When (if ever) did the U.S. become socialist?

[Timmy]

this is a spin off from the other thread .

It's an interesting question that gets all kinds of varied answers . Mainly cause "socialism" is defined in many ways .

For me, I go way back to the U.S. opening up west for expansion . The govmnt basically giving away land in spur westward growth .

 

[PaintMyHouse]

this is a spin off from the other thread .

It's an interesting question that gets all kinds of varied answers . Mainly cause "socialism" is defined in many ways .

For me, I go way back to the U.S. opening up west for expansion . The govmnt basically giving away land in spur westward growth .

I'd go back, if we're looking for the first Socialist program, to when we started to pay off widows so the men would leave their wives to fight.

 

[NoTeaPartyPleez]

this is a spin off from the other thread .

It's an interesting question that gets all kinds of varied answers . Mainly cause "socialism" is defined in many ways .

For me, I go way back to the U.S. opening up west for expansion . The govmnt basically giving away land in spur westward growth .

Yup, the Homestead Acts:

"The Homestead Acts were several United States federal laws that gave an applicant ownership of land, typically called a "homestead", at little or no cost. In the United States, this originally consisted of grants totaling 160 acres (65 hectares, or one-quarter section) of unappropriated federal land within the boundaries of the public land states."

That's how my father's side of the family got to Texas and started farming and ranching.

 

[Timmy]

this is a spin off from the other thread .

It's an interesting question that gets all kinds of varied answers . Mainly cause "socialism" is defined in many ways .

For me, I go way back to the U.S. opening up west for expansion . The govmnt basically giving away land in spur westward growth .

Yup, the Homestead Acts:

"The Homestead Acts were several United States federal laws that gave an applicant ownership of land, typically called a "homestead", at little or no cost. In the United States, this originally consisted of grants totaling 160 acres (65 hectares, or one-quarter section) of unappropriated federal land within the boundaries of the public land states."

That's how my father's side of the family got to Texas and started farming and ranching.

So your a welfare family ??

I kid, I kid !!

 

[Pogo]

"Socialism" is a relative term, so .... in steps...

-- when we created the Post Office...
-- when we subsidized the telegraph-cum-telephone system... and the electrical grid...
-- when Al Gore personally invented the internet...
-- when we opened public libraries...
-- when we built public roads and public parks...
-- when we created FDA, FAA and similar agencies to ensure public safety...
-- when we instituted municipal fire departments.... and municipal water supplies...
etc etc etc...

 

[Anathema]

this is a spin off from the other thread .

It's an interesting question that gets all kinds of varied answers . Mainly cause "socialism" is defined in many ways.

November 1860 was the start. It expanded exponentially in the 1930s and then again in the 1960s. The latest upswing in American Socialism has been over the last 8 years.

 

[PaintMyHouse]

"Socialism" is a relative term, so .... in steps...

-- when we created the Post Office...
-- when we subsidized the telegraph-cum-telephone system... and the electrical grid...
-- when Al Gore personally invented the internet...
-- when we opened public libraries...
-- when we built public roads and public parks...
-- when we created FDA, FAA and similar agencies to ensure public safety...
-- when we instituted municipal fire departments.... and municipal water supplies...
etc etc etc...

So, essentially you want the government to do nothing, meaning near anarchy.

 

[Pogo]

"Socialism" is a relative term, so .... in steps...

-- when we created the Post Office...
-- when we subsidized the telegraph-cum-telephone system... and the electrical grid...
-- when Al Gore personally invented the internet...
-- when we opened public libraries...
-- when we built public roads and public parks...
-- when we created FDA, FAA and similar agencies to ensure public safety...
-- when we instituted municipal fire departments.... and municipal water supplies...
etc etc etc...

So, essentially you want the government to do nothing, meaning near anarchy.

....

Where did I say anything about "want"?

The question in the title is "when". I cited several historical markers.
That's it.

 

[BluesLegend]

The U.S. did not become socialist, it became corrupt. Government has morphed into a corrupt cesspool with a singular goal, to enrich themselves and their pals at the expense of the people, mostly the poor and middle class.

 

[PaintMyHouse]

The U.S. did not become socialist, it became corrupt. Government has morphed into a corrupt cesspool with a singular goal, to enrich themselves and their pals at the expense of the people, mostly the poor and middle class.

This guy needs a Mao t-shirt...

