Socialism: Good or Bad?

[Booze Zombie]

I like socalism, it doesn't seem like a bad thing to me.

 

[blackshark121]

The Nazis were socialists.

thats all I have to say.

Wrong. They were fascists.

 

[paragon1]

I'll fully support any government that fully enforces the search bar law.

 

[PedroSteckecilo]

It's good, I'm a Canadian and a lefty, I like Socialism.

 

[Mcface]

The Nazis were socialists.

thats all I have to say.

Wrong. They were fascists.

Uh, you DO know they were the "NATIONAL SOCIALIST PARTY" right?

 

[FinalHeart95]

Yep Hitler may be socialist ( all these conflicting posts confuse me). And? Hitler being socialist is hardly the reason people hate him (Pro tip: The Holocaust). Actually, although I'm not well-read on the subject, didn't Germany's economy get better after Hitler came to power? I'm sure there were other things that helped it to get better, but the type of economy you have is sure to affect how well your economy does.

Then again, for all I know, Germany could have been socialist before that. As I said, I'm not well-read on the subject.

 

[Bofore13]

Socialism is great as long as it isn't abused or has a dictator at the top

 

[Agema]

If you think Hitler and the Nazis were socialists, you have no idea what socialism is.

If you think socialism means everyone gets paid the same, you have no idea what socialism is.

Considering the OP was kind enough to post a link explaining a bit about socialism, can people please read it before they spout utterly ignorant preconceptions?

 

[Spaghetti]

The Nazis were socialists.

thats all I have to say.

Wrong. They were fascists.

Uh, you DO know they were the "NATIONAL SOCIALIST PARTY" right?

They only called themselves socialists to appeal to the working class. If they were socialists, why did the get into violent fights with the German Communist Party? Facism and Communism are on opposite ends of the political spectrum.

There are several forms of socialism.
1. True Communism which is the most famous and most feared which includes totalitarian methods, Russia is an example
2. Pure Socialism: This was what Marx and Lenin wanted to reach, a society without governments or war etc in which people work together - It is considered impossible like Anarchism
3. Democratic Socialism: Pretty much what most of Western Europe and Canada etc. is. It's a combination of the best bits of socialism (healthcare, welfare state etc.) but the economy is a capitalist one. This is the most succesful since it's been around since about 1945

 

[jboking]

The Nazis were socialists.

thats all I have to say.

They could claim they were socialists all they wanted, the reality is that the Nazi party was fascist.

State owned factories, no civil rights, a compulsory army, all key points of Hitler's regime and socialism in practicality.

Get your facts right, please. all the points you stated were autonomous from socialism, they were part of Hitler's policy and his alone. you're getting fascism and left wing ideologies mixed up.

Ahem. Give me one socialist country that doesn't enforce those ideas? That's the whole point. Socialism looks good on paper and propaganda, but in the real world it turns to dung.
And are you suggesting the Soviet Union wasn't a socialism driven country? That would turn every historybook ever written upside down and inside out.

You would like an example of a socialist country that doesn't endorse those things? Hum, how about the good old US of A. We have been practicing socialist policies for years. The fact is, Capitalism doesn't hold together too long, we need a bit of socialism here and there. It is a good thing when you don't overdo it. Now, whether President Obama is going to overdo it is up for debate.

Oh and to the best of my knowledge, the Soviet Union was communistic. Which for the purposes of this thread can be viewed as an extreme version of socialism.

 

[Lord George]

The Nazis were socialists.

thats all I have to say.

Wrong. They were fascists.

Uh, you DO know they were the "NATIONAL SOCIALIST PARTY" right?

Likely because no one will trust you if you call yourself the CRAZY NATIONAL FASCIST PARTY, well it originally was partially a socialist party when it was small and no one cared about it, then Hitler came along kept the name to appeal to the common man and rose to power.

