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Even Bernie has not been able to outline the costs of all of his “Democratic Socialist” programs.
Those costs don’t include the bureaucracy to run them.
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As a person who works in the Tech sector myself I agree with the general idea that innovation is truely incentivized. It happens because people with good ideas and dedicated effort are able to flourish in a free market where monopolized barriers DONT exist. It's about 1) fresh new ideas.... 2) open free markets
The minute government gets involved with the task of providing something,.. that "thing" will be a commodity void of improvement and run the risk of gross inefficiencies.
Now I would say as an example that the US postal service which is near and dear to everyone, could quite possibly be privatized and we could possibly see the price of a stamp drop 5 cents.
I have no more proof of that than does Bernie does when he says that state run health care is the way to go.
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Congress determines the USPS's services, locations, and prices.
If we are going to have a Post Office in every little Podunk town in America, that is not going to fit a corporate profitability model. It is inefficient, but many citizens feel it is necessary.
Also, most of what the Post Office really seems to do is deliver cheap advertising. Ever week, my mailbox fills up with flyers from insurance companies, restaurants, grocery stores, fast food joints, furniture Rent-a-Center, Lenscrafters, etc. The Post Office spends billions delivering this insipid crap (usually the same crap over and over every freaking week), yet Congress forces them to do it at really cheap rates.
When we consider these two things, I think our stamps are pretty reasonable.
It is not fair for Congress to force the USPS to provide certain services and locations, fix their prices low, and then bitch that they are not solvent.
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All true, primary reason is they are highly unionized countries.
Either way, they are.NOT.socialist.countries in the way that Bernie would like us to be. Bernie is a Relic, an Antique, from a previous age, completely incapable of learning that his beloved "ism" lies on the ash-heap of history. There are no successful socialist countries, not for long.
Anybody ever documented a mass exodus from a capitalist country except in a case of extreme taxation of high income earners, Lol? Are people escaping the US or Canada or Western Europe by any means possible? People RUN from socialist countries for greater freedom, economic opportunity, or to get out from under the yoke of State oppression.
Millions more humans have died from Socialism than from fracking or climate change or even micro-aggressions. Hundreds of millions more are living destitute lives of quiet desperation in socialist countries than capitalist ones.
Understanding all of this is not rocket science, just human nature. Ok, cue the stupid posts now.
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I think the bigger question some people have is “They can do it. Why can’t we?”
Which is a reasonable question. But the question that always must come before it is, “what is/are the hierarchy of your values?” What are your priorities?
That is the biggest problem in the United States. We cannot agree on the prioritization of our values. That is the beauty and the curse of a Democratic Republic. It isn’t a form of government that lends itself to getting things done.
The second issue that has to be addresses is the spiderweb of connection between thousands of ideas and their impact on each other not to mention the unintended consequences.
For the last 100 or so years (maybe a little longer) the majority of our citizens believed the highest priority of our government should be the protection and security of our homeland.
The size of the population matters when considering priorities and how those priorities are fleshed out.
The most simple analogy is a family. A family of 3 has a much different reality than a family of 8. It impacts the kind of car you drive, the kind of house you live in, the way you shop, the way you vacation etc, not to mention each families values, traditions and history.
Comparing the two and then the 8 person family asking, “Why can’t we do it like the 3 person family?” Is a reasonable question... but those asking must realize... we are not the same... and never will be.
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The Scandinavian countries all have very tight borders. Immigration is very limited, so they are not constantly adding new people with limited skills to the dole.
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"Solving problems is profitable".....THAT is a lie.
ACTING like you are TRYING to solve problems while offering a patch work of stop gap measures to lessen the impact of the problem (while generating billions of dollars in profit) but NEVER actually solving the problem......is profitable.
Entire industries and fortunes have been built on the lives of scared desperate people begging for a solution. Once a solution is found.......ALL OF THAT COMES CRASHING DOWN, and there is no more profit.
Solving problems is NOT as profitable as the problems themselves.
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Exactly Stix, my man!
That's why Dems want everybody on the dole, that way they can control their lives and keep getting elected by handing out favors. The Reps do it with Corporations, same thing.
