What makes a Socialist??

#1

gsvol

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#1
"People do not ask for socialism because they know that socialism will improve their conditions, and they do not reject capitalism because they know that it is a system prejudicial to their interests.

They are socialists because they believe that socialism will improve their conditions, and they hate capitalism because they believe that it harms them.

They are socialists because they are blinded by envy and ignorance."

--economist Ludwig von Mises (1881-1973)

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"The new kind of politics of hope. Eight hours of debate in the House of Representatives to pass a bill spending $820 billion -- or roughly $102 billion per hour of debate.

Only 10 percent of the 'stimulus' [is] to be spent on 2009. Close to half goes to entities that sponsor or employ (or both) members of the Service Employees International Union, federal, state, and municipal employee unions or other Democrat-controlled unions.

This bill is sent to Congress after President Obama has been in office for seven days. It is 680 pages long.

According to my calculations, not one member of Congress read the entire bill before this vote.

Obviously, it would have been impossible, given his schedule, for the president to have read the whole thing.

For the amount spent, we could have given every unemployed person in the United States roughly $75,000.

We could give every person who had lost a job and is now passing through long-term unemployment of six months or longer roughly $300,000.

There has been pork-barrel politics since there has been politics, but the scale of this pork is beyond what had ever been imagined before -- and no one can be sure it will actually do much stimulation. ...

This is more than pork-barrel -- this is a coup for the constituencies of the party in power and against the idea of a responsible government itself. A bleak day.

Unfortunately, it is only the latest in a long series of such days stretching across decades of rule by both parties, to the point where truly responsible government is only a distant echo of our forgotten ancestors."

--writer, actor, economist and lawyer Ben Stein

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"For those on the right who still cling to the fantasy that Obama is a bipartisan centrist, I refer you to his recent statement that FDR did not do enough by way of government spending to end the Depression ... and his government-expansion-on-steroids, non-stimulus pork bill.

The inevitable explosion of federal debt this legislation would cause is reason enough to oppose it, even if it were likely to stimulate the economy. But even some liberals are disputing its potential to stimulate.

The hastily crafted bill, with its corrupt funding of ACORN and other favors, is a disgracefully irresponsible effort to expand the public sector, diminish the private sector, empower the autocrats, and further divest us of our individual liberties -- all at the expense of present and future generations."

--columnist David Limbaugh
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"GOP proposals make a lot more sense [than the Democrats'] because they are not calling for a mountain of spending to further enlarge government.

They want deeper income tax cuts to immediately strengthen family budgets and businesses that produce most jobs. ...

This is the message Republicans are selling: Cut taxes to unleash the power of free enterprise and American productivity to create jobs, and cut federal spending to slow the growth of government, which has weakened the economy.

All this is good as far as it goes, but supply-side conservatives over at the House Republican Study Committee, now chaired by hard-charging Rep. Tom Price of Georgia, think their plan can do even better.

Mr. Price's hardy band of tax-cutters want a permanent 5 percent across-the-board income tax cut. ...

They are calling for the repeal of the Alternative Minimum Tax on Individuals (AMT), and making all withdrawals from individual retirement accounts tax-and-penalty-free in 2009 to allow hard-pressed taxpayers during the recession free access to their savings.

Plus ... cut the corporate income tax rate from 35 percent to 25 percent...

This is the kind of tax cut-driven, capital-growth economic recovery plan that is needed to get this $14 trillion economy back on track and lift the global economy along with it.

It's time the network news shows gave the GOP's tax cuts the attention they and the American people deserve. Barack Obama and his economic advisers might even learn a thing or two about economics if they did."

--columnist Donald Lambro
 
#2
#2
Its a matter of degree. Some form of socialism in today's economy and state of advanced industry and technology is frankly inevitable, but centralized totalitarian government that takes it to the point that it destroys liberty and incentive through hard work and perseverance, is not.

We disgaree on where the line is. While I would debate the merits of it, you just fall hook line and sinker for the naysayers like Limbaugh and Hannity and their ilk, the uninformed and unenelightened, and those who want you to see things in black and white for their own purposes when everything is shades of grey.
 
#3
#3
Its a matter of degree. Some form of socialism in today's economy and state of advanced industry and technology is frankly inevitable, but centralized totalitarian government that takes it to the point that it destroys liberty and incentive through hard work and perseverance, is not.

We disgaree on where the line is. While I would debate the merits of it, you just fall hook line and sinker for the naysayers like Limbaugh and Hannity and their ilk, the uninformed and unenelightened, and those who want you to see things in black and white for their own purposes when everything is shades of grey.

that's always the excuse for libs. grey areas, relativism, "too complicated for you to understand" just accept it. socialism's intension are good, no one is left out, everyone is the same. However, the results and reality of socialism is quite different.
 
#4
#4
that's always the excuse for libs. grey areas, relativism, "too complicated for you to understand" just accept it. socialism's intension are good, no one is left out, everyone is the same. However, the results and reality of socialism is quite different.


I am not saying "accept it." In fact, I think we as a nation need to be ever vigilant against government encroaching too much into our daily lives, taking on too mch responsibility and leaving us in bad shape when they fail (or even worse when they succeed!).

But I am also saying that you cannot just throw around words like "socialism" without understanding that the concept is indeed very complicated and is as much a philosophy of hte relationship between the individual and the rest of society as it is a question of tax policy.

