Social security, a landmark liberal achievement

[Flash]

For the first time since Jimmy Carter money market accounts are actually becoming a good investment! There are ones now that pay nearly 5% and that is rising. If you have spare cash you can make a safe and tidy profit off them right now. They are better than bonds or T-bills too because they are quasi-liquid meaning you aren't tied to a fixed period of investment.

It is an indication of just how bad the economy is becoming...

Money market accounts were making almost 5% in 2007.

[Into the Night]

Nope. You are confusing political and economic systems.

Neither socialism nor communism (a form of socialism) is a form of government dumbass.

[PostmodernProphet]

Exactly. That is why I said both sides are incorrect when they call Democratic programs socialist

can you give me an example of something we use calling a Demmycrat program socialism, which isn't........I'm not familiar with that.......

[Flash]

Neither socialism nor communism (a form of socialism) is a form of government dumbass.

Communism is not a form of socialism. Communism is a political system for which socialism is an economic system integral to communism. Socialism is an economic system based on all economics textbooks.

[Flash]

can you give me an example of something we use calling a Demmycrat program socialism, which isn't........I'm not familiar with that.......

Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, SNAP, TANF, educational loans and grants.

Are there any federal programs passed by the Democrats that you think are socialist?

[NiftyNiblick]

Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, SNAP, TANF, educational loans and grants.

Are there any federal programs passed by the Democrats that you think are socialist?

The entire public sector is socialist, because if it isn't private, what else can it be?

Socialism isn't a bad thing
but rather a necessity to implement civilization.

[Flash]

The entire public sector is socialist, because if it isn't private, what else can it be?

Socialism isn't a bad thing
but rather a necessity to implement civilization.

If it isn't private it is governmental. That is not the same as socialist. By your definition every country is socialist because all have governmental functions.

Terms like socialism and capitalism are economic systems that allow us to distinguish between different types. According to you, both China and the U. S. are socialist because they both have public functions performed by the government.

There are books on comparative economics that explain the different systems and the variations. A country is not socialist because the military is a government function, but because the major means of production and distributions are public. That would include banks, oil companies, ship building, steel production, agriculture, airlines, healthcare, etc. In a capitalist system those are private entities. Most European healthcare systems are not socialist but private like Medicare.

[NiftyNiblick]

If it isn't private it is governmental. That is not the same as socialist. By your definition every country is socialist because all have governmental functions.

Terms like socialism and capitalism are economic systems that allow us to distinguish between different types. According to you, both China and the U. S. are socialist because they both have public functions performed by the government.

There are books on comparative economics that explain the different systems and the variations. A country is not socialist because the military is a government function, but because the major means of production and distributions are public. That would include banks, oil companies, ship building, steel production, agriculture, airlines, healthcare, etc. In a capitalist system those are private entities. Most European healthcare systems are not socialist but private like Medicare.

By your definition, Flash, a lot of nations whose laws I like and whose laws you don't are not socialist after all.
They have a highly functioning private sector.
I'm thinking Scandinavaia, but it would also apply to the PRC, wouldn't it?
They have a thriving private sector.

Why do we vote so differently?

"Means of production" my ass.

[Flash]

By your definition, Flash, a lot of nations whose laws I like and whose laws you don't are not socialist after all.
They have a highly functioning private sector.
I'm thinking Scandinavaia, but it would also apply to the PRC, wouldn't it?
They have a thriving private sector.

Why do we vote so differently?

"Means of production" my ass.

I made no mention of what laws I like. But you are exactly right about Scandinavia. Finland keeps telling Bernie Sanders it is not socialist when he calls it "democratic socialism." Those countries are largely private with relatively little regulation. But, they have an expansive social welfare system which is why Americans refer to it as socialist (favorably by liberals and derogatorily by conservatives).

The PRC has a thriving private sector but that has evolved over time and 57% of its major industries are still state owned (the means of production).

We probably vote differently because I don't like the Democratic or Republican candidate and my state is heavily Republican so all our electoral votes are going Republican no matter how I vote.

[Into the Night]

Communism is not a form of socialism. Communism is a political system for which socialism is an economic system integral to communism. Socialism is an economic system based on all economics textbooks.

Communism is a form of socialism.
Communism is not a form of government.
Socialism is not a form of government.
Socialism is not communism. Communism is a form of socialism. Redefinition fallacy.
Socialism is not a textbook.

[PostmodernProphet]

Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, SNAP, TANF, educational loans and grants.

the only people I have heard call SS and Medicare/Medicaid socialism are demmycrats.......

[PostmodernProphet]

Are there any federal programs passed by the Democrats that you think are socialist?

social welfare programs aren't economic systems......however, when Demmycrats decided to replace private insurance with Obamacare back in his first term......THAT was obviously socialism......

[Lightbringer]

Your word can't be trusted.

Provide a link to a reputable mainstream news source

Your total SS benefit is calculated based on your wage income

Not really, it's calculated based on a point system. Your lifetime earnings have some influence on this but it's not a one to one calculation. If you're going to talk about this you should know how it works.

[IBDaMann]

Socialism is an economic system based on all economics textbooks.

All Marxism is religion, i.e. nothing to do with economics. In fact, all Marxism is antithetical to economics and seeks to outlaw it as evil, having assigned to economics the religious slur "capitalism" (i.e. portraying sound economics principles as a vile ideology).

Just as the US Constitution holds individual rights and freedoms to be inalienable and self-evident, Marxism holds those same rights and freedoms, including the pursuit of happiness (liberalism), freedom of the press and a representational government, to be evil.

Communist Manifesto:
"True" Socialism of confronting the political movement with the Socialist demands, of hurling the traditional anathemas against liberalism, against representative government, against bourgeois competition, bourgeois freedom of the press, bourgeois legislation, bourgeois liberty and equality, and of preaching to the masses that they had nothing to gain, and everything to lose, by this bourgeois movement.

This religious dogma is not economics. It is an inflammatory doctrine that forms the planks for any communist or socialist political party and is a persistent source of hatred for the United States.

[Flash]

Communism is a form of socialism.
Communism is not a form of government.
Socialism is not a form of government.
Socialism is not communism. Communism is a form of socialism. Redefinition fallacy.
Socialism is not a textbook.

You are correct on only one of the above.