is always a failure...is BS also, Poli.

China is doing very well...and it has been socialistic since 1950. It will almost certainly surpass the US as a world economic power within a decade or two.

Yeah, it freely borrows capitalistic ideas...which is the smart thing to do. If it weren't for the troglodytes of the American far right...we would be borrowing elements of socialism.

I think America has proven a mix of capitalism and socialism is a good thing.

[Trumpet]

I think America has proven a mix of capitalism and socialism is a good thing.

I think you nailed it, both socialism and capitalism each have their positive and negative sides, for a society and economy to function well it needs to be a hybrid of both capitalism and socialism.

[Eagle_Eye]

Suppose you tell me.

Socialism is a political and economic theory of social organization which advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole.

Public libraries
NASA-space program
Public universities
Medicare
Roads

Not one of the above meets the definition of socialism. True they are social programs but maintained by capitalism.

Ans: There is no one owner.

[Cypress]

Socialism is a political and economic theory of social organization which advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole.

Public libraries
NASA-space program
Public universities
Medicare
Roads

Not one of the above meets the definition of socialism. True they are social programs but maintained by capitalism.

Ans: There is no one owner.

[Cypress]

Socialism is a political and economic theory of social organization which advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole.

Public libraries
NASA-space program
Public universities
Medicare
Roads

Not one of the above meets the definition of socialism. True they are social programs but maintained by capitalism.

Ans: There is no one owner.

Why did Republicans, including almost every conservative on this board, call Obamacare socialist, and claim that what Obama was trying to do was Marxist-Socialist?

[Phantasmal]

Socialism is a political and economic theory of social organization which advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole.

Public libraries
NASA-space program
Public universities
Medicare
Roads

Not one of the above meets the definition of socialism. True they are social programs but maintained by capitalism.

Ans: There is no one owner.

There are different types of socialism.
https://www.economicshelp.org/blog/g...-of-socialism/

[Eagle_Eye]

Why did Republicans, including almost every conservative on this board, call Obamacare socialist, and claim that what Obama was trying to do was Marxist-Socialist?

I wasn't part of this forum then so I can't answer. I was against Obamacare simply because it forced people to buy a product, which is contrary to our form of government.