What Exactly is Socialism?
According to Merriam-Webster website socialism is the following:
- Any various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods.
- A system of society or group living in which there is no private property.
- A system or condition of society in which the means of production are owned and controlled by the state.
- A stage of society in Marxist theory transitional between capitalism and communism and distinguished by the unequal distribution of goods and pay according to work done.
Now that, this is out of the way, let's talk about some of our socialistic practices in America. Of course, if you think I am wrong about any of this, please comment below and we can have an open discussion about it. As long as no one goes into a cyber-bullying frenzy of course.
So do we have socialistic practices in America? Yes, we do! The Following is a list of institutions brought to you by a little bit of socialism.
1. Libraries
Your local libraries that your tax dollars go towards is part of a socialistic practice. A library is owned by everyone and is for everyone. Libraries offer more than just books or movies. They offer video games (depending on where your community is located.), classes, and more. A library is a great socialistic practice and it's great for kids who don't have necessary items at home such as books or a place to go. It's also a great spot for kids to escape from their abusive parents for a short period of time. However, no one wants to think of that so let's get rid of the socialism in our country and make the libraries go away! That's what you are saying whenever you complain about this country being way too socialist.
2. Hospitals
More specifically, emergency rooms. When you have a dire accident, you immediately get transported via an ambulance (Also a part of a socialistic practice which ties in to hospitals.) and get treated right away. Okay, so maybe not right away, even though it's an emergency room. Still, you should get the idea. Generally, hospitals are the quickest way to death but it's not always the case. It needs to be changed but you get care based on what your insurance is or isn't. The Affordable Health Care Act is another part of socialism but this could have been planned so much better. The general principle of the act was a good one, but it failed on so many levels. It certainly needs to be tweaked or disbanded altogether and the insurances out now, need to be worked on better. Either way though, it's still a part of socialism.
3. Public Schools
Too many people have stated private schools are better. It's true to a certain extent but not every parent can afford it. It was a good thing when public education was made mandatory. At least, I think so. (Maybe it's the inner teacher speaking.) Still, it can absolutely be worked on and needs to be worked on. The first step is getting government out of education via common core and things like that. But your tax dollars do go to public schools. Not enough money goes to schools unfortunately, which forces teachers to do what they can to host fundraisers and then some for activities for their students. If someone tells you private schools are the way to go however, they clearly have not paid attention in history class. If you don't know what I mean, please go to a library and look up public schools in America via books. Ask your librarian for information on what schools were like in the 1800s and 1900s and before it became mandated that everyone needed to have at least a high school education. You will be surprised to learn or not, that not everyone went to school even if they really wanted to. Do you really want America to become a third world country?
There are so many more socialistic programs in this wonderful country of ours. Yes, sometimes socialism can be seen as a bad thing but only if it gets out of hand. When you bash socialistic practices in America, what you're really saying is that you don't want anyone to move up from their current station in life. Thanks for taking the time to read this.