 

[deleted_scifidownbeat]

DELETED

 

[Spitfire175]

You would like an example of a socialist country that doesn't endorse those things? Hum, how about the good old US of A. We have been practicing socialist policies for years. The fact is, Capitalism doesn't hold together too long, we need a bit of socialism here and there. It is a good thing when you don't overdo it. Now, whether President Obama is going to overdo it is up for debate.

Oh and to the best of my knowledge, the Soviet Union was communistic. Which for the purposes of this thread can be viewed as an extreme version of socialism.

I don't know wether I even bother to answer or not. The United States of America IS NOT A FRIGGIN' SOCIALIST COUNTRY! CUBA IS! Socialism takes a single party state to actually be socialism.

The soviet union was socialist: communism is the utopia Marx described would be worked towards with socialism. Communism has never existed, it is only an idea, a theory, a utopia.

 

[SamScott]

The Nazis were socialists.

thats all I have to say.

I think the Nazi's were more like DICTATORS

 

[Discon]

I'm not sure, but I think my own dear country, Norway, is a bit socialistic.

1: Most people pay atleast 30% tax
2: Everyone gets free healthcare, and free dentall until you're 18.
3: If you don't have a job, you get money
4: I can't really talk about businesses, but I do believe that the state has a lot of shares in oil companies

 

[Danny Ocean]

State owned factories, no civil rights, a compulsory army, all key points of Hitler's regime and socialism in practicality.

Get your facts right, please. all the points you stated were autonomous from socialism, they were part of Hitler's policy and his alone. you're getting fascism and left wing ideologies mixed up.

Ahem. Give me one socialist country that doesn't enforce those ideas? That's the whole point. Socialism looks good on paper and propaganda, but in the real world it turns to dung.
And are you suggesting the Soviet Union wasn't a socialism driven country? That would turn every historybook ever written upside down and inside out.

The UK is a socialist country, as is most of Europe, and to a small extent the USA. Are you thinking of the mix of communism and totalitarianism that the Russians employed? Because that's extreme upper left. Socialism is the middle ground.

Spoiler: My Political Compass

 

[johnman]

It depends entirely on your interpretation of socialism and your own political veiws. If you take Marx's dilectics as true socialism then its merely a stop on the road to communism. It involves a period of intense industrialisation and the strenthening of the economy while social reforms are enacted that start to make the worker have equal rights to the owner. This is from the veiw of the 19th century where capitalism made very distinct social classes, before the liberal reforms of the early 1900's. Socicalism was suppose to grow out of capitalism over long periods of time.

As for wether its a good thing or not depends entirely on your outlook. Things such as social security, healthcare and strong a economony all seem like good ideas to me and I personally dont get what all the fuss is about. Look at it this way, if the rights of the individual strike you as more import than the rights of the state then socialism is a good thing.
I think it was Leon Trotsky who argued that communism was not an inevitable product of socialism, and a society could stay at socialism forever.

If anything I said in my post about socialism is extremely wrong please correct me. I would rather know than go ignorant.

 

[johnman]

Uh, you DO know they were the "NATIONAL SOCIALIST PARTY" right?

They were in name, and Hitlers 28 pionts had socialist slants, but no socialist ideas were ever practicised, it was merely a means to get the workers on side so Hitler could take the chancellorship.

 

[WayOutThere]

My question is: why is it bad?

Little innovation occurs in a socialist system.

Could we possibly find a middle ground?

Well we certainly shouldn't go laissez faire so my answer to that is yes.

 

[Nincompoop]

The Nazis were socialists.

thats all I have to say.

No, they weren't. They called themselves a socialist party, but their methods can hardly be compared to socialism in any way. Hitler hated socialism.

Weren't they more like communists?

No, Germany under the Nazis was essentially just a fascist dictatorship. Basically, that's what the USSR was too - neither Germany nor the USSR ever practiced the ideologies that they claimed to follow.

Okay, that sounds logical. They probably used socialism/communism to govern strength and leadership in the country.