But nothing new there, every form of government has the same shit. Great read in today's WSJ from a guy who's been into Cuba for the last 15 years or whatever. TOTAL SHIT SHOW, Bernie should sell his assets and move on down, he could live like a king!
They all pack an extra bag with stuff we take for granted like tylenol and reading glasses cause they can't get any of that down there, but they got a great health care system 
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Yep, Cuba and Venezuela are great places to live....
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hmmm.... these ideas about government being inept and inefficient keep popping up when ppl echo talking points, and they are wrong.
"The minute government gets involved with the task of providing something,.. that "thing" will be a commodity void of improvement and run the risk of gross inefficiencies."
Truth:
The technology powering the PC and screen you look at, as well as the internet making this site exist, were developed by the government. Private industry would have never done it or would have been so inefficient and cost so much (not standardizing) that it might have failed.
So was rocket propulsion, spaceflight, the interstate highway system, microchips.
On the other hand, things like private insurance and medical costs are out of control because private industry is allowed to inject competition and costs where there should be none.
President Sanders and the new Democratic House and Senate will fix it though...
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"That's why Dems want everybody on the dole..."
Ha bullshit. The Republicans and rich get much more dole, handout, welfare, whatever than poor folks. Republicans are huge on giving away government money--they just give it to the wrong people.
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happyguy...and will take half of your money to accomplish it......
Watch your take home shrink......how much did you make.??? Send it in to the government.
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Wow just reading... Kaiser must be trying to be funny:
"There is little if any innovation that originates from Scandinavian countries. They advance by using the advancements of the rest of the world"
Huge innovations in tech come from those countries and there are huge companies there making high-tech innovations and products. And paying guaranteed wages with lots of vacation, great government benefits.
Seems odd that to argue against Social Democracy, you have to invent stories, lie about facts, and then keep comparing everything to Venezuela, like that should be the golden standard.
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Oh wow. Kaiser, thank you for attempting to answer my inquiry, unfortunately you’re wrong. (what a shocker 🤭.) The countries in Scandinavia don’t have a minimum wage because the salaries, hours and whatever perks and benefits for literally EVERY SINGLE JOB there are negotiated by a LABOR UNION. In fact, the lowest wage workers that exist in Sweden work in fast food and their bottom pay rate in 16$/hr. Now on top of that you realize that the Swedes have universal childcare, early ed, and college along with a robust and top notch health system so that 16$ goes even further than it would in the US. And tax rates on the lowest income earners are very low, so no, the government doesn’t take all of it.
I thought I gave a fantastic hint when I stated that the answer was some “leftity left left socializey shit”
But I guess that wasn’t clear enough indication that you may indeed want to google before answering.
The Scandinavian countries have very free markets and are not planned economies so not sure why you think labor unions and quality universal healthcare disincentivize innovation?
Ever heard of a little place called IKEA?
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As far as I can see, Alexis is the only one here who has made any point or argument.
Pretty much everyone else looks like they failed logic 101 and although writing a lot of words, are not able to make a point or support it.
This all looks like a "bad example" page from a logic 101, showing every logical fallacy and error in logic possible. That's why it is hard to argue with these folks--it's like a duel where the other guy is fighting with a piece of linguini.
See hopefully helpful link below.... (and it's fun to note that you can see almost all of the 15 in the 3 parts of this blog!)
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And what are the immigration policies of the Scandinavian countries????
What do they pay in taxes???
What is the size of their apartments and homes? Small.
The average apartment or condo is 731 square feet and the average home is 1313 square feet.....
Sweden is going AWAY from socialism...since it is failing......
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And the United States is going AWAY from Capitalism. Since it is both failing and looks incompatible with modern democracy
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Special award to @Granite who in a brief 3 sentence comment, hit 3 of the logical fallacies:
ad hominem--attack the person
black and white--try to make it seem like there are only 2 choices
red herring--change the subject because you are losing
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We have the most vibrant economy in the world and it is not socialism.......check out Cuba, Russia, Venezuela, China, and really try to understand the Scandinavian countries.....failures across the board, unless you are willing to give up what you currently have and get the bare minimum to live.
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most vibrant but least scrimdillyishious economy
and if you think both those words are meaningless in describing an economy, we agree!
