Could democratic socialism become the brand of a new generation of political actors — not just on the fringe, not just in New York City, but across the country?
At some point we’re just masturbating over minutia.
In practice, in the real world, there will never be such a thing as a purely socialist or purely capitalist economy. You could have a fully automated luxury communist economy, and there would still be someone out there doing what is effectively capitalism, just in exchange for favors and owed favors. You could organize your society into Ayn Rand’s dream world, and there would still be some folks there giving each other things for free out of the kindness of their hearts. Hell, even the Soviets tried running an economy without money for awhile, and it failed miserably.
There is a continuous spectrum between a fully government-run economy and an entirely stateless economy. And all real-world governments lie somewhere on that spectrum. The governments that we call “socialist” just lie more towards the government-run side of things. Neither extreme has ever existed. The USSR was not a complete collective ownership of the means of production. The US is not and never has been a purely market economy.
Masturbating over pointless minutia is just pointless masturbation.
And you’re right it’s about as pointless as your comment, considering why I left mine in the first place.
People on this platform don’t seem to know the difference between basic terms like capitalism, socialism, social democracy, and democratic socialism. They lump every good thing the government does under “socialism” and every bad thing under “capitalism.” Reality isn’t that black and white. It isn’t simply capitalism versus socialism.
Some of the most successful countries on Earth are social democracies with large welfare states and strong regulations that curb predatory business practices. They are not socialist economies. They are fundamentally capitalist economies, and that’s a distinction people constantly miss.
Unions, fair wages, wealth equality, universal healthcare, and social safety nets have nothing to do with socialism as an economic system. They are hallmarks of social democracy. Socialism and social democracy are two distinct ideologies with different definitions.
I’m not masturbating over words. I’m using those words according to their actual definitions.
At some point we’re just masturbating over minutia.
In practice, in the real world, there will never be such a thing as a purely socialist or purely capitalist economy. You could have a fully automated luxury communist economy, and there would still be someone out there doing what is effectively capitalism, just in exchange for favors and owed favors. You could organize your society into Ayn Rand’s dream world, and there would still be some folks there giving each other things for free out of the kindness of their hearts. Hell, even the Soviets tried running an economy without money for awhile, and it failed miserably.
There is a continuous spectrum between a fully government-run economy and an entirely stateless economy. And all real-world governments lie somewhere on that spectrum. The governments that we call “socialist” just lie more towards the government-run side of things. Neither extreme has ever existed. The USSR was not a complete collective ownership of the means of production. The US is not and never has been a purely market economy.
Masturbating over pointless minutia is just pointless masturbation.
Wow. You used “masturbation” way too many times.
And you’re right it’s about as pointless as your comment, considering why I left mine in the first place.
People on this platform don’t seem to know the difference between basic terms like capitalism, socialism, social democracy, and democratic socialism. They lump every good thing the government does under “socialism” and every bad thing under “capitalism.” Reality isn’t that black and white. It isn’t simply capitalism versus socialism.
Some of the most successful countries on Earth are social democracies with large welfare states and strong regulations that curb predatory business practices. They are not socialist economies. They are fundamentally capitalist economies, and that’s a distinction people constantly miss.
Unions, fair wages, wealth equality, universal healthcare, and social safety nets have nothing to do with socialism as an economic system. They are hallmarks of social democracy. Socialism and social democracy are two distinct ideologies with different definitions.
I’m not masturbating over words. I’m using those words according to their actual definitions.