Obama State of the Union

[LBJefferies]

That is Socialism. While not a true story, it explains it perfectly.

No you fool, that is Communism. As I have said many times over and what you morons cannot seem to understand is that Socialism exists in different degrees. Even France, which is a Social Democracy, has a market economy and incentive still exists. Why can't you people grasp this concept?

[joshh]

No you fool, that is Communism. As I have said many times over and what you morons cannot seem to understand is that Socialism exists in different degrees. Even France, which is a Social Democracy, has a market economy and incentive still exists. Why can't you people grasp this concept?

When are you going to realize you're splitting hairs.
Maybe if you got the whole "socialism is everywhere" thing our of your thick skill you'd be able to think clearly.
Just because something might be Government funded doesn't make it Socialism. That is where you lose it.

[Hallen]

"The class (students) insisted that socialism worked since no one would be
poor and no one would be rich, a great equalizer. The professor then said,
"OK, we will have an experiment in this class on socialism."

"All grades will be averaged and everyone will receive the same grade so
no one will fail and no one will receive an A."

After the first test the grades were averaged and everyone got a B. The
students who had studied hard were upset while the students who had
studied very little were happy.

But, as the second test rolled around, the students who had studied little
studied even less and the ones who had studied hard decided that since
they couldn't make an A, they also studied less. The second Test average
was a D.

No one was happy. When the 3rd test rolled around the average grade was an
F.

The scores never increased as bickering, blame, name calling, all resulted
in hard feelings and no one would study for anyone else.

To their great surprise all failed. The professor told them that socialism
would ultimately fail because the harder people try to succeed the greater
their reward (capitalism) but when a government takes all the reward
away (socialism) no one will try or succeed. "


That is Socialism. While not a true story, it explains it perfectly.

That's a very good analogy. I like it.

[LBJefferies]

When are you going to realize you're splitting hairs.
Maybe if you got the whole "socialism is everywhere" thing our of your thick skill you'd be able to think clearly.
Just because something might be Government funded doesn't make it Socialism. That is where you lose it.

So what you're implying then is that there are no Socialist countries and never will be. What are you worried about then?

[rwh11385]

That's a very good analogy. I like it.

Indeed. Also enjoy the story about 10 people who go out to beer every week.

[Hallen]

No you fool, that is Communism. As I have said many times over and what you morons cannot seem to understand is that Socialism exists in different degrees. Even France, which is a Social Democracy, has a market economy and incentive still exists. Why can't you people grasp this concept?

No, it is the end result of socialism. Socialism is an economic system. Communism is an extreme form of Socialism that is formalized into a type of government.

Socialism: Any of various theories or systems of social organization in which the means of producing and distributing goods is owned collectively or by a centralized government that often plans and controls the economy.

Communism: A system of government in which the state plans and controls the economy and a single, often authoritarian party holds power, claiming to make progress toward a higher social order in which all goods are equally shared by the people.

Other definitions of communism are essentially identical to socialism. Why do you think it was called the USSR? There's no "C" in there. The second S was for Socialist.

Anyway, the point remains that without free will and rational self interest, with some tangible reward for achievement, there is no real point in working hard. This college example is a perfect illustration of this.

[joshh]

So what you're implying then is that there are no Socialist countries and never will be. What are you worried about then?

No, it's very simple. Just because the Govenment controls something doesn't make it Socialism.
It's when you start controling the population and tell people what's good for them that you enter into Socialism.
The fire department isn't Socialism. Universal Healthcare where people don't have a choice is Socialism. A standing