Socialism Doesn't Work?

It might be worth noting that there are only four (4) Socialist (with a capital 'S'), nations; China, Cuba, Vietnam and Laos. All others, including the US, incorporate socialist policies to a greater or lesser extent, including safety nets for those unfortunate enough to have become victims of failed capitalism through no fault of their own.

 

So you're in favor of a guaranteed minimum wage that would allow a person, say working at Kwik-e-Mart, to earn enough such that his wife could stay at home with the kids and ...

That's not the world we live in and, really, never has been. My grandmother was a "stay at home mom" who spent most of her "free time" doing other people's laundry and sewing to make ends meet.

Your view of the "state" having an "agenda" is not based in reality. You should examine why you have these opinions. The actual factual basis.

 

They aren't. In fact their economies are crumbling.

This has nothing to do with socialism. Socialism takes away from individuals by mandate. What Paul is
writing is voluntary giving for Christians and a far cry from creating a government system of Collectivism.

Jesus doesn't mandate taking from one and giving to another.

 

Kings, Queens, leaders of the world, or powers that be. You think throughout the history of mankind they have given the people the truth. No, I don't know what they called truth throughout the years, but today the truth is known as classified, or top secret, and we don't get the truth! If you think there is not a new world order agenda, then why have the past five presidents promoted it, claiming they will achieve this new world order, behind the podium for the world to see? It's a conspiracy! No, no it's not. It is reality, and anybody who says different is outside reality.

The buildings in America used for the first public schools, was the Churches. Now they might not of been preaching Christianity during school hours, but most certainly had the cross and some with Jesus in the building. At this time, yes, the mothers stayed home with the kids while the men worked in the fields, with animals, or others outside the home. It wasn't until around the invention of the vehicle where this slowly deteriorated.

I guess we agree to disagree when it comes to the parents teaching our young, instead of public schools. I don't think any teacher is going to teach "your" child better than "you"! Especially with today's technology where information is so quickly acquired.

 

M-m-m-m-m, you're half right, half wrong, in my opinion. By personal experience I can say my parents greatly helped me by sparing some time to help me with my education, when I was a child, but on the other hand - they both worked, which never been much of a problem for me. Can't say I lacked attention.

So I agree, that parents should take care if children, but having one of them working and other not is not necessarily for that at all.

 

I don't agree with all of what you wrote, but agree with a lot.
I feel that we are coming very close to Fascism.
Maybe we should agree on definitions.
Capitalism - industry in all private hands
Socialism - industry in government hands
Fascism - government in industry hands
Under GOP judges on the Supreme Court, Citizens United allows unlimited money for companies (think Koch Brothers) to buy elections - and in the amazing proclamation that "Businesses are people", and business control of our government is hard for individuals to counter. It used to be said "What is good for General Motors is good for the country".
The GOP push to "privatize" everything is "double-speak" for fascism - hand government over to corporations. Look at our Prisons - they are now "private" and thus we have the highest prison population in the world, no hints of rehabilitation, because recidivism is good for business...Wonder why the so-called president says "law and order" - stuff those prisons! Drive up those profits!!
I think we are extremely close to having a completely mercenary armed forces. We already "sub-contract" many security and supply functions - paying companies way more than we pay those in our uniforms - Benghazi had mercenaries at the embassy, Iraq had Blackwater and Halliburton. What Seabees used to do now gets "sold" to Halliburton at no bid at cost plus - a waste of money, and more reasons why war is good for business.

My opinion on government is they should take in taxes and spend them for common good - roads, post office, healthcare, defense,....
The GOP hates government, wants to take taxes and prioritize the military - which is going increasingly to purely private companies....
I will make a bet we will hear increasing calls to privatize the VA - hey, profits to be made on the suffering of vets!!

I think healthcare is a terrible place to have capitalism. Profit wins over healthcare.

 

He does kind of say this but I do not think it is a general command.