To just throw around the label and not appreciate the many and important distinctions that are there is worse than the concept in its worst form.
 
#5
#5
Insanity in individuals is something rare-but in groups,
Parties,Nations and Epochs it is the rule.

Friedrich Nietzsche.
 
#7
#7
a socialist is someone who claims:

"only the government can solve this economic crisis"
 
#9
#9
"You cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the wealthy out of freedom. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving.

The governent cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them and the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that my dear friend, is about the end of a nation."

You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it."

Dr. Adrian Rogers
 
#10
#10
"You cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the wealthy out of freedom. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving.

The governent cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them and the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that my dear friend, is about the end of a nation."

You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it."

Dr. Adrian Rogers
That about sums it up.
 
#15
#15
While I would debate the merits of it, you just fall hook line and sinker for the naysayers like Limbaugh and Hannity and their ilk, the uninformed and unenelightened, and those who want you to see things in black and white for their own purposes when everything is shades of grey.

How typical of you to try to make the discussion personal and attempt to impugn the intelligence and knowledge of anyone who doesn't buy your not so well thought out conclusions.

First of all I don't listen to or view (if they are on the TV) Limbaugh and Hannity, but I do newly puke every time I watch the 'news' on ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS and BBC.

If you take all the colors and mix them into one bucket and stir them up for awhile, you get a color that is the same as that of your average cow patty.

So I would take exception to your 'grey' analogy, you should say everything is brown. (the consistency, color and odor all being about that of a cow patty.)
 
#16
#16
I remember when I thought you were a level headed guy, who was fairly sharp.

Why would that statement cause you to feel any differently? Actually I was agreeing with your statement, just pointing out how upset some people get when they look around and others have more than they do.
 
#17
#17
How typical of you to try to make the discussion personal and attempt to impugn the intelligence and knowledge of anyone who doesn't buy your not so well thought out conclusions.

First of all I don't listen to or view (if they are on the TV) Limbaugh and Hannity, but I do newly puke every time I watch the 'news' on ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS and BBC.

If you take all the colors and mix them into one bucket and stir them up for awhile, you get a color that is the same as that of your average cow patty.

So I would take exception to your 'grey' analogy, you should say everything is brown. (the consistency, color and odor all being about that of a cow patty.)


You've been calling be stupid or shallow for the better part of a week!

I think you are a fairly bight, yet misguided fellow. But I am using you as a caricature for all the drones out there that hear Hannity, sneaking his eyes around and all, crane his neck out a little bit and whsiper "Socialist!" only so that his mindless minions scurry off to their blogs and message boards, dramatically (and quite dangerously) oversimplifying very complex matters, in hopes of keeping his ratings up and the intellectual status of the country down.

Sadly, it is working.
 
#18
#18
You've been calling be stupid or shallow for the better part of a week!

I think you are a fairly bight, yet misguided fellow. But I am using you as a caricature for all the drones out there that hear Hannity, sneaking his eyes around and all, crane his neck out a little bit and whsiper "Socialist!" only so that his mindless minions scurry off to their blogs and message boards, dramatically (and quite dangerously) oversimplifying very complex matters, in hopes of keeping his ratings up and the intellectual status of the country down.

Sadly, it is working.

i think hannity and rush know what socialism is.. also, if you look at America from a historical perspective, it's easy to see our transition to a more socialistic society, especially since the new deal.

when you hear politicians constantly talk about fairness, making the playing field level, everyone doing their fair share, they are constantly making the case for a certain amount of socialism. the problem is that once they go down that road, they're not going to stop.

we have some great current examples of the failure of liberalism and socialism. europe and California. they both have been implementing socialist ideas and we are seeing the results, especially California.

the problem is that we're not learning from their failures. i don't think liberals care about results, they only look at the intensions.
 
#19
#19
Lumping hannity and rush in the same basket is silly. Rush is extremely bright and annoying. Hannity is simply annoying.
Posted via VolNation Mobile
 
#21
#21
Its a matter of degree. Some form of socialism in today's economy and state of advanced industry and technology is frankly inevitable, but centralized totalitarian government that takes it to the point that it destroys liberty and incentive through hard work and perseverance, is not.

We disgaree on where the line is. While I would debate the merits of it, you just fall hook line and sinker for the naysayers like Limbaugh and Hannity and their ilk, the uninformed and unenelightened, and those who want you to see things in black and white for their own purposes when everything is shades of grey.


:lolabove:

That is code for...... I live in my mom's basement and this is my way of getting even!

nerd2.JPG
 
#24
#24
You've been calling be stupid or shallow for the better part of a week!

I think you are a fairly bight, yet misguided fellow. But I am using you as a caricature for all the drones out there that hear Hannity, sneaking his eyes around and all, crane his neck out a little bit and whsiper "Socialist!" only so that his mindless minions scurry off to their blogs and message boards, dramatically (and quite dangerously) oversimplifying very complex matters, in hopes of keeping his ratings up and the intellectual status of the country down.

Sadly, it is working.

While I know that you deeply believe the statements you make, you need to understand one simple truth. More complex is not always better.

Conservatives are not unable to match your brain power. We simply know that there is black and white right and wrong on most issues. The whole idea that things are shades of grey and we should compromise principles to match is the idealogy that is wrecking America.
 

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