Another thread sparked my interest for a poll regarding economies

... Vote for the type of economy you prefer to have in America

... Thank you in advance for your participation

Capitalists and state beauocracies cannot be trusted to be fair and honest. They must be regulated. Socialism, as I understand it, is pragmatic in its approach to giving people their basic needs, including health care, and in keeping corporate greed in check.

are not mutually exclusive, such as in the Scandanavian countries. However, I wouldn't want to see such a system in the United States. I think what most of us would prefer would be capitalism with common sense regulation to prevent companies like Enron from cheating, and to protect consumers and the environment. We should also maintain things like social security, the minimum wage and medicare, which have served to make America a better place.

On the other hand, centrally planned economies like those of the USSR are ineffective because they are far too rigid. One of free-market capitalism's biggest benefits is its ability to respond quickly to changes. With central planning, people often wound up with shortages, as insulated bureaucrats and economists had a hard time estimating just how much toilet paper would be needed in 10 years.

I guess to me that means a progressive income tax.

Antitrust, so companies can't gobble each other up until half a dozen of them (or fewer) control 90% of the market-- as is the case in our mass media today, for example.

Agencies like OSHA, the FDA, the EPA, which protect people from the possible depredations of corporations without consciences.

All the stuff BushCo wants to roll back.

you should return to the original thread and read the responses. I also suggest you look up the definitions and then you'd realize that socialism and capitalism aren't mutually exclusive.

The issue is not who theoretically own the means of production,
but rather who in practice controls them, and if those people happen
to be meatheads we all get screwed.