It isn’t semantics. Unless you think like this:
The united states has a publicly funded military through taxation, thus the US is socialist.
The US builds roads and schools through wealth redistribution, therefore it is socialist.
By your odd criteria, every nation ever is socialist, as civilisation requires wealth redistribution to function.
I do think like that. There are degrees when it comes to most things. We are primarily (still) a capitalist nation, but we’ve had socialist programs since the beginning. Europe is just much further along the path to socialism than we are, but we’re catching up.
That’s arguable, but close enough that I don’t really care.
Yes, we all know that when you hand someone something for free that it absolutely inspires them to go out and work for it…Oh wait no it doesn’t.
Which means your viewing it wrong. Socilaism isn’t on a scale. Socialism is a productive mode. You can’t be kinda socialist, because to be socialist, you can’t have capitalism. They can’t coexist, because they both have completely different modes of production.
You can’t be socialist if you have a free market. Socialism has central planning and production is not done through individual companies, but through state production. You can’t be socialist and have mechanisms such as the acquisition of private property through buying land, housing on a free market, because housing and land purchasing is set through state pricing.
You can’t be socialist and have private donations and contributions to politicians or parties, because under socialism private companies etc don’t exist and private finance is illegal.
You are calling capitalism with high taxes socialism, it is about as true as when liberals call Trump a fascist because he wants to build a wall. Socialism has an actual definition and economic system. Things you don’t like don’t become socialism because you call them so.
Lol, I love this fucking place.
Then why does Germany have lower unemployment than America even though everyone is eligable to sit at home and be given everything by the state? Oh wait is it because people have ambition and don’t opt to just sit around but rather want to achieve things?
The US is the complete opposite of socialism. Calling it socialist is as stupid as calling trump a fascist. Socialism isn’t high taxes. Socialism is socialism.
Well it’s a good thing that isn’t what I said.
Then you are saying that basic human Psychology is wrong. An action that is rewarded is likely repeated. That is why we have generations of welfare recipients in the US. When someone is handed something for doing nothing that action is repeated. And not only by that person but by the children of that person (in many cases).
We have tried it beginning with the great war on poverty begun by the second worst modern day President LBJ. We spent far more to eradicate poverty and over 50 years later we have more poverty. If handing money to people for doing nothing inspired them to get a job then we would have less poverty. It simply does not work.
Universal healthcare = central planning
Social security = central planning
Medicare = central planning
Medicaid = central planning
DOD = central planning
The federal government = central planning
The entire purpose of the 10th amendment was to ensure not everything was planned centrally.
And when individual companies receive tax payer funds that’s what, exactly? De facto control of the means of production.
I’m sure it’s enjoyable living in such a black and white world, but over here in reality things don’t work the way Webster says they do.
It just warms my heart when a Euro comes in and starts preaching how we should be more like Europe.
Must be Tuesday…
It’s the Crown’s latest plan to take back the colonies.
Or maybe your definition of it is wrong, namely you don’t understand that survival of the fittest applies to species, not actions within species, rather mutual aid and reciprocal altruism do.
So again, why does Germany have less unemployment even though each citizen could sit and home and earn up to $3000 a month in benefits?
Maybe your entire belief system regarding human nature is wrong? Can you explain it please?
Germany has a population of aprox 79 million people. The United States has a population of over 320 million. The U.S. is also basically Germany’s military.
You simply cannot compare European countries…especially those in the EU to the U.S. It just doesn’t work that way.
When you know that all you have to do is call the worlds policeman (the U.S.) to solve your bully problems (HI RUSSIA!) it’s easy to lavish social programs and invest in vast infrastructure projects that create jobs.
Of course you can, if Germany had the same tax rate as Germany, they would have more people to cover, but more people being taxed.
They would have to raise taxes on the rich, raise taxes by a small amount on the middle class, but in return for the middle class paying slightly more, they would have healthcare without insurance costs, a strong welfare state, near free education.
Anyway all this is pointless, America is going to have universal healthcare in the next 2-3 decades, so there will be fear mongering for the next few decades, then it will happen, then in 50 years people will tell their kids what it was like before it.
Well thankfully we have you to tell us how it’s going to be here. For the record, government is fully incapable of managing health care…see our VA system in action.
Not exactly sure what this means.
Hey maybe we can go to Canada for the health care!!
Oh wait, they are all coming here.
Sign me UP FOR THAT SHIT!!
“The study speculates as to why Canadian patients left the country to pursue treatment elsewhere. The reasons include a lack of available resources and equipment in their home jurisdiction; and the desire for more advanced health care facilities and technology.”
This nonsense, Russia spends barely anything compared to the whole of the EU, it now spends less than Britain alone, if Russia tries to fuck with the EU it will get smashed.
We don’t have to worry about China who is an important trading partner, but if they ever did team up with them the EU spends almost exactly the same as China and Russia combined, we have nukes, they can’t fuck with us.
The US spends that much on nATO because it has the largest empire in the world to maintain, which is why it has bases in Okinawa to Colombia. We will do fine without the U.S, many of our parties want NATO to break up and just be an EU defence pact.
It would take about a thousand adjustments to make this an apples to apples comparison.
Yup
Already covered…
And more bureaucracy.
And more reliance on the government.
And less bargaining power because everyone got their “free” education.
And less power of their own economic choices.
Don’t hold your breath.
Until you need us, again.
I am sure you will get in the effort to help us just before it ends 