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OMG, the revenge of mary poppins
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You are REALLY going to hate hearing this but the "VIBRANT" American economy you keep gloating about is already a blend of capitalism and socialism.
Another thing you're going to hate is that eliminating or deeply regulating an industry that is nothing but a middle man that serves no real purpose and is blatantly financially raping the American public..... IS NOT going to turn America into fucking Venezuela...which in reality is a totalitarian banana republic dictatorship....masquerading as "socialism". Just like EVERY other example of a failed "socialist" system thrown together by uneducated 3rd world dip shits who are really just trying to enforce social control and consolidate assets for their own means, that scared conservatives like to drag out as the great freedom killing boogie man.
Also...regulating the fucking banks to keep them from defrauding hard working Americans and blatantly extorting the American public....also...ISN'T fucking socialism.
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‘Huge innovations in tech come from those countries and there are huge companies there making high-tech innovations and products”
Such as?
“As far as I can see, Alexis is the only one here who has made any point or argument.”
As far as I can see, Alexis is the only one here who has made any point or argument that I liked. FIFY
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Oh by the way.... You made my point by using IKEA as an example.
It’s almost 80 years old. What other companies have an international footprint and have impacted the world.
I’m not saying Scandinavia isn’t a good place... I’m just saying it embraces a value system that is not congruent with American society.
We can’t get people to give up guns, pick-up trucks, SUVs, smoking/vaping, Golden Corral, Double Gulps and Pizza.
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I gave up double gulps, but then again, I never had one
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Alexis, I already answered your question about Unions in Scandinavia (see comments above). Given that union share in the US is around 7%, it's a non-starter here. The only unions not on life support are the public ones but even FDR warned against doing that ( look it up, not providing you guys with every link to the education you shoulda got from our broken ass schools).
Not gonna link you to the massive amount of studies in the econ literature that have found the minimum wage to be counter-productive, you guys don't seem interested in researching anything prior to forming your impressively stunted opinions.
That leaves us with our very own in house HX comedian who said....
"And the United States is going AWAY from Capitalism. Since it is both failing and looks incompatible with modern democracy".
I love this guy, he's a riot!
Let's see what happens in November especially if it's Bernie vs. Trump. Trump won the first time around cause about half the population got tired of the usual politician bullshit, plain and simple. We'll see if that trend will continue. If its Bloomberg v. Trump, then that essentially means that both parties are irrelevent. Bloomberg's a Republican and Bernie's a Socialist, for fuck sake. Maybe Biden will come thru and save the Dems from complete embarrassment?
He did well in NC so let's see what happens on Super Tuesday. Bernie and Joe neck and neck, thank Allah that Liz is almost out. What a twat and dead candidate walking. I will miss Amy given she may be the only adult on the stage without dementia.
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Stixie- the answer to every critique of unfettered capitalism that’s offered on these blogs gets shut down with “bUt veNEzuElaialA tHouGh” i just ignore it.
And last commenter whose handle I already forgot (lol) oh lord do I wish that if they steal this primary from Daddy rockstar Bernie Sanders that the Dems please please PLEASE run Joe Biden. The masochistic moderates just seem intent on setting him and his early stage dementia up for a debate with Trump. I’m no Trump fan that’s for sure but I’d be lying if I said the man doesn’t know his way around a podium. Even if half of what he says is shit he makes up himself. I’d certainly enjoy them getting exactly what they deserved as Trump would mop every floor and wall in the place with sleepy Joe. Sleepy Joe that can’t maintain composure when pressed about fracking by one whole tree hugging hippy. I honestly don’t even think he’d last through the entire thing without collapse.
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"but Venezuela"
Exactly Alexis the socialist boogie man
I would think the trumpanzees would be would be excited and rock hard that a place like Venezuela is in such a weakened state that it is prime for "Americanization"....and they would be chomping at the bit to gentrify the fuck out of it and get access to all of those tasty resources.
Maybe the next time they start a war they should start one that's winnable, in a place that's beneficial to America. coming up on 20 years of fighting in the middle east and we don't have SHIT to show for it. That's what happens when you take on a nation of insane uneducated religious zealots.
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