Debunked, "Socialism has never worked"

The Borg ARE the DNC.

 

BAM!

 

What we have here are some folks who want to define socialism in absolutist terms so they don't have to acknowledge some countries which are organized around socialist principles are very successful with relatively happy populations.
The US is organized around capitalist principles but borrows elements of socialism for the benefit (pacification) of the public which without them, would be in the streets demanding them.

 

Oh wow. No, this is wrong.

Wealth comes in many forms. If you privately owned all the roads in the US, would you be wealthy? Yes. Those assets would be worth a fortune. Who owns those assets? We do, the people, aka the government. Sorry, roads are socialism. The only non-socialistic part about them is using contract labor to build them, but that is fine under socialism. Unless you're saying roads are NOT assets...?

https://www.history.com/news/socialism-communism-differences

See? So while nothing is 100% anything, the building of roads in the US is socialism. More over, how do socialist countries build roads? The. Exact. Same. Way. They even hire contractors! So...

 

Calm down, he's wrong and so are you.

 

What are you talking about? I never said buying cars was an example of socialism...

If you are so bothered by how I talk to you on the internet that you had to google such big words, perhaps you could google socialism with that time instead so you don't feel ridiculed when you try to converse about it?

 

No. Its completely correct.

Under socialism , the state owns and controls the means of producing and distributing wealth.
Public roads - where people distribute they wealth they and others produced and providing their own means to do so - do not fall under any of that.

You, apparently and fallaciously, believe state spending = socialism. You cannot be more wrong.

 

I never said you did. You just don't understand the topic.

Aw, little puppy trying to roar.

 

Can I assume those that beleive our roads are socialist also believe our public transportation system is also socialist?

 

Anyway...

 

Of course I do. I assume you hate public transportation because you've been told to by your internet friends?

 

If it is truly a socialist system why do we pay a fare to use it?

 

The state owns the road that is vital for distributing and producing wealth. Try doing it without the road. Best of luck to ya. The road was built via socialism. The factory at the end of the road was not and neither was the store that sells it's goods at the other end of the road. But without socialism, those two capitalistic entities wouldn't have a connection. What does that mean? People would be concentrated in cities with high densities to limit how far goods, services and labor must travel. Socialism changes that by allowing society as a whole to produce and own the means of goods, services, and labor distribution around the country.

 

The state does not distribute the wealth, the state does not provide the means for distributing the wealth, and the state does not control the means for distributing wealth.
Thus, public roads are an example of state spending, but not socialism.
You choose to be wrong.

 

Because we as a society seem to hold public transit to a higher standard than a road and thus feel the need to try and make it pay for itself. The motivation behind that is people who believe in the absolute superiority of cars and roads based on the so called "American way of life." Given no mass transit fee pays for the service it provides, it's one way to help depress ridership so people can argue public transit doesn't work. If you want to claim I'm wrong, compare toll roads that pay for themselves, like E470 in Denver, to toll roads that don't, like I90 in Chicago, to roads that have no tolls, such as 99% of the freeways in LA, and see how traffic compares. This is no longer discussing socialism, this is more my opinion based on the evidence I see.

 

The fares pay for the maintenance and management. Taxes are supposed to do that and, since it belongs to everyone there should not be a fare to use it. So, no it's not socialist.

 

Yes it does. We could charge a fortune to use those roads. We could demolish them. We could do anything we want to them. We can ban certain trucks from certain roads. We can ban bikes from certain roads. We the people, aka the government, controls them, and thus, the distribution of wealth in this country. No private company has 100% funded the distribution of wealth in the US ever. It's all be subsidized in some form since nearly the founding of this country. Indeed, road improvement was one of the issues at the constitutional convention, so we have a long sordid history with socialism.

But since you don't think we control it, tell me what happens tomorrow if we shut down every interstate, state road, county, and city road in the US? What happens to all that wealth? Does it float in the air magically from place to place...? Please, enlighten us. Or get over it and accept that socialism plays a part in your life. You will be OK, I promise.

 

No they don't. They cover a small percentage of it at best. Most public transit is funded by general tax dollars or by special taxes levied specifically to pay for them.

 

Amount is irrelevant. if it was truly socialist we would not have to pay to use it.

 

It does not.

Private companies distribute wealth, using the means they acquired for themselves, not means provided to them by the state.

These private companies, except in certain instances demanded by public safety, are not limited to where they can travel on these roads, when they can travel, what route they can take to get there, what freight they pickup and deliver, or how much they charge to do so - and thus, they are not under state control.

Thus, public roads are an example of state spending, but not socialism.
You choose to be wrong.

 

In order for it to be socialist products, goods and services are provided solely by the central government. Roads are created by the exchange of capital between the public and private sector. In fact the free market system plays a major factor in this through the bidding process.

 

That voluminous well-researched heavily-annotated answer really failed to sway me.

 

corrupt people like Trump will always be there to ruin any system

 

Well that certainly added to the discussion. Well played.

 

Listen.

Listen closely. Let all other sounds fade into nothing as we consider the vacuity of that post. It is zen.