Austerity zombies just don't have a clue...

[Lebanese Dragon]

Not all taxation is socialism. That's like the animals and dogs fallacy, all dogs are animals but not all animals are dogs.

Anyway, I thought it was already accepted that all modern western economies are a hybrid mix of some parts capitalism, some parts socialism. The question is the balance that you seek. I see less of the socialism, more of the capitalism.

Depends on defintion... It's definitly a community coming together to agree to pool resources toward common ends. Maybe a definition of socialism is when the task or expenditure is valuing the aggregate and not the invididual benefit from a investment. Maybe all investments that are worthwhile to all investors (we can look at paying taxes as an investement) then that is capitalistic but any taxation in which the indivudal would prefer to opt out in both paying it and reaping the benefit of the taxation as socialist.

Your definitely socializing for common good, but you may be promoting common good because it also happens to be how best to spend to promote your own good.

[GGT]

Not all taxation is socialism. That's like the animals and dogs fallacy, all dogs are animals but not all animals are dogs.

Anyway, I thought it was already accepted that all modern western economies are a hybrid mix of some parts capitalism, some parts socialism. The question is the balance that you seek. I see less of the socialism, more of the capitalism.

Taxation is often defined as legislated forced wealth-redistribution. Call that what you will. Or, as some of the extremists among us like to say....put a gun to our heads while picking our pockets of hard-earned money.

US political discourse is ripe with this kind of bipolar rhetoric. No Tax High Spending Republicans, Tax and Borrow Democrats. Taxed Enough Already=Tea Party (but don't touch their SS or Medicare). Deficits don't matter, but Deficit spending will kill us. Military spending should be cut, but we should keep acting as the world's military. We can't afford the high costs of public education and healthcare, but we can't afford to slash our way to third world status. Etc.

Rand, you're a conservative in a country with national (sssocialized) healthcare. You and Thatcher have defended that as an acceptable level of balance. American conservatives wholeheartedly disagree. And the way our politicians love to frame the debate is by pitting US capitalism against European socialism.

[RandBlade]

If I was in the US I would not introduce the NHS.

[GGT]

If I was in the US I would not introduce the NHS.

Why not? Margaret Thatcher believed that to be a policy akin to public education, a forward-looking national investment.

[RandBlade]

You sure? Or did she think it was a "third rail"?

It is worth having some sort of health system, the NHS has massive failures though, but its incredibly difficult to make any changes to it.

[GGT]

You sure? Or did she think it was a "third rail"?

It is worth having some sort of health system, the NHS has massive failures though, but its incredibly difficult to make any changes to it.

You tell me---you'd know more about Thatcher ideology than I You've posted about the values of your NHS in ways American conservatives would call "European SSSocialism", with great disdain.

Sorry, I don't mean to keep this convo going too far from the OP that was about "Austerity Zombies".

[RandBlade]

You've taken a minor thing I've said and ran with it repeatedly. If I was able to, I would privatise much of the NHS.

[Aimless]

No doubt with the same brilliant results Sweden has seen

[Steely Glint]

If I was in the US I would not introduce the NHS.

Yeah, I'd be more likely to, say, visit New York or Boston or something.

[RandBlade]

LOL!