Theft... I’m from the government and I’m here to help.... Socialism Explained ( Archived) (39)

Completely silly! First of all, no one is trying to commit "theft" or ask for something they don't deserve. The fact is, the principles of socialism are used with great success in our country. (USA) How do you like those roads we drive. A socialist method for paying for our infrastructure is pretty successful, correct? How about taxes? I pay about 30% in taxes out my salary as do a many people in the middle class. Unfortunately, you can't say the same for the wealthy. Take Mitt Romney as a common example. Romney, (last I knew) was making rughly 20 million a year. His effective tax rate was 13%. The problem is, he didn't pay a true 13%. What he along with just about any other wealthy person is able to do is hide their money in foreign bank accounts where it will be safe from being taxed due to loop holes in the tax system. Romney might make 20 million, but he only has to declare a small portion of that once the rest is safely hidden away. If he were to even declare 3,000,000 at the same effective rate after declarations, he would be paying less than 2% in taxes while average Joe pays 30%. Now, you might bring up "trickle down" as a bennefit. Not so fast! Most of that hidden money never makes it into the hands of the middle class or even into this country at all. The money that is spent in this country is a small percentage typically and less than 5% very goes to middle class raises. Add in the fact that intlation constantly eats up the meager profit these middle class workers make and the net gain is negligible. Fact is, if the minimum wage in the USA had kept up with the rate of inflation since the sixties, all workers would be making hourly wages in the mid 20's. The average minimum wage in this country is under ten dollars an hour. At ten dollars an hour, the worker will bring home at best around $1300 per month. Rents in the cheapest areas of the country are typically around $800 to $1000 for a one bedroom. That doesn't leave a whole lot for groceries, gas, utilities, etc. Even a household with two earners making ten dollars an hour would struggle terribly! You might say, get a second or third job. I say, do you really believe it is fair to force families to work multiple jobs and spend no time with their spouses and children just to get buy? Is it fair that these people can't enjoy a decent lifestyle without having to work multiple jobs? If you believe this acceptable, you're part of the problem! These people struggle while the wealthy get wealthier! Walmart, for example, pays about $9.50 starting. If they increased their wages to even twelve dollars an hour, it would cost the consumers roughly one extra dollar per one hundred dollars spent at the store. Is that too much to ask so someone can enjoy their children and life? The wealthy scare the middle class Republicans into believing that sharing is such a horrible thing. They keep us down so they can become wealthier and wealthier. It isn't theft to want a fair wage in which is earned with hard work that creates profit for the business! These wealthy people and businesses are basically milking the middle class for all it's worth. Then you add in the non profit companies that make huge profits but pay zero taxes! If everyone payed the same tax with zero no matter what and workers were provided a FAIR living wage, the businesses would still make large profits and the middle class wouldn't have to suffer as they foot most of the bill for this countries costs..(Which by the way is routinely wasted with poor budgeting" if you enjoy paying extra taxes so some fat cat can add another 5% profit to his already huge profits, then by all means fork over your hard earned money while you suffer. I doin't plan on kissing their butts while they are screwing me in mine! Democratic Socialism (which is the modern term) is a principal that asserts no citizen deserves to be paid a less than fair wage.

You're not accurate. Words and terms evolve over time and the socialistic proposition used today is not used in terms completely related to its original usage. Socialism (specifically Democratic Socialism) is used in conjunction with a capilistic economic system and only asserts that all individuals deserve a decent living wage, medical, and education. It is not asserting that all individuals earn the same amount regardless of effort. There would still be wealthy under this system. The only difference is the taxes would be allocated evenly. For example, the tax rate might be 15% for everyone and wages for middle class would be congruent with the current inflation rates. Second, these principles are used in this specific manner throughout several other countries with better economic results than indicated by our current economic climate. Basically, they rank ahead of us. We only remain in the lead in economic gross product because of countries large population. If you manipulate the numbers to represent an equal playing field, we are being destroyed by certain other countries. Third, the main reason Socialism failed in the Soviet Union under the previous definition is due to two main factors. One, the leaders of that country unfairly treated it's citizens, committed acts of violence upon them, limited rights, and expected to be viewed as if they were human "Gods". Second, the system was not carried out as originally instituted as leaders changed, greed crept in, etc. In no way am I saying it was a perfect system, but using some of those principles in conjunction with a capilistic framework is the best way to go. (As proven by other countries) lastly, are you stating that workers do not deserve a fair wage? In no way has Democratic Socialism ever mentioned equality of profit margin. A fast food worker would not be making as much as a CEO of a company. Instead, a baseline wage that would be set according to cost of living. Wages for specialtiy positions as well as raises for better workers would still apply as normal. One last point. Please do not act as if most wealthy individuals became that way through hard work. Most wealthy individuals gained their money through inheritance, loans from family and friends, illegal methods, and dumb luck! Hard work should be rewarded but not just for the small percentage that were lucky enough to be born into great circumstances.

Also, education is failing for different reasons. This a capilistic system, not socialist. Education is failing because the educational system is flawed in structure and methods. Your filled with bad information!

You do understand that socialism has zero to do with immigrants, right? California is NOT a economic system unique of its own. It is still capilistic. Also, the electoral college is a bunch of BS. It is a rigged system causes an unfair advantage for some states compared to others and those states with lower populations have less chance to see their needs met. Also, those votes are rarely sensible, more often bought and paid for and occasionally do not reflect the popular vote. The electoral college was created because the government believed citizens like you and I were too stupid be informed. Most citizens can make informed decisions if they are not fed lies and they actually work to educate themselves. There could be a system in place that educates voters prior to the actual election being held. The electoral college is too often corrupt Ed by outside influences and at best represents an uninformed population. Informing the population might be a better strategy if we want to actually have a vote that matters.