 

[The Rabbi]

Woodrow Wilson and the Progressives introduced the notion, although it might be older. FDR put it on steroids. Johnson added some uppers. Obama has blown some crack cocaine on it.

 

[BluesLegend]

The U.S. did not become socialist, it became corrupt. Government has morphed into a corrupt cesspool with a singular goal, to enrich themselves and their pals at the expense of the people, mostly the poor and middle class.

This guy needs a Mao t-shirt...

Here's your t-shirt

 

[daws101]

The constitution is semi socialist document as is the magna Carta. .
WE The people is as Socialist a statement as can be made.

 

[Procrustes Stretched]

When (if ever) did the U.S. become socialist?

From day 1. The very first day. Truth is the USA has always been a democratic socialistic republic.

 

[Procrustes Stretched]

Woodrow Wilson and the Progressives introduced the notion, although it might be older. FDR put it on steroids. Johnson added some uppers. Obama has blown some crack cocaine on it.

Thomas Jefferson's favorite people and revolution -- "The history of socialism has its origins in the French Revolution of 1789 and the ..... which Engels argued was beginning to be realised in the Paris Commune of ... - from wikipedia

 

[Procrustes Stretched]

...

you people are lost without direction from Glen Beck, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh...

 

[Procrustes Stretched]

America's roots in socialist society go back to the Mayflower compact

 

[CrusaderFrank]

this is a spin off from the other thread .

It's an interesting question that gets all kinds of varied answers . Mainly cause "socialism" is defined in many ways .

For me, I go way back to the U.S. opening up west for expansion . The govmnt basically giving away land in spur westward growth .

We're importing tax dollars and exporting debt to sustain the moocher class; it's The Fall of Rome

 

[CrusaderFrank]

this is a spin off from the other thread .

It's an interesting question that gets all kinds of varied answers . Mainly cause "socialism" is defined in many ways .

For me, I go way back to the U.S. opening up west for expansion . The govmnt basically giving away land in spur westward growth .

Yup, the Homestead Acts:

"The Homestead Acts were several United States federal laws that gave an applicant ownership of land, typically called a "homestead", at little or no cost. In the United States, this originally consisted of grants totaling 160 acres (65 hectares, or one-quarter section) of unappropriated federal land within the boundaries of the public land states."

That's how my father's side of the family got to Texas and started farming and ranching.

You think Food Stamps and inter-generational poverty are "Homesteading"?

LOL

 

[Clementine]

"Socialism" is a relative term, so .... in steps...

-- when we created the Post Office...
-- when we subsidized the telegraph-cum-telephone system... and the electrical grid...
-- when Al Gore personally invented the internet...
-- when we opened public libraries...
-- when we built public roads and public parks...
-- when we created FDA, FAA and similar agencies to ensure public safety...
-- when we instituted municipal fire departments.... and municipal water supplies...
etc etc etc...

You are aware that we had roads, bridges and schools before government took them over, right?

As far as the post office, it's not actually socialism because we all pay as we go. It's not given to anyone and no one gets to send mail for free. While it's run by government, it operates like a business. Of course, with government running it, it's not as efficient as it should be and if it was a private business, it would have gone bankrupt long ago.

Same with phones and internet. People pay to use them or they don't get them at home.

The creation of so many federal agencies to act as watchdogs sounded good in theory, but they are now mostly bloated agencies who fail to achieve their goals. How many bag drugs have been approved by the FDA? It is impossible to keep all food safe and most companies will aim to be honest or they will go out of business. The FDA operates on the theory that people fear they might be inspected and therefore will have high standards. I think fear of the public turning on them is a bigger fear. Inspectors have been paid off or just didn't bother to inspect. What do all those bureaucrats do with their time and billions of our dollars?

The agencies could easily be downsized and still maintain the same effect they have now. We pay more and more people each year to get very little in return.

Socialism means half pay for the other half. We are getting there considering the record number of people on the doles. Those with an entitlement mentality are treated as if they are more virtuous than those working. When was the last time a welfare recipient was told to do more for themselves or have some appreciation for those who are on the giving end? Instead, the left supports higher taxes, which always falls on the middle class, who are often not doing as well as some of the welfare recipients in certain states.

Social Security may have been the first actual form of socialism, but it's really more of a Ponzi scheme, as evidenced by the fact that it's running out of money just like many predicted it would.