Name Me One Socialist Country! Just One!!

[Paulie]

...That has a standard of living anywhere NEAR as high as the United States!

 

[Truthmatters]

Why?

 

[Paulie]

Because a lot of you liberals obviously wouldn't be happy unless the government controlled everything. Some of you literally scream it in almost every post.

So let's see an example of a country that is at least majority socialist, with a high standard of living. One with a history of a few decades of high standard of living, too. Not one that had brief periods.

 

[Ravi]

Because a lot of you liberals obviously wouldn't be happy unless the government controlled everything. Some of you literally scream it in almost every post.

So let's see an example of a country that is at least majority socialist, with a high standard of living. One with a history of a few decades of high standard of living, too. Not one that had brief periods.

Liberals aren't socialists. And some of the people that think they are liberals are anything but.

 

[Paulie]

Liberals aren't socialists. And some of the people that think they are liberals are anything but.

Yes Rav, I am well aware. You certainly aren't arguing that there are some liberals here that are pretty damn socialist in their beliefs though, are you?

I've seen calls for owning the banks, owning energy, owning the automakers. Couple that with taxing the rich to even out the poor, and it doesn't get much more socialist.

 

[Anguille]

...That has a standard of living anywhere NEAR as high as the United States!

A standard of living for which Americans? Affluent Americans or poor and Loe income Americans?

Many countries which provide health care to All citizens have a higher standard of living than the US.

 

[Paulie]

A standard of living for which Americans? Affluent Americans or poor and Loe income Americans?

Many countries which provide health care to All citizens have a higher standard of living than the US.

This is not true, Ang. Just having free healthcare does not equate to an automatic higher standard of living. In America, you can be an entrepreneur and be successful. You have the freedom to be poor or be successful. Shit, if you graduate high school, you can fill out a FAFSA if you're poor, apply for a student loan, and get a college education without spending a dollar of your own money. There's no excuse for having your own low standard of living in America. The opportunities are there. But the fact that some people refuse to work hard to achieve something greater doesn't mean that America doesn't have the highest standard of living in the world.

 

[Gurdari]

America is socialist. Well, socialist when it comes to things deemed 'important'.
Just like almost every other country.

Though the highest standards of living tend to be found in the most socialist nations (all those Northern European places with high literacy, low crime, clean energy - all that commie BS you know)


P.S. The US does not have as high a standard of living as you might think.


I think this is for 2007-2008

1 Iceland
2 Norway
3 Australia
4 Canada
5 Ireland
6 Sweden
7 Switzerland
8 Japan
9 Netherlands
10 France
11 Finland
12 United States
13 Spain
14 Denmark
15 Austria

 

[Anguille]

This is not true, Ang. Just having free healthcare does not equate to an automatic higher standard of living. In America, you can be an entrepreneur and be successful. You have the freedom to be poor or be successful. Shit, if you graduate high school, you can fill out a FAFSA if you're poor, apply for a student loan, and get a college education without spending a dollar of your own money. There's no excuse for having your own low standard of living in America. The opportunities are there. But the fact that some people refuse to work hard to achieve something greater doesn't mean that America doesn't have the highest standard of living in the world.

Sure, Paulie, everyone can be a millionaire in America.

So, what is your excuse for not being one?

 

[Paulie]

Sure, Paulie, everyone can be a millionaire in America.

So, what is your excuse for not being one?

You want to tell me where I said millionaire? I'm not seeing it.

 

[Red Dawn]

...That has a standard of living anywhere NEAR as high as the United States!

Paul,

belated attempts to spin this, 50 posts into the thread, just aren't going to cut it.

You didn't stop reading orange juice's post after the first sentence. It was a very simple, two sentence post, and the premise of the post was quite clear to everyone.

Where are the successful countries that have libertarian style governments- decentralized, smalll governments, and governments that "get out of the way", in the way that ron paul fans have promoted?

 

[Kevin_Kennedy]

Paul,

belated attempts, 50 posts into the thread, just aren't going to cut it.

You didn't stop reading orange juice's post after the first sentence. It was a very simple, two sentence post, and the premise of the post was quite clear to everyone.

