Let’s look at the Worlds Socialists countries

originally posted by: bobs_uruncle
a reply to: Willtell

Contrary to popular propaganda, Canada is NOT a country. It is a British colony just like Australia, new Zealand, Belize, etc.

Cheers - Dave

I'm not believing that one.

originally posted by: Willtell
China

In China the government manages and controls the economy. Many of the domestic companies are owned and run by the government. Recently, the Chinese economy has become more geared towards capitalism, but is still officially socialist. Life in China remains relatively less stressful and more relaxed than life in capitalist countries like America

blog.peerform.com...

Pretty good running countries as far as I could see


Socialism isn't the big ogre we have been told.

By far a less stressful environment to live in...unless your worry about being killed or jailed for saying the wrong thing. Unless you are pregnant and its the second child...and that pesky torture thing but not to worry, like any good socialist country they would be sure to spread it around and torture you just like your neighbor, no special treatment. BLM movement would become the DOA movement after all do not speak against them.

Religious, better be safe and keep it to yourself, religion is one thing no good socialist would ever spread around. Want to be a reporter, at your own risk as the truth is something else no good socialist would ever spread. Labor Unions, nope not happening, after all some may get more than the fair share allowed. Mental illness, forget treatment, those people belong in jail, how can they contribute to the fair share ?

I really feel you have left out so many, Venezuela which has the largest oil reserves in the world at their disposal, the socialist regime is also the proud owners of the largest inflation rate in the world, There are way more examples of total failure than success but really disgusted that China is listed as a way to go. Plenty of South American countries you could have listed but I guess since most are floundering in debt and corruption that they really would'nt make a good argument.

And let us not forget our own social experiments like Medicare and Medicaid. Bloated programs that are failing to do what their primary intentions are which is to provide health care for the poor and elderly. Instead they are rife with corruption and about to run out of money. I don't have the answers but why pick something that has failed some many times, I suppose we could pray about it...while we still can

originally posted by: Aliensun
a reply to: Willtell

...And the US with our large military budgets that could provide us with all of that free stuff, are, in face the providers of that FREEdom enjoyed by much of the Western world. Yep! You are right, we need to change our system and devote most of our military budgets into free things for our citizens.

Where would the world be today if WWII and the after effects of communists aggressions were not stopped? If nothing else give us credit for blunting the aggressive effects of communism in Europe and elsewhere. Yes, we are SO VERY BAD, but most of your freedoms from Canada, across Europe to even the average Russian citizen today comes from the US dollar that is spend in multiple ways, defense and otherwise around the world rather than right here at home.

It is amazing how they always leave out that the US military is what keeps many of these little countries from being over run. If the US wasn't having to step up and play bodyguard for all these other countries, we could spend some of that money on ourselves. The problem is if we don't play world cop, who will?

The other issue is that our current social programs are being bankrupted by illegal immigrants. You cannot have these generous social welfare policies and also unchecked immigration. It simply is not sustainable.

a reply to: DJMSN

I love how everyone is always using histories most extreme cases in order to prove their illogically driven conclusions.

Clearly the op is not talking about that.

a reply to: bobs_uruncle

Contrary to popular propaganda, Canada is NOT a country. It is a British colony just like Australia, new Zealand, Belize, etc.

Contrary to popular propaganda, what does that make USA then?


Regarding topic, I`m surprised how ignorant some people are on this forum. It`s like burn all the books that are not ours because it`s heresy....without even the slightest glance into it.

a reply to: nwtrucker

Canada, except the Territory of the Yukon, doesn't have 'free medical' there is a monthly payment, no prescription coverage nor dental.

That's incorrect.

I've never paid any kind of "monthly payment" to our national healthcare ever. A small percentage of the income tax taken from my paycheques goes towards our nation healthcare system... the same as any other country that has UHC.

I have no idea where you get this "monthly payment" thing from.

But you are correct that our healthcare system does not cover prescriptions or dental.

a reply to: onequestion

Clearly by using China in the list of examples he is. I understand that some progressive socialist programs have worked wonders but the track record for something like being proposed by some candidates this election cycle are just boondoggles. The Affordable Health Care Act is anything but Affordable and already rife with corruption and overspending and not on healthcare.

There are certainly things we can do, and if the Federal Government would give power back to the people and the States I believe that lots of issues could be solved or at least made better. Affordable housing is something that States could implement much better than the Federal Government but once they have control they rarely give it back and the more we give in, the more they will take and keep. Humans are Humans and socialism will never work because humans are well...human.

I've never paid any kind of "monthly payment" to our national healthcare ever. A small percentage of the income tax taken from my paycheques goes towards our nation healthcare system

That would be a monthly payment would it not ? I am paid monthly so if they take more out of my check then it is a monthly payment.




And clearly not all is blissful with the healthcare in China...

China says 95% of its 1.34 billion people are covered by medical insurance. That should have included Zhao Guomei, whose struggle with a rare but treatable disease shows how the system is failing for millions of China’s workers.

www.wsj.com...

