With about 100 recent gloomy posts (and only about 95 of them from chainpin) about socialism ruining the world, I thought I’d offer some cheerier news from Godzone, my distant corner of Socialist Nirvana.
**The Economist and Mercer Consulting have recently completed a survey of living conditions in world cities and have released a ranking of the worlds most liveable cities.
1 Melbourne Australia 97.5
2 Vienna Austria 97.4
3 Vancouver Canada 97.3
4 Toronto Canada 97.2
5 Calgary Canada 96.6
6 Sydney Australia 96.1
7 Helsinki Finland 96.0
8 Perth Australia 95.9
9 Adelaide Australia
10 Auckland New Zealand 95.7 **
The survey did not include climate as a factor in liveability, so I’ve done the hard yards to correct that omission, dropping Canada and Finland out of the top 100, and lifting the capitals of the Antipodean Workers Paradise to the top 4 spots (Melbourne, Bleak City, 4th). http://www.economist.com/node/21528162 Commie cities nicer to live in than the free world – who’da thunk it?
***Amidst global concerns of widespread national bankruptcies, the Treasurer has reconfirmed his commitment to returning the budget to surplus next year, after the successful round of stimulus spending in the last two years. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204554204577023283497085276.html?mod=googlenews_wsj **This is actually excessively austere, he should just let it slip by a few billion, but there is something to admire in the discipline of a socialist government making and meeting promises of fiscal responsibility. No wonder he was named Euromoney Finance Minister of the Year. * Commies managing their economy better than the free world – who’da thunk it?
I’d say the gods had blessed socialism, except we socialists are all heathens, so we have that as well.
The interesting thing IMO is that 8 of those 10 most liveable cities are in the half-dozen most economically free countries in the world, according to the ranking compiled by the ultra-left wing socialist heritage.org. The remaining two cities are also in countries not much further down the list.
EDIT TO ADD: It’s also interesting that the US ranks as less free than most of those countries.
You cannot have a great society without a strong central government. You also need to have government, business, and individuals working together to solve the issues of society.
EDIT TO ADD: It’s also interesting that the US ranks as less free than most of those countries.
I was going to say something smarmy like “Isn’t comparing the US to these countries simply comparing one socialist country to another?”…but you took the high road
america right now is the worst kind of socialist. we subsidize our worst corporate douchebags
As I’ve said many time it’s not really about the form of government as how the government is run. A country run by a benevolent dictator that allows complete economic freedom will be FAR better off than a democracy that regulates, controls and sinks their resources into loosing propositions for the sole purpose of retaining power.
Dude, we get it you love Australia/Socialism, live their and enjoy it to the full max. I wish all the Big Government supporters, who feel they need to have someone take care of them and who like the idea redistributing wealth, would move to countries like yours. In America it is just not our bag baby (well it didn’t use to be) and we have done quite fine with out it.
In the meantime Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Italy, Spain, California… are all imploding under socialism type policies.
america right now is the worst kind of socialist. we subsidize our worst corporate douchebags.
Oh? You are a bunch of rich corporate douchebags that ran your company into the ground? Have some money! you are too big to fail!
Schools low on funding? Sorry we are in debt and handing out money would be socialism anyway!
wait what
You said “america right now is the worst kind of socialist. we subsidize our worst corporate douchebags,” I think the correct term is facist. The collusion of Gov’t and Corporations that we are seeing is actually facism.
You said “america right now is the worst kind of socialist. we subsidize our worst corporate douchebags,” I think the correct term is facist. The collusion of Gov’t and Corporations that we are seeing is actually facism.
Correct, although for practical purposes fascism is a subcategory of socialism anyway. The only difference is that under fascism the pretense of private property is maintained; the use of that property, however, is determined by the state.
You said “america right now is the worst kind of socialist. we subsidize our worst corporate douchebags,” I think the correct term is facist. The collusion of Gov’t and Corporations that we are seeing is actually facism.
Correct, although for practical purposes fascism is a subcategory of socialism anyway. The only difference is that under fascism the pretense of private property is maintained; the use of that property, however, is determined by the state.
It can be a little difficult to communicate political theory in one liners, so I’ll try to do it in a paragraph. Socialism/communism is on the left of the poltical spectrum and facism is on the right. Neither should be confused with dictatorship, but both have had their fair share of them. In fact, they both create a ripe environment for one since the concentration of wealth and power is in the hands of a few. In socialism/communism, the gov’t manages and controls all forms of production, hence it must be rationed based on political fiat. In facism, the corporation rules, but politicians always find ways to keep a rent seeking environment. For instance, the banks on Wall Street for all intensive purposes control our gov’t. But eventually poltical necessity mandates they get reined in, so our politicians create a new regulation. The big banks pay off the politicians through lobbying and in many cases write the legislation in their favor. So the end product does little to control the big banks, but is devistating to the little ones. So essentially the big banks are still in control, they have limited the competition so they can now pass the new compliance cost onto their customers who no longer have a local bank they can go to. Dictatorship on the otherhand is a little different. In a socialist environment, the dictator often comes to power through the political process or through force (military) they control everything as long as they keep the bureacrats happy. In facism, the dictator is more of a figure head put in place by the corporate interest to ensure the status quo is maintained. The corporations keep teh bureacrats happy, if the facist dictator steps to far out of line with the status quo, the corporate elite ensure they are removed quickly.
a benevolent dictator that allowed complete economic freedom would result in a pretty effed up place to live too.
america right now is the worst kind of socialist. we subsidize our worst corporate douchebags
As I’ve said many time it’s not really about the form of government as how the government is run. A country run by a benevolent dictator that allows complete economic freedom will be FAR better off than a democracy that regulates, controls and sinks their resources into loosing propositions for the sole purpose of retaining power.
a benevolent dictator that allowed complete economic freedom would result in a pretty effed up place to live too.
america right now is the worst kind of socialist. we subsidize our worst corporate douchebags
As I’ve said many time it’s not really about the form of government as how the government is run. A country run by a benevolent dictator that allows complete economic freedom will be FAR better off than a democracy that regulates, controls and sinks their resources into loosing propositions for the sole purpose of retaining power.
~Matt
The benevolent dictator is supposed to be the best depending on the source. But I often pare that argument with the ludicrous argument liberals make about how socialism works and is ideal if the “right people” were in power to implement it, but like most problems they both fall apart when the next generation of psychos come to power. Remember Nero was the next emperor after Claudius.
A little muddled, but not completely wrong. A proper description would require at least two dimensions, not just a left/right axis.
Well like I said, I tried in a paragraph. The correct axes would be the level of central planning (total economic freedom vs total cental planning) on one axis and the level of state control on the other.
