“communism” doesn’t actually have any clear meaning. If you go back to the person most often credited as the source (though far from it) - Karl Marx - communism was stateless socialism. He called the political economy of, e.g., hunting & gathering tribal people “primitive communism” - no formal government, community based production according to the needs of the people of the community. As far as he was concerned, if one made the “means of production” community owned the state would cease to exist from a lack of need/function b/c the only reason the state exists is to protect the interests of those who control economic production. He thought socialism would be a temporary post-capitalism phase with the state doing economic planning. But as it wouldn’t be needed any longer, it would fade away & we would get communism.
We’re still tangled in the legacy of 20th century history & what it has done with the meanings of various words.
BTW: I too am neither communist, nor socialist. In the impoverished terms of today’s political chatter I don’t find a place anywhere. I’m often closest, perhaps, to libertarianism - but I can’t live with that as long as we have the huge corporation. I’m more afraid of them than I am of the state - since I do get a vote in the latter.
Corporate welfare has become a way of life in the US, and this is just another form of socialism
And the Big Corporation Capitalists wonder why the average man is starting to embrace Socialistic policies!! When Corporate America embraces Socialistic ideas that BENEFIT them making LARGE profits it sends a message to everyone else that Socialism is good. How about we actually embrace a pure capitalistic market. Oil companies are about as close to a Socialistic market as you can get.
They are also understaffed as are a number for federal agencies. And how they spend their resources is determined by Presidential policy. These are good people who don’t make a whole lot of money; certainly nothing like the people they regulate. If you tink that the SEC is not doing what it should, write your Congressman or Senator, even the President. They control what the SEC does.
That is a definition of socialism. I find if funny that some conservatives swear against any form of Socialism…yet Rush Limbaugh capitalized on it (pun intended). Before he was the conservative mouth piece…he was between jobs and on WELFARE for over a year.
Socialilsm, schmocialism. I can address both issues because I’m a (former) SAAB owner who lives in Alaska, a 1988 900S-the best car I ever had, fun to drive, tons of room, well designed and practical. I also owned a 9000Aero (95?) but the older car was the best. I think SAAB’s star had dimmed before the GM takeover and predictably that takeover didn’t help. Sure, the PFD (Permanent Fund Dividend) is socialism as is any program that benefits the public equally. Like the fire department and the public library. (Or medical insurance companies before them became for profit - and we see how well that has worked!) The Alaska state government got the oil companies to commit a part of their profits every year in return for state support of the pipeline and in a rare act of unselfishness gave that money to the people of the state rather than (more commonly) lining their own pockets. Montana could have done the same with copper, West Virginia with coal, etc, etc. You get the idea. The more interesting question is why Alaska continues to get more federal support per capita than any other state. (That probably has a lot to do with a recently convicted ex-senator.) It was entertaining to see Sarah Palin campaigning as a tax cutting “maverick” when her state has no taxes because of the largess of those who came before her. She may not like the federal government but she sure likes the fact that the federal government likes her! So call it whatever you like; labels in politics are pretty much used to obscure the truth.
Oh boy. If you listen to those commentators, you’ll really get a distorted view of the world. Alaska has resources to not need to collect taxes and gives the rest back to residents. Nothing wrong with that is there? Don’t believe all this libertarian hoopla about what government should and should not be in. Government is there to provide the services that the citzens want or need, and simply collect the money to pay for them. The problem is that we have been receiving far more services than we have been paying for. About time people step up to the plate and start paying their way.