It seems like if you are poor and not one of the top tier Socialist and can't pay then you just do not get treatment. And the Health Care system in China is similar to what we have here, funded by the employer in most cases and insurance. I see the biggest problem facing the world is the cost of healthcare. If some how we can figure a way to take the profits out of it without losing the money for research and drug development then it is the way to go, but by just giving something to everyone with a system that is still attempting to make obscene profits it will never work

Terrific thread!

Tons of information here for everyone to see. I never really understood why American Politicians really pushed the hatred of Socialism so strongly. It's unfortunate just how many believe their poisonous words.

The OP is pretty difficult to refute.

Nice job

originally posted by: DJMSN
a reply to: onequestion
That would be a monthly payment would it not ? I am paid monthly so if they take more out of my check then it is a monthly payment.

Canada's Health Care Plan actually varies from province to province, so specific things may be paid for by the government in some places, but not others. For instance, if you're under Quebec's health care plan fertility treatments are covered, almost all other provinces do not have this. The same could be said for all other provinces and specifications such as that.

The Canada Health Act does not cover prescription drugs, home care or long-term care, prescription glasses or dental care, which means most Canadians pay out-of-pocket for these services or rely on private insurance.

The Canada Health Act provides free essential basic care, including maternity.

Unlike many other universal health care countries, there is absolutely no form of deductibles or co-payments or co-insurance when we receive health care. There also isn't a single collective health care tax. Funding for the system comes from multiple sources, including income taxes, the Canadian Pension Plan, and Employment Insurance.

a reply to: DJMSN
Here's a question...

Does China do anything right?

a reply to: Ghost147

There also isn't a single collective health care tax. Funding for the system comes from multiple sources, including income taxes, the Canadian Pension Plan, and Employment Insurance.

A small portion also comes from sales taxes.

So even someone on welfare also pays into the national healthcare for the country.

Basically, the healthcare budget revenues come from any and all forms of taxation. It's a good way to ensure that all citizens are paying into it in one way shape or form.

a reply to: onequestion

They are finally building a strong and modern military !

a reply to: Willtell

I noticed countries like Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, Vietnam, and others were not mentioned in the OP. The only obvious commonality in the OPs list is that they were up until recently fairly homogeneous cultures with highly educated populations. Their systems work within the context of a smaller homogeneous population that had built up stability through capitalist systems and cooperation. The "social" component here being that people from societies with strong cultural ties to their lands, common language, religion, ethnic makeup etc do better at adopting "socialism" than large diverse populations.

The multicultural examples I listed all have divided populace with rampant unemployment, unchecked immigration, weak economies. The US is something else entirely in regards to how socialism would "work". Leftist political and economic theories always seem to leave out the actual human component and people adopt this one size fits all approach.

a reply to: onequestion

Duck.

They know how to cook fantastic duck.

OR maybe just maybe these countries have higher property rights indexes. private property rights is the cornerstone of capitalism.
Here are the private property rankings with mentioned countries in bold
1 FINLAND 8.3
2 NORWAY 8.2
3 NEW ZEALAND 8.2
4 LUXEMBOURG 8.1
5 SINGAPORE 8.1
6 SWITZERLAND 8.1
7 SWEDEN 8.0
8 JAPAN 8.0
9 CANADA 7.9
10 NETHERLANDS 7.9
11 DENMARK 7.9
12 AUSTRALIA 7.7
13 UNITED KINGDOM 7.7
14 GERMANY 7.6
15 UNITED STATES 7.6
16 HONG KONG 7.6
18 QATAR 7.5
19 IRELAND 7.4
20 BELGIUM 7.4

This means despite many of these countries having communal healthcare they compete and beat the US in private property indexes.

source-International private property index

My biggest single problem with Socialism is that it REQUIRES everyone to participate. It also requires a bloated central beauracracy to run. I DO NOT want to participate. I DO NOT support centralized government. Socialism is everything I hate about society and government rolled into one failed philosophy.

a reply to: jellyrev

It is almost like they are not full blown socialist states...

originally posted by: DBCowboy
a reply to: Willtell

We did learn from other systems. Our Constitution is a direct result of the Magna Carta.

None of these socialist countries have a Bill of Rights nor do they have a Constitution.

Honest question, do you want to do away with the Constitution and Bill of Rights? Because I don't see how you can have socialism here in the US and keep those documents.

Going from memory but I am pretty sure that every single country in the OP's list has a constitution and most will have an equivalent the to Bill of Rights (maybe not china...)

Americans are used to being told their the best. America went to the Moon. America wins more Olympic medals than anyone. America wins everything, invents everything, creates everything ...

That's the problem...Americans aren't used to learning from other countries. The world is a huge place, and sometimes -- just sometimes, people in other places on Earth are going to have a good idea or two.

It's not un-American or something to learn from other countries. Sheesh.

originally posted by: Metallicus
My biggest single problem with Socialism is that it REQUIRES everyone to participate. It also requires a bloated central beauracracy to run. I DO NOT want to participate. I DO NOT support centralized government. Socialism is everything I hate about society and government rolled into one failed philosophy.

Simple solution: move.

As soon as anyone is 18 and considered an "adult" in the USA, they can move. It's a foreign concept to Americans, I realize that -- as most people move HERE, not FROM here.

When people in other countries around the globe don't like the country the find themselves in, guess what they do? The move! They immigrate to another country!