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heavyblinker -> RE: The Lefties are Coming! The Lefties are Coming! Lefties are Coming! (2/27/2017 10:54:14 AM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: tamaka
So what do you think are the downsides to socialism?
-It's difficult to actually achieve, and difficult to sustain.
-the government undoubtedly becomes far more pervasive, however I don't think this is as bad as the pervasiveness of a capitalist-driven consumer culture.
-salaries for skilled professionals may not be as high.
-difficult to convince people to do 'demeaning' or 'dirty' work
-environmental protections can slow economic growth, however can also lead to more innovative solutions
-higher salaries result in higher prices of goods
-welfare parasitism
-less freedom of choice, though I don't always consider this a bad thing
-higher taxes, probably on consumer goods
-huge potential for brain drain
Since no one has ever actually asked me and just assumes I support whatever Hillary wants or some sort of SJW nightmare of political correctness and to hell with everything else, I support a fully globalized society with reasonably regulated trade between nations, as well as globally regulated, environmentally conscious industries, and high taxes so that the bulk of the profits from those businesses are given back to the people in the form of social programs, especially in the form of universal education, daycare, health care, and extensive support systems for people who are out of work that will help them get back to work more quickly if they become obsolete.
I lived in Denmark for a year and they had most of these things in place... it was a great vibe. It wasn't perfect and in some ways the welfare system does contribute to parasitism... but the worst aspects of that system by far were things like protectionist taxes that did things like raise the price of electronics to almost double what you would pay in North America. I will admit I missed being able to afford new technology... and I just couldn't bring myself to trust the domestic brands. Though it seemed obvious that the government was going out of their way to make them competitive for the sake of the workers, it really sucks for the people who have to buy them. I don't know what the government did with the money, but sufficed to say the state was large and pervasive enough that I'm sure jobs were created by it.
Another serious problem was that health care, while free even to myself as a non-citizen on a working holiday visa, was extremely inconvenient... where I was living, you needed to book an appointment at least a month, preferably 2 in advance. This was largely due to the brain drain from countries where doctors were given higher salaries from private clinics-- similar to what happens in Canada. The government's solution was to encourage physical fitness and ban trans fats and certain harmful food ingredients... it was rare that you would go an entire day without seeing someone exercising in public, and a lot of the junky food products and junky restaurants that are widely available in the US are either really expensive or unavailable there. It means some things were more expensive, sure... but it also means less trips to the doctor on the whole... well, except when it comes to alcohol.
I think that any society that adopted the spirit if not the letter of this type of system would be a lot happier, a lot healthier, a lot smarter and generally less likely to destroy itself or the rest of the world than the US.
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