Why is everyone so scared...

...of Socialism?

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=dfe_1224538857

It's not like we're going to instantly turn into a socialist nation overnight thanks to a little healthcare and education help, and I'd hope the people wouldn't stand to eventually become communist.

I just don't understand why people seem to get so angry about it. I'd love to see a better healthcare system here in the US, but it seems the main opponents of it cry "Socialism!!!!" at every turn as an excuse to not support it.

Yeah yeah, I know Socialism has been proven over and over not to work, and so on, and so forth, but what's wrong with borrowing good ideas from it?

Does one really have to be a Socialist to care about things like universal healthcare and cheap education? Why can't I be a Democratic citizen with care for the state of my country and her people if I want these things?

 

The issue as the woman stated is, “Spreading the wealth around.” To some, that means everyone will be classed equal in which many don’t like.

 

It stifles motivated people if you are going to take money from them when they have success to give it to others who maybe haven't worked as hard or taken as many risks. The nation is better off when people are encouraged to succeed, not penalized.

Giving is great, but people like to do it voluntarily to charities of thier own choosiing, not those dictated by the fed govt.

 

I have no desire to live in a socialist country. If I did, I would've moved to Cuba.

I just think people should be responsible for their own lives and the government should not "take care" of them. I've seen too much of that in my life. The free-market system is the best system because it rewards hard work and innovation

 

The hardest working people in the world are the ones who are least rewarded for their efforts and most people don't have the mind to be innovative.

Also, socialism does not negate class only helps to balance economic inequalities that prevent access to adequate housing, healthcare and a variety of other things that millions Americans struggle to get or hold on to.

The lack of class consciousness in America is frightening.

 

I just don't think some people should be punished because they are innovative and enterprising and others are not. Look at all the things we have in America. How much innovation would there be if we had socialism? Cars would be more expensive and less efficient than they are now. Computers would still be as big as a house, alot less powerful, and way more expensive

 

I believe competition is an invaluable thing, because without competition things would stagnate, which is why monopolies piss me off so much.

I don't think everything should be handed to everyone. I can understand how someone who has worked hard for the wealth they have would want to keep it, but in the same vein it just feels so...greedy to me.

If it weren't for the people in this country donating money to Save the Children and the Salvation Army my Christmases and pantry would've been a lot more empty over the course of my childhood.

But what I don't understand is why people who simply want adequate healthcare an education for everyone are labeled "socialist and unpatriotic" in this country. It makes no sense to me.

I believe healthcare and education should be a right, not a privilege. It is a sad truth, however, that in America these things are a privilege, though. The cost of education and health care is going up substantially, and more and more people just can't afford it.

I'm not saying that we should provide everything for people who don't deserve it. People who'd rather live off the government's dime because they're too lazy and unmotivated to do anything. I'm more concerned about the people who are.

If a college kid is working two jobs and taking full time classes, why the fuck should they not be given some sort of access to health care when they need it? Yes, a lot of restaurants and department stores have insurance their workers can purchase, but these plans are ridiculously overpriced and insubstantial in coverage. So someone struggling to get an education, which will likely result in thousands and thousands of dollars in debt after achieving their goal, is forced to make the decision between food and medicine all too often.

I don't feel that this is a choice anyone in America should ever have to make. We have too much money here. If you work hard for what you have, but you're stuck in a position where a respectable goal such as a degree leaves you hungry and sick, well, I don't think that it's being lazy or greedy to want a little help.

I feel if we want to make this country better (and there's a lot of work that needs to be done) then we should focus on making our people healthier and more educated. To get a degree a student faces tough financial choices, almost always ending up with loans upon loans that have to be paid back for years and years. A student has four choices to pay for their education: Parents, loans, grants, and scholarships. Well, thanks to the ever rising price in college education scholarships are very hard to get. I've had a few, and they almost always only pay 100-300 dollars, which only barely skims the surface of the cost it's taking for me to go to college. Not all students have parents who can afford to pay for it, either, so the final two choices, grants and loans, all too often become the only choices. Now, as for grants, these are only available to the poorest of the poor. Those barely above the federal poverty standard don't even have this choice, and thanks to dwindling federal dollars even those of us poor enough to qualify continually get less money, which means more money for federal and private loans which makes the average college student graduating with enough debt to have bought a rather nice house.

A friend of mine, for example, works full time and has 5 classes. 5 classes at my school equates to 20 hours a week physically in class, plus between 30 and 40 hours worth of homework on non midterm and final weeks. Those two weeks alone add at least 10 more hours to the homework load. She works 36-40+ hours every week. Now she also has $5000 in medical bills because within two weeks she had both pneumonia and a rather severe UTI, so she spent most of her time in the hospital and in bed.

