Yael wrote: >I couldn't let this go by without saying that the US is probably the very least socialist of > all the post-industrial countries in the world! For better or for worse > (and I think for worse). And that's all I'm going to say.
Just because the U.S. is not totally socialist does not mean we don't have much the same benefits of a socialist system. Look at all the social programs which are funded by American capitalist taypayers - Social Security, Medicare, General Relief (Welfare), food Stamps, low-income housing, no-income housing, unemployment Insurance, free public education through age 18, subsidized education in public colleges and universities, tax write-offs for dependents and child care services, federal assistance for home buyers, federal assistance for student loans, no-interest small business loans. In addition in many states such as California we have Medi-Cal for anyone who doesn't have health insurance and Disability insurance. > I think the best direction for a post-industrial nation to go is towards social democracy > (see Sweden). Why would someone care about high taxes when they are > guaranteed high quality health care, schooling, child care, have a great > quality of life with time for work and for leisure... Why would we need it when we already have it. See above. Plus Sweden is a country with a fairly homogenous population of 8,835,000 (less than the city of L.A. alone) while the U.S. has an incredibly diverse population of 300 million residing in 50 states covering millions of square miles. Easy for Sweden to control it's social democracy with such a small population and country. Impossible and impractical to implement their system in the U.S. > And as far as why there are Marxists in the U.S. "profiting" from the > capitalist system... I said they were benefiting from the U.S. system, not "profiting." >There are Marxists who are U.S. citizens. The U.S. is > their home. Why should they leave? I never said they should leave. >Perhaps they would rather work towards change. It is extremely difficult to live in the U.S. and not be an > accomplice in exploitative systems. That doesn't mean that everyone who feels concerned about this should leave! Wouldn't >that be convenient... suddenly they'd be... gone. I just don't understand why someone who felt this country was so bad would want to live here. If this country changes over time not to my liking, I would leave it. In fact, I often feel it's the ones who want to completely overturn our system who would be happiest if those who disagreed with them would just be forced to go away quietly. Kakki
