Comments by "" (@TheHuxleyAgnostic) on "Bernie's Dem Socialism Isn't Communism...It's Not Even Socialism" video.

  1. People need to stop being afraid of the word "socialism", including you, David. A "social democracy" is a very mixed (capitalism/socialism) economy. If 100% of the economic sectors were publicly owned and operated, that would be 100% socialism. If 100% of the economic sectors were privately owned and operated, that would be 100% capitalism. Centrist countries are a fairly even mix of the two. If you're going to pretend they aren't, at all, socialist, simply because it's not 100% socialism, then you shouldn't be pretending they're capitalist, either. The public owning a 60% share in Norway's oil company means it's 60% socialized, a more socialist than capitalist company. Many countries have a mostly socialized health insurance industry, making that industry almost completely socialist. The UK has an even more socialized healthcare sector, much like the VA, which is even more socialist than capitalist. Yes, the public owning, operating, and maintaining roads, is socialistic. The public owning and operating schools is socialistic. The public owning and operating emergency services is socialistic. Some sectors, however, are tied to whether a country is more, or less, authoritarian, more so than they are tied to whether it's capitalist or socialist. While the VA's medical care can be considered socialist, the authority side of the military isn't. Even extreme right Ayn Rand types, would keep the military, law enforcement, and the courts. They just want those things to protect their self interests, though. Authoritarian capitalists (fascists) use those things to make themselves even more money, and expand their interests. And they are no longer truly publicly owned and operated if they're serving an oligarchy, rather than the actual public at large ... sometimes even working against the public at large. The only purely capitalist countries left in the world are the ones still owned and operated by absolute monarchs, like Saudi.
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