Thoughts gang? Any socialists in the house? I bring this up because it seems that "socialism" is a dirty word in America, far worse than "liberal" as it seems to bring to mind authoritarian style communism to most people.

People on the right deride leftists as "socialists." When many leftists strongly fight back that charge, they reiterate that they are firmly in favor of capitalism. But at the same time, many Americans welcome socialist programs, stopping just short of embracing "socialism" as a whole, but rather, cherry-picking the socialist stances on issues that work for them.

Just curious if anyone here considers themselves a socialist, or if there are others who don't, but believe socialism is the way to go.

I am a socialist. But also humanist and many other things. I don't necessarily believe in a system, but many of my views are 'socialist'. I've also been active for the socialist party here.

groetjes,
Mirella

he who robs peter to pay paul can always count on paul's vote.

humanist? i'm not sure if i even want to know what that entails.

why are you a socialist?

You've never heard of humanism?

not in a formal, codified sort of way. it just strikes me as a silly name for a philosophy, as though one could be anti-human. although depending on the human...

upon googling "humanism," i am also surprised to learn that there is a competing philosophy: speciesism.

*returns to his 401(k) paperwork*

actually, if i had to categorize myself in any sort of way, i would most likely fit under the umbrella of "secular humanism."

Lots of belief systems are anti-human.

yaeh i'd probably throw myself under the socialist umbrella. no dirty word for me. or some of my ministry of environment co workers

We could get into the philosophical reasons behind it, but suffice it to say, I value personal freedom over material goods, and as such, consider socialism a dirty word.

As long as breeding is unregulated, e.g. the poor and uneducated have twice as many kids, some form of socialism or income redistribution / market manipulation is necessary in order to stop them from murdering the rest of us when times get tough.

Or just law enforcement.

Which worked awesomely during hurricane Katrina. Also great in SE Washington DC. Or the Watts area in LA. Or the entire city of Detroit.

Socialism is just a way to buy off the poor so that they don't use their muscle in dark, or at the ballot box, against the rest of us.

Socialism might work if humans were not involved. I do think that socialism is a dirty word and I have many times had to tell my friends about the evils of socialism.

Marx himself thought of the USA as a quite cool country. He didnt mention the USA a lot of his written, but everytime he did it is easy to note an admiration.

Well, I think sometimes people largely misinterpret Marx. He didn't think of socialism as something brought about by a revolution, as much as the natural progression after capitalism in an industrialized society. Socialism can actually work in a capitalist society as long as it's not forced.

The principle I'd support is that as a society becomes more industrialized, it also becomes more educated, and along with that, more altruistic. You get your Bill Gates and Warren Buffets who decide on their own accord to spend their fortunes helping people out, and I think that's far more effective and philosophically sound than socialism at the expense of capitalism.

You can't really argue that good law enforcement wouldn't do the job because poor law enforcement doesn't.

this is a much more articulate way of saying what i always say in real life. bravo.

though that doesn't mean i'm a socialist. it is a dirty word. wealth distribution should happen but it shouldn't be socialism. socialism doesn't maximize wealth.