Socialism is bad, mmmmkay. So I was curious. Can we come up with a list of which countries are “socialist” and which ones are not?
I’ll start.
Germany - Socialist
USA - Not.
France, Germany, UK, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Sweden, Denmak, Norway, Finland, Austria, Holland, Luxembourg, Belguim, Greece, Canada, Oz, NZ, Singapore…yes
USA…No
Given one of the big “defining characteristics” appears to be healthcare where healthcare is either government funded or provided, all of those listed qualify, each has systems where the government is either the primary provider, funder or has legislated that having coverage is mandatory or provides some level of coverage to every citizen.
At best, it’s a matter of degree. Some countries are more socialist than others. Arguing about which ones are socialist enough to call them socialist is akin to arguing about how tall is “tall.” There’s no single dividing point.
In addition, there are different kinds of socialism, which further muddies the picture.
I completely agree but given the frequency with which people use the term “socialised medincine” to represent a countries political bent and that having socialised medicine (at least on this site) equates to being a socialist country, the countries listed all qualify.
The USA is not socialist but will be. I am starting to believe all societies want a certain amount of freedom but not too much. The whole idea that we are born with a sense of freedom seems to be ringing hollow.
Okay, then how about rank ordering them?
I’ll disagree, US is socialist.
I think what the question is is which countries are “Less socialist”.
At this point I’m not all that sure Germany is less socialist than the US either.
~Matt
How do “Rank order them” and by what criteria?
Is a country that has socialized medicine but privatized banking more socialized or less than a country that has socialized banks but private insurance? Not only that but how do you determine whether something is socialized or not? Is a health care system that is “private” but so highly regulated that it can’t do anything without government approval and is forced to take care of any and all people that comes to their doors more or less “Socialized” than one that is run by the government but doesn’t take care of non citizens?
I would suggest you more specifically state your goals of your “Ranking” so you can rank based on a more specific criteria.
~Matt
No we are born with a sense of freedom. But with freedom comes responsibility. It’s easier to give up your freedom than it is to be responsible…and the US is definitely socialist and has been for a LONG LONG time. Social security, welfare are both “Socialist” programs.
~Matt
Guess I should have read your response first, would have saved me a paragraph…but would have cost be a post count 
~Matt
.
How do “Rank order them” and by what criteria?
Define it however you like.
"No we are born with a sense of freedom."
How do you figure?
“No we are born with a sense of freedom.”
How do you figure?
Actually I’ll contend that we are born with a snese of attachment and dependency. That last thing my niece wants to do is be free and fend for herself. She loves living with mommy and daddy.
How do you figure?
I figure, because one of the most common threads amongst most living creates is a desire and striving to do as one pleases. This is not something we are taught but something we are born with. We naturally seek what we want, in fact it is part of our, as well as most livings things, structure design to survive.
~Matt
This is purely an anecdotal observation but I find no material difference between living in the US for a decade and living in the UK in how one or the other impacts my day to day living, absolutely no difference whatsoever. Whilst I do not live in France, I do spend a significant amount of time there (1-2 months / year) and the same is true of France as the UK or the US in terms of affecting my daily living, none of the political systems impacts the time I get up, go to work, my leisure activities and so on and so forth.
I’m not suggesting government policy does not impact my life but I do not experience food shortages, or delays in accessing healthcare, or poorer quality goods, or a poorer standard of education in any one of these countries and I know the same is true of Germany, Scandanavia, Spain, Austria and Italy.
In terms of “paperwork” and bureaucracy though the US wins. In the UK I file no tax paperwork, if I had to it would only be to one organisation (the government) but when living in Chicago, Columbus and Boulder there were multiple agencies with whom I had to deal…
Friedman utilized a simple metric to determine the degree of socialism for a country–simply use government spending as a percent of GDP. I would exclude military spending as it is somewhat unique as a public good. Most countries, even those in Europe, are mixed economies, with elements of capitalism and socialism. As has been pointed out, where a country falls on this spectrum is hard to pinpoint exactly. But generally, I like the simplicity of spending as a % of GDP.
That last thing my niece wants to do is be free and fend for herself.
So your niece wants to do everything she is told to do? Or does she want to do the things she wants to do?
Of course we all have “Dependencies”, that does not mean we do not have freedom.
~Matt
This is purely an anecdotal observation but I find no material difference between living in the US for a decade and living in the UK in how one or the other impacts my day to day living, absolutely no difference whatsoever.
Anecdotal or not it kind of goes along with my belief that the US is as socialist as any other countries you’ve mentioned and that the other countries you’ve mentioned are as “Capitalist” as the US.
That being said I don’t believe I would want to “Rank” countries as Barry suggests because it would be like tying to figure out if the Dems or Reps were more “Conservative”. The differences are so minute that in the end the margin of error is larger than the differences.
In short any ranking based on such broad criteria would be rather meaningless.
~Matt
I can define it in many ways and entirely change the ranking of the list. Depending on how I define it I can make China look like a “Free market capitalist state” or “an oppressive communist regime”. On those same list they might top all other countries on the list or be below them all.
What would be the purpose of such a list?
Better yet were are you trying to go with this list?
~Matt
So your niece wants to do everything she is told to do? Or does she want to do the things she wants to do?
Of course we all have “Dependencies”, that does not mean we do not have freedom.
Now you are cherry picking. Does she want to be free, or does she want to be dependent. Looks like the answer is (as usual) a little of both.