Why do Republicans drive on socialist roads, attend socialist schools?
Why do Republicans use socialist police and fire protection services? Why do they depend on the nationalized military to protect the country? Don't the Republicans believe that all these government subsidized services should be privatized?
Wouldn't it be better if corporate CEOs owned the military, completely owned all the interstate highways, public schools, police and fire services? Why do we even need a government anyway? Government is bad says the Republican. Wouldn't anarcho-capitalism be a better system as long as it was moderated by the top 1%?
Looking at other western, democratic, capitalist and non-socialist countries that got it right might be the best thing the US can do.
Look at Scandinavia, Germany or the Netherlands where they have universal health care and people are way more satisfied with it and it's also a lot cheaper than in the US. A person will not become poor because of sudden needed health care.
While in many countries it makes sense to privatize the energy sector the health-care system should remain in the hands of the government, just like interstate highways and the military. If these were privatized too highways and military might not remain the same quality and would be in need of more money quickly. People who'd want to use these services would have to pay a higher price in order to be able to use them.
More freedom to chose you say? Yes, but at what cost? Why should you pay more if the government can provide a fairer, cheaper and more stable solution?
Lou Dobbs had a VERY interesting segment about this on his show a while back. I highly recommend you watch it! (You can skip the first 31 seconds of the video)
It's schizophrenic to fall for the conservative slogan "Obamacare is socialism" when you rely on government provided interstates, police, military and fire services. Furthermore, if you ask real socialists if Obama is a socialist they will ALL say no, he is a capitalist!
Things to make you go hmmm..
It's all well and fair to be a conservative just try to look past the slogan and look at real facts and compare them to the myth that the US would be moving towards socialism:
Myth #1. The US government is involved in class warfare attacking the rich to lift up the poor.
There is a class war going on all right. But it is the rich against the rest of us and the rich are winning. The gap between the rich and everyone else is wider in the US than any of the 30 other countries surveyed. In fact, the top 10% in the US have a higher annual income than any other country. And the poorest 10% in the US are below the average of the other OECD countries. The rich in the U.S. have been rapidly leaving the middle class and poor behind since the 1980s.
Myth #2. The US already has the greatest health care system in the world.
Infant mortality in the US is 4th worst among OECD countries -- better only than Mexico, Turkey and the Slovak Republic.
Myth #3. There is less poverty in the US than anywhere.
Child poverty in the US, at over 20% or one out of every five kids, is double the average of the 30 OECD countries.
Myth #4. The US is generous in its treatment of families with children.
The US ranks in the bottom half of countries in terms of financial benefits for families with children. Over half of the 30 OECD countries pay families with children cash benefits regardless of the income of the family. Some among those countries (e.g. Austria, France and Germany) pay additional benefits if the family is low-income, or one of the parents is unemployed.
Myth #5. The US is very supportive of its workers.
The US gives no paid leave for working mothers having children. Every single one of the other 30 OECD countries has some form of paid leave. The US ranks dead last in this. Over two thirds of the countries give some form of paid paternity leave. The US also gives no paid leave for fathers.
In fact, it is only workers in the US who have no guaranteed days of paid leave at all. Korea is the next lowest to the US and it has a minimum of 8 paid annual days of leave. Most of the other 30 countries require a minimum of 20 days of annual paid leave for their workers.
Myth #6. Poor people have more chance of becoming rich in the US than anywhere else.
Social mobility (how children move up or down the economic ladder in comparison with their parents) in earnings, wages and education tends to be easier in Australia, Canada and Nordic countries like Denmark, Norway, and Finland, than in the US. That means more of the rich stay rich and more of the poor stay poor here in the US.
Myth #7. The US spends generously on public education.
In terms of spending for public education, the US is just about average among the 30 countries of the OECD. Educational achievement of US children, however, is 7th worst in the OECD. On public spending for childcare and early education, the US is in the bottom third.
Myth #8. The US government is redistributing income from the rich to the poor.
There is little redistribution of income by government in the U.S. in part because spending on social benefits like unemployment and family benefits is so low. Of the 30 countries in the OECD, only in Korea is the impact of governmental spending lower.
Myth #9. The US generously gives foreign aid to countries across the world.
The US gives the smallest percentage of aid of any of the developed countries in the OECD. In 2007 the US was tied for last with Greece. In 2008, we were tied for last with Japan.
Despite the opinions of right wing folks, the facts say the US is not on the path towards socialism.
Period.
