Over the past four days, I’ve looked at the supposed socialism of Venezuela, the Nordic nations, Greece, and France.
And I chose those nations deliberately because I used them as examples in this clip from a recent interview.
All of them are sometimes labeled as socialist countries, but if you look at the rankings from Economic Freedom of the World, you notice that this analysis doesn’t make much sense.
For example, the Nordic nations have a lot of economic liberty and are only slightly behind to the United States, which is why I explained last year that if those nations are socialist, then so is America.
And there is a big gap between the Nordic nations and France. And then another big gap before getting to Greece, and also a big gap before reaching Venezuela at the bottom. Should all of those nations get the same label?
So where do we draw the line to separate socialist nations from non-socialist nations?
I confess that I don’t have an answer because (as I’ve noted many times) we don’t have a good definition of socialism.
If socialism is central planning, government-determined prices, and government ownership of the means of production, then the only nations that really qualify are probably Cuba and North Korea. And they aren’t even part of the rankings because of inadequate economic data.
But if having a welfare state is socialism, then every jurisdiction other than Hong Kong and Singapore presumably qualifies.
Given this imprecision, I’m very curious to see where people think the line should be drawn.
P.S. This is why I usually just refer to statism or statists.
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Government ownership of the means of production is universal. Some places rent it to their favorite individuals for an annual fee (“tax”) and a long list of conditions (“laws and regulatsions”), others do not — but governments everywhere, own everything and everyone. You can’t even own a gun to defend yourself in Hong Kong and Singapore — the people there are slaves too.
Socialism (collectivism, statism — it’s all hair-splitting) is global, and it’s the reason we don’t have our flying cars yet. And frankly, as long as we continue to tolerate it, we deserve it.
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insight into the realities in North Korea:
“Meet Two Men Whose Lives Were Ruined by Socialism”
“BY PATTERICO MARCH 10, 2019”
https://pjmedia.com/trending/no-alexandria-ocasio-cortez-socialism-not-capitalism-is-the-irredeemable-system/
[…] take the former if forced to choose. And even when considering liberal socialism, there’s are big differences between market-friendly versions and intervention-based […]
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an interesting read….
Sarah Hoyt:
“Before we go any further, yes, I do know the difference between communism and socialism. Why, I grew up in a country that proclaimed itself on the way to socialism and my 11th-grade history book ended with a chapter called “Communism, the Perfect Society.”
“The One Wrong Premise at the Center of American Politics Today”
BY SARAH HOYT
https://pjmedia.com/trending/the-one-wrong-premise-at-the-center-of-american-politics-today/
The confusion surrounding the term ‘socialism’ is why I don’t get caught up in the labels. To me, it doesn’t matter if government control is called socialism, communism, fascism, or even democratic socialism. Yes, they’re different, but they all boil down to greater govt control, less individual liberty, and reduced prosperity. I just call all of them Big Government.
Concerning statism and statist: Louis Rukeyser always grabbed something on top of his head when his guest would say “market cap”. MS dictionary recommends states when I write statism.
socialism starts as an effort to assure equality of outcome within a given society… it ends with the use of deadly force as a means of neutralizing political opposition and settling personal scores… the length of time this process takes depends on the conditions on the ground… the advocates of socialism are fascists… prone to use the same techniques of governance that the national socialists used last century in Europe… it’s a system based on cohesion and force… once socialism lite is enacted… it just takes time for the hard core fascists in the party to consolidate their grip on power… and eliminate the opposition… it’s purely evil.. but it sounds oh so sweet to the ears of useful idiots…
Statist and statism mean little to most people. Big government might be better.
https://socioecohistory.wordpress.com/2019/02/16/has-the-new-world-order-collapsed-or-is-it-being-transformed/