When a rich man comes to him and asks what he must to to get into heaven Jesus responds - keep the commands "don't steal, shag thy neighbors wife and so on".

The man presses Jesus saying "I have done all this"
Jesus responds "If you want to be perfect" sell all you have and follow me.

Many have confused this with Jesus saying "you have to sell all you have to get into heaven" but this is not what he says a all. Perfection is not required to enter the pearly gates.

For sure though Jesus emphasizes good works - helping the poor and taking care of the sick - helping others in general.

One of the best parables is the sheep and goats. Matt 25. Jesus is judging who will get through the pearly gates and who will not.

Those that helped the poor and fed the hungry - even though they did not know Jesus- got in. Those that knew Jesus but did not do these things did not get in.

This is echoed at the end of the Sermon on the mount (Matt 5-7) in Matt 7.
Jesus says not all those who call "Lord Lord" will get into heaven. "Only those that do the will of the Father" The will of the father is what Jesus has preached in the sermon he has just given. It is all works - love neighbor - judge others as you would be judged the golden rule (treat others as you would be treated/do unto others)- help the poor and needy ... and so on.

Not one word about "faith". Not one mention that faith will get you into heaven.

This runs contrary to "Sola Fide" doctrine. Salvation by faith alone.

This is what I mean when I say that many Christian denominations do not much follow the teachings of Jesus.

 

BALONEY.
If the government hadn't stepped in with the EPA (Under Nixon (!)) you might be dead from industrial pollution.
You get a polio vaccine? As a kid I got an early trial vaccine in grammar school - thru the government.
You could well be speaking Japanese or German or Russian if our military hadn't done its job.
I do sort of agree with your last sentence:
"And ignorant people who claim the rich get richer, are the ones allowing for it" - it is a FACT, not a claim, that the rich get richer, and it is a FACT that the lower the education level, the greater the likelihood of voting GOP.
You get no mail?
You have a house mortgage? You have a bank account? You might well have lost those assets without government FDIC and bank bailouts.
You are paranoid and listen to idiots - either on the radio or Faux.

Do you vote? If you claim government is evil, did you vote for them?

 

When it comes to voting I always vote, and I always do research on the candidates. Looking for bravery, courage, leadership, achievements both past and present, contributions to society, education, what they have done both good and bad, for we all have both. There are more areas but I will spare you all of them. In this particular presidential race, I am "VERY" embarrassed of both candidates, for if these candidates is all America has to offer, well then America is in trouble. Having said that, I do pray to God to keep Trump in line and to do what is best for the country.

To my knowledge the only vaccine I ever got was a polio shot. No flu, no chickenpox, as far as I can remember no others. Oh, I did get a tetanus shot. For warfare a vaccine would be a very nice trick. The EPA did nothing as to stop the pollution. Are you kidding me. How long has it been since you drove into a big city, and you can just see the pollution in the air. Hey, no smoking, but it's ok for you to breathe in all this polluted air. You think the EPA is the reason our climate is where it is. No, it's going to continue to get worse, for it is not a problem money can fix, rather a lifestyle (way of life). If people continue their day to day lives, then it all stays the same no matter how much money we throw at it. If climate change is man made, we must change our lifestyles, and people are far to arrogant to do such.

I never said I don't believe in having a military, and that is not socialism. That is merely people of one nation getting together to protect it. The military should be our most funded area. And if you ask me, no man should be told to kill another or millions if they do not provide a reason why, or the truth to the soldiers. Our troops should most certainly be able to voice their opinion on war, or any political matter for that is what they protect.

If your a person that does nothing but vote for party, then you are easily misled. That is the problem with America today. People have no idea what these candidates have done in congressional hearings, what they have voted for both past and present, and so much more. I mean over fox news or any other media network, who is going to watch c-span and get the real truth?

