Don't say that Republican don't believe in socialism!

Republicans take a lot of advantage of socialism. They just want to be with their own kind! They are more than willing to use police and fire departments. Republicans use various kinds of insurance. Any kind of group policy is socialistic. Republicans just don't want to be included in groups that have people that don't pay as much as they do. Heaven help us if a poor person or family should happen to get a break and not "work" their way up the American ladder.

Anyway, I'm just sayin' that they have no ground to stand on when it comes to bad-mouthing socialism!

conditional to a specific class.

Corporate Personhood plus Corporate Welfare equals what?

The only thing they'd love better is to run this country just like China.

stabilize it...not to mention a low interest rate policy that helps mostly people who have money... and on and on. You are correct Sir!

they get all the good stuff(gov't bailouts, free money, etc) including selective enforcement of the laws(this would be the top level repubs- the fundies get scarier churches), while they get to make us miserable.

Pathetic creatures.

...Dooh Nibor!

The have disdain for any other kind of Care.

Wealth Care.

I'm going to remember that one - it's very simple to remember and goes straight to the point.

I suppose that Hitler's youth program was socialistic.

Give me a clue as to how my views were similar to Germany and Chile.

services. They provide security to all of the community.

I am thinking that while Republicans give us the mantra about the evils of socialism, they accept socialism when it benefits them. Most Republicans rely on community police and fire departments, and buy insurance policies covering health, home and cars. Very few hire individual police and fire protection. Not all Republicans are willing to use their own money to cover personal losses. So when they use "group coverage" aren't these social programs? I just think that Republicans are willing to embrace socialism, but just with their own kind.

I can see where my original writing was easy to misunderstand. I didn't explain myself very well. Maybe I didn't this time either.

Ayn Rand... and the University of Chicago Friedman-ites who worshiped that "Atlas Shrugged" mantra... "it's all about the ME" Here are but some of the "me oriented" messaged to apply daily to affected rash-

Guilt is a rope that wears thin.
Ayn Rand

Happiness is that state of consciousness which proceeds from the achievement of one's values.
Ayn Rand

Learn to value yourself, which means: to fight for your happiness.
Ayn Rand

Thanksgiving is a typically American holiday...The lavish meal is a symbol of the fact that abundant consumption is the result and reward of production .
Ayn Rand

I need no warrant for being, and no word of sanction upon my being. I am the warrant and the sanction.
Ayn Rand, Anthem, 1946

(you gotta love this one)
I swear by my life and my love of it that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine.
Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged

Pride is the recognition of the fact that you are your own highest value and, like all of man’s values, it has to be earned.
Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged

Rationality is the recognition of the fact that nothing can alter the truth and nothing can take precedence over that act of perceiving it .
Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged

That which you call your soul or spirit is your consciousness, and that which you call 'free will' is your mind's freedom to think or not, the only will you have, your only freedom, the choice that controls all the choices you make and determines your life and your character .
Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged

(Well then, is this the ultimate climax, then?)
Until and unless you discover that money is the root of all good, you ask for your own destruction. When money ceases to become the means by which men deal with one another, then men become the tools of other men. Blood, whips and guns--or dollars. Take your choice--there is no other.
Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged
-----------------------

Where DO you place the philosophy of those who would deregulate, and relax banking laws, which ultimately become corporate welfare, on the backs of other taxpayers who bail "them" out of bad loans, whilst them that "sanction their own being" DENY the kind of "social changes" to level an economic playing field?

I can't think of a word to fully describe the philosophy of these folks, but I keep getting this picture in my head...

she said:

"Until and unless you discover that money is the root of all good, you ask for your own destruction. When money ceases to become the means by which men deal with one another, then men become the tools of other men. Blood, whips and guns--or dollars. Take your choice--there is no other."


I guess that pretty much explains why we have unions! It also belittles the people who act on so-called patriotism and those who live for their god.

... it sent the same message to me, too.

After reading it, I questioned for a second, "Is this some sort of existentialist-based refusal to be part of a larger order?" That, by being part and working as an organelle of a larger "whole", you're not dealing with whatever their version of "the other" is?

If that's so... man, who didn't hug THEM as a child?

When the matter is within that context is when rightists pull out the "socialism" term ... yet they're all for corporate welfare which in terms of dollars dwarfs social welfare.

Just yesterday, I got onto an online discussion with a Republican about this very topic. Your point about insurance is excellent!

Socialism is not evil. They need to stop equating it to communism.

Insurance may be a socialistic program because it is a group activity but it is not socialism. A government does not require me to have a life insurance policy. If I choose to have one, I am free to select a insurance policy that suits my needs,as I see them, not one that meets a preconceived set of government policy statements. Medicare and Social Security are socialist programs. I do not have any option to participate or not. A government collects taxes from me to pay for these programs, whether I use them or not. That is socialism as far as I am concerned. Insurance is a straight forward business transaction. Insurance companies make a profit. This is an anathema to socialist thinking. Just my opinion.

I certainly agree that Medicare and Social Security are social programs. But I think that people pooling their money to spread risk is an activity of socialism. I think that we probably have achieved more in this country through the combination of socialism and capitalism. We do need the individual to bring new ideas to the marketplace and the masses. But socialistic activities like free public education and social health programs have allowed all levels of society to contribute.

The Republican's insistence that socialism equates with communism needs to be challenged. I believe that somethings are better when done by government. I accept that government can't do everything, but I don't see government as incompetent. My analogy with fire and police protection and insurance coverage just tries to show that socialism is not limited to just what government does.

I understand that buying insurance is a business transaction, but the underlying premiss of insurance is the shared risk.

Private individuals cannot impose socialism on other individuals. Only government can impose mandatory participation in such activities as medicare, social security, schools, fire districts, or police precincts. In social programs, a government assumes the risk. It taxes citizens to cover those risks. Insurance on the other hand is risk shared by individuals. These individuals have an option to assume risk or not if they choose. That is directly opposed to a socialist program. Another point, public education is not free by any stretch of the imagination. It costs billions of dollars each year to fund public education. Those dollars are taken from the citizens whether they participate in the system or not. This is a good example of a socialist program. If I don't want a life insurance policy, the insurance company cannot force me to buy one.

"Socialism is any of various theories or systems of social organization in which the means of producing and distributing goods is owned collectively or by a centralized government that often plans and controls the economy."

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/teach/red/back2.html

If the concept of socialism is economic, government doesn't have to have a role. Long before American government embraced socialism, early settlers used the concept to build barns and churches. Credit Unions and cooperatives could also be considered socialist organizations. Various forms of insurance also fit agree with the definition.

My point is not to argue about socialism, but point out that the Republicans are not as "individually responsible" as they claim to be. In fact, Republicans do participate in socialist activities.

have claimed that they dont participate in social programs.