5 thousand dollars. For being sick. She has no insurance to help lighten that load, and her parents can't afford to help her pay it. Now, tell me that girl doesn't deserve any help. Ignoring the fact that personally she is one of the most wonderful people I've ever met (even after all that she offered to go buy me some nyquil because I was sick and had no money, even though I know she doesn't have the extra money right now. That's a fucking damn good person, right there), she works -very- hard, never sleeps, and barely eats, all so she can get an education so she won't have to make these choices later in life. But why is it so wrong for her to need help -now-? She's not trying to be lazy, she's working harder than a lot of people ever would in order to make her life better.

People like that deserve health care. I mean, the fact that it cost her 5 thousand dollars alone makes me sick. It shouldn't cost that damn much in a civilized fucking country to get sick. In a country where there's a hospital on damn near every corner a person shouldn't have to make the decisions between buying books for class or feeding their family instead of going to the doctor when they need to.

Everyone deserves health care. But especially those who can't afford it for respectable reasons.

But apparently in the eyes of the average American these views of mine make me a Socialist. So I guess I just better read up on The Communist Manifesto and get a poster of Karl Marx to put on my wall because I want my people to be healthy and educated.

 

Name one country in the world where everything is handed to everyone?

And Marxism is only one variety of socialism, a form that would eventually give rise to communism. Not all socialists are Marxists and I can assure you that Barack Obama is not a socialist by any respectable definition of the term.

 

Have you been to Japan, Germany or France? The Japanese and Europeans are responsible for the most important innovations in automobile manufacturing in the last 30 years.

 

Never said Marxism is the only flavor, I just used it as an example.

And I know Obama isn't a socialist. I'm talking about people who can't seem to come to grips with the idea that wanting health care and education to be inexpensive does not make a person a socialist.

 

Quality health care and education are expensive. The question is, do individuals decide how much they are willing to pay, or does the govt strip the funding from unwilling taxpayers?

One of my colleagues is from Denmark (universal hc) and over 40% of his pay is taxed.

In the US we choose to keep taxes low and allow more choice in healthcare and education. For some people the choice is to purchase no health insurance.

 

No, for some people there is no choice. When I worked at Wendy's I had a choice to pay for the insurance, and I would have, but the plan looked like this.

60 percent of all doctor and hospital visits were on me to pay.

600 dollar annual deductable

slight discount on prescription medications (10-20 percent off generics)

no vision

no dental

All that for the low low price of only three quarters of my paltry 300 bimonthly paychecks.

three quarters

That wasn't a choice to not buy healthcare, it was a choice between being able to pay rent, buy food, and pay my bills or pay hospital bills with only a marginal discount.

Now, as a college student, I can't work anywhere more than part time. Most places don't even offer insurance to non full time employees. I don't have insurance not because of choice, but because I can't afford it.

I have migraines. They can be taken care of usually with prescriptions, but I can't afford the medicine. I can't even afford to go to the doctor for antibiotics.

I do not choose to be sick, just as much as I don't choose to have no insurance. I just can't afford it. And there are plenty of people in this country worse off than me. I think it's a travesty.

 

Yes, healthcare is costly. Some employers pick up more of the bill than others, which is why some people choose particular careers if that is important to them.

It is costly, which is why there is no such thing as free health care, it is just a question of who pays for it, and is there a choice or is it forced.

 

People who don't have access to healthcare don't have any choice and are forced to take on mountains of debt to heal themselves.

 

Maybe healthcare would be cheaper if there weren't so many regulations

 

It is a lack of regulation that makes the cost of healthcare more expensive in the U.S. than Canada, for example. Canada regulates the cost of healthcare, which explains why Americans cross the border to purchase cheaper medicine.

 

I disagree. There are many things that insurance companies and HMOs have to cover, so much paperwork that they have to comply with, so many rules that they have to abide by, that they have to offset those costs by charging people more for the services than they would normally cost

 

You can disagree with an opinion, but not a fact. You can only be right or wrong in relation to any fact, and I can assure you that you are quite wrong.

 

So, the hard working employed people who are living in tents or in car parks right now? Does that make any sense? Thats what a minimalist financial system does. Free market did not work. In fact, it failed spectacularly.

Agree with free market, but there needs to be greater regulation.
Agree with rewarding hard work, but there still needs to be some welfare.

Seems the US still has the fear of 'reds under the bed'

Assisting people in need does not make a socialist country.

Have a look at Sweden or Switzerland. A 'cradle to grave' mentality where the government assists when needed, yet they have the best life indicators amongst any in the world. Long life expectancies, more people educated past high school than anywhere, highest literacy rate, very low unemployment, lowest infant mortality rates, and low crime rates.