I have no mortgage, I have no bank account. I cannot get a mortgage without a bank account, and I refuse to get a bank account for what the banks have done to the American people. Other people are like, ok so you stole from us, manipulate numbers, lower and raise interest rates, print and inflate money, and all of this for the benefit of them, not the American people. As far as I can tell, the American people would allow this to happen again. Yes, they are that ignorant. And it shows because after the incident, they either stuck with them or went running to them. Ignorance.

You say I'm paranoid, I say your way to comfortable.

 

your naivety regarding the worlds militaries is showing. If your bored go and look up thenmajor world power dating back to the 1500s. They all have one thing in common. Can you guess what it is?

 

They all spent all their money on the military? Lol

 

ha make that two things...the worlds best navy.

 

...and would you mind explaining to me what state the economy of the United States is in?

For instance, how great is your budget surplus?

 

So maybe we need 40 CBG's? LOL

 

yes! To combat global warming! Manbearpig is real!

 

Okey dokey pokey

 

I don't know if that's entirely fair. I'm sure there are individuals, but as a whole, they do make up a good portion of total charitable donations.

 

Then enlighten me. Show me where Jesus supports socialism.

 

I looked at the quotes in your link, they are all over the place and many are way out of context.

For example, the first one in the link:

Matthew 6:2-4 ESV “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. "​

That has absolutely nothing to do with socialism. Charity is to be an act of love and mercy done in the spirit of God's glory, those who are charitable are following God" will and will be rewarded in Heaven. However, if people are charitable in order to impress their fellow man with their wealth and piety, they have the wrong motive, they receive their reward from the awe of their fellow man, not from God.

2 Thessalonians 3:10 ESV For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat.​

Seems that one is against socialism.

Acts 2:44-45 ESV And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need.​

First, note that they were "...... distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need." That is not to all people, but within the community of Christians. It was Christians sharing with Christians who had need, not sharing with anyone who had need.

Socialists love that one, but they take it out of context. Acts 2 describes when in Jerusalem the Holy Spirit came to the Apostles, they spoke in tongues, and 3,000 people were baptized. Many people were becoming Christians, the religion was exploding, it was an exciting time. This was occurring during Pentecost (major Jewish festival), Jerusalem was crowded with people. All the new "Christians" were together, they stayed far longer than planned and were running out of resources, so they took care of one another. This lasted until the Sanhedrin began persecuting followers of Jesus.

Acts 4 is in the same vein as Acts 2.

I won't go through all the quotes in the link. These are enough to show the link does not support the idea that Jesus taught or supported socialism.

 

Seeing none were advocates of socialism, the question is idiotic. You're welcome.

I'm afraid the question is too Pilatesque to be answered directly. I'll tell you this much: the creation and maintenance of a permanently dependent class is inimical to humanity, but it's the lifeblood of socialism in practice.

 

Your ignorance of the teachings of Jesus and Socialism is boundless.

Helping the poor and taking care of the sick is a fundamental tenet of socialism.

Matt 25 - Sheep and Goats Parable

Not only does Jesus teach about feeding the hungry and helping the sick - Those that did so in this parable got into heaven.

Those that did not and the likes of you? "Eternal Punishment"

 

Wrong. The fundamental tenet of socialism is the co-operative management of the economy, sometimes described as the public ownership of the means of production.

From http://www.worldsocialism.org/english/what-socialism, "The old slogan of "from each according to ability, to each according to needs" would apply." That is not charity, it is brutal wealth and property redistribution, it is the punishment of those who work hard in order to give to those who do not work as hard. It is government theft of a persons time, skills, and efforts (the definition of slavery), in order to reward those the government selects.

The means of achieving this redistribution is a vicious police state in which people obey and surrender or suffer starvation, imprisonment, torture, and/or death.

Maybe you should understand socialism itself before wading into the waters of religion and socialism.

 

You need them, if you want the US Dollar to maintain supremacy as the de facto international reserve currency and international currency of trade.

 

You benefit every day from these brutal socialist programs

 

Then maybe we need 20 or 30. When is too much?