This is my first foray into US politics but I feel I need to comment. Recently, people have been accusing Obama of being a socialist - making out like its a bad thing. Call it what you want but the government's 700 bln intervention is completely in line with socialist ideologies. To be honest, the citizens in the US could have done with a little socialism, it would have prevented the crisis they are facing now.
I have lived in a socialist country in Scandinavia and semi-socialist in Canada, and if any person who believes that socialism is a bad thing please consider the below -- as an everyday citizen. These are some of things that socialism brings to the average citizen.
- Taxes are much higher -- yes, its brutal in Denmark (62%) and Canada (50%), but here are some fringe benefits:
- free healthcare - spend weeks in the ICU, have a transplant, get an artificial leg and pay nothing.
- maternity leave AND paternity leave of one year each and only part of it can be taken concurrently. So in essence the baby has parents at home for at least 18 months.
- guaranteed job security post pregnancy for 2 years (yes, people do take advantage of this - I know a story of a woman who had worked 12 months in a 9 year period!)
- free childcare - parents are not burdened by extremely expensive daycare for their children.
- free education - undergrad degrees are paid for by the state. You can also go abroad and go to school and they pay for that as well. Therefore, 'school debt' does not exisit.
- go abroad with a loved one and learn a language and the government pays you a stipend to learn that language and they pay for all schooling
- 25 days paid holiday, as a minimum
- tighter regulations around banking - they cannot make as much money as in the US but I think we all know the benefits of this
- premium elderly care. Old age homes are well run, clean and absolutley an amazing place for the elderly to spend their last days. One thing (and this is totally messed) is that the government in Denmark pays for hookers to satisfy elderly men. Now, I admit that is a little much (but funny nonetheless)
- strong and robust welfare system - again people take advantage of it, but it is fairly well run
- overfunded pensions so citizens are guaranteed a healthy income when they retire.
These are few of the things that 'socialism' brings. I am not saying that socialist countries are not fraught with problems, they obviously are, but the idea that socialism is something to be wary of is completely misguided and i feel its been used as political fodder.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
..dude, couldn't agree more. while i agree that personal responsibility should be the guiding principle of any society and that statist ideas can lead to abuses and bad incentives, the overall outcome is simply better. I wouldn't use my own country (UK) as an example but if you look at Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Japan, Canada, most of Scandinavia... they may not be as individually rich as the US, but there are less social problems too. Less polution, less crime, less divorce, less broken families, MUCH less people dying because they don't have health insurance, more education, more free time, better infrastructure... the list goes on. The Germans came up with the concept in the 60s, the Sozialmarktwissenschaft (Social Market Economy)... vorsprung durch technik mate. Wheatkings
Post a Comment