Why Have Americans Become So Afraid Of Socialist Politics?

Socialism, as many models worldwide suggest, exchanges economic growth rate for average happiness.

It is an exchange which is needed, in my opinion, in the US.

 

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Americans haven't "arrived" at socialism (via all the societal evils of capitalism) as social-democracies in Europe have. Thus it's perceived as an isolated - and essentially alien - concept, rather than the "end product" of a painful process of trial and error. A process, bye the bye, which was painful for the vast majority of people. This created a sense of - and a reliance on - social unity which continues today and, for the most part, is in stark contrast to the the "inexperienced" self-interest pervasive in America.

 

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That whole irrational fear of socialized medicine in the United States is a case in point.
Socialized means "for the benefit of society" and is not the thin edge of Marxism of communism!
Vital services have to have a certain amount of government control, and funding or else you end up with people declaring bankruptcy because they cant pay their medical bills. And rednecks getting heart surgery in tents in the deep south because they cant afford hospital bills.
That fact that this sort of thing happens in a country thats supposed to be a superpower is obscene in the 21st century.

 

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Except that nearly all medial advancements were done in a capitalist system. There is more to it than what appears on the surface. The reward factor does seem to get theses ideas percolating and not only in medicine. Then also you can be happy in a one room apartment but without some incentive of some reward its hard to imagine innovation and even in collaboration to do so merely for thanful recognition may lead to or is also some form of narcism.

 

Not everyone needs a financial incentive to do good.

 

How would you gauge good?

 

I'd use a moral compass.

 

YOUR moral compass?

And then what?

A MORAL COMPASS for art?

Too many things wrong with that.

 

wtf are you on about. If I managed to cure cancer without wanting to become stinking rich.......theres too much wrong with that.

 

Do you think you can do that?

 

I find your response shocking...#27.

 

Does it matter? I gave you an example of doing good.

 

You also picked the most exteme example you could possibly pick and you arent going to cure cancer.

 

Its not extreme at all. You just dont have an answer for it. Belive it or not there are people working on such projects that are not motivated by the desire to be rich. Thats my point.

 

of course, but curing cancer would be a "miracle". It isnt unreasonable to look to cure cancer based on no financial gain. Its just a disingenuous response.

 

Not at all. And if a team worked tirelessly to cure disease, and suceeded, you'd write all that hard work off as simply a 'miracle'? Thats a bit shallow.

Its not a matter of being reasonable or unreasonable, its a matter of whether its necessary or not to be motivated by money to suceed.

 

That is false.

Most fundamental medical advances ( Vaccines, antibiotics, and anesthesia, say) both in Europe and in the US, were made outside local capitalist systems.

The great university research departments of the US are just now - long after all these significant advances - incorporating capitalist structure into their research programs. The consequences of that innovation remain to be discovered - in the early stages, an increase in research fraud and secrecy of endeavor has been noted.

The large contributions of military medicine, still happening btw, are of course governmental rather than capitalist.

As are the various advances in public health not always credited as being "medical" - sanitation, food hygiene, air and water quality, etc.

 

To answer the OP, consider two factors. One, socialism is sometimes defined as an intermediate step between communism and capitalism. Two, Americans spent the latter half of the twentieth century in a death match against communism. Those of us who grew up during the this time grew up knowing that at any minute those commie bastards could push the button and kill us all.

Here's a clip from a show called The Day After which ran in the eighties. When us cold war kids think of communism, this is what we think of:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VG2aJyIFrA

 

I also do not understand.
At least one problem would be solved.
Illegal immigration will not be.
It is true, it would appear illegal emigration.

 

More of a death march for the communist. Many were executed in the second red scare, and even more imprisoned. Arent we the good ol land of the free -_-. The fact of the matter is, the american idea of what Communism and Socialism are, is completely off basis. Even europe makes the distinction between the labor party style socialism and the actual ideals that socialism originally upheld. Anarchism and Socialism used to mean the same thing, then came along State-Socialism and here we are, too afraid to embrace a social system JUST BECAUSE people are too lazy and stupid to under stand that.