Where are the successful countries that have libertarian style governments- decentralized, smalll governments, and governments that "get out of the way", in the way that ron paul fans have promoted?

No, OJ asked:

"That has a small de-centralized government and yet has a standard of living anywhere near as high as ours."

The rest of what he said was poking fun at our beliefs and Ron Paul.

That question was answered in that thread, and now you're not going to answer Paulie's question.

 

[GHook93]

America is socialist. Well, socialist when it comes to things deemed 'important'.
Just like almost every other country.

Though the highest standards of living tend to be found in the most socialist nations (all those Northern European places with high literacy, low crime, clean energy - all that commie BS you know)


P.S. The US does not have as high a standard of living as you might think.


I think this is for 2007-2008

1 Iceland
2 Norway
3 Australia
4 Canada
5 Ireland
6 Sweden
7 Switzerland
8 Japan
9 Netherlands
10 France
11 Finland
12 United States
13 Spain
14 Denmark
15 Austria

Not sure where you got your stats, but you know that Iceland is close to economic collapse right? They invested heavily in the American mortgage CDO blunder!

 

[Paulie]

Paul,

belated attempts to spin this, 50 posts into the thread, just aren't going to cut it.

You didn't stop reading orange juice's post after the first sentence. It was a very simple, two sentence post, and the premise of the post was quite clear to everyone.

Where are the successful countries that have libertarian style governments- decentralized, smalll governments, and governments that "get out of the way", in the way that ron paul fans have promoted?

First of all, you're not even in the right thread.

Second of all, you seem to really be missing something here. He asked for exactly what you are saying, yes, and the answer was provided. You even agreed to it when Baron clarified his reasoning.

Switzerland has a more decentralized government than other nations with their socialist programs, which in turn means they ARE getting out of the way.

Like I said, there are no perfect countries, whether they're socialist or capitalist. I don't even claim that a purely libertarian country would be 100% prosperous all the time. Resources are always going to be misallocated whether it's the government controlling it, or the private sector, that is just human nature. My argument is in how centralized government ultimately handles the problems.

The United States is considered a fairly decentralized government in many ways. If we offered universal health care, and our government spending GDP share shot up as high as Switzerland's, does that automatically mean we aren't a decentralized government that gets out of the way of its citizens? Of course not.

Government spending GDP share is not in and of itself indicative of government centralization, or lack thereof. This is what you and OJ seem to be missing.

 

[Orange_Juice]

...That has a standard of living anywhere NEAR as high as the United States!

How about the United States?

Socialist Security

Medicare

Medicade

Bank Bailouts

Auto Bailouts

Pork galore

I thought we were a socialist country

 

[Kevin_Kennedy]

How about the United States?

Socialist Security

Medicare

Medicade

Bank Bailouts

Auto Bailouts

Pork galore

I thought we were a socialist country

And currently facing an economic disaster.

 

[xsited1]

...That has a standard of living anywhere NEAR as high as the United States!

People choose standard of living and safety over freedom. There will always be just a few of us who truly love freedom above all. It's no wonder that standard of living statistics are biased in favor of socialistic countries.

 

[Orange_Juice]

And currently facing an economic disaster.

Like that has never happened before. Back in the Laissex Faire period it happened a lot.

And...you will notice that because of the government programs the suffering of this down turn is much less than the 1890's or 1930's

 

[Tuatara]

People choose standard of living and safety over freedom. There will always be just a few of us who truly love freedom above all. It's no wonder that standard of living statistics are biased in favor of socialistic countries.

Can you name any freedoms the US has that those countries listed don't have.

 

[Kevin_Kennedy]

Like that has never happened before. Back in the Laissex Faire period it happened a lot.

And...you will notice that because of the government programs the suffering of this down turn is much less than the 1890's or 1930's

I note that the Great Depression happened after the Federal Reserve was created, I note that the stagflation of the 70's was brought on by heavy inflation and price controls, and I note that both the tech and housing bubbles were part of the boom and bust cycles that the Federal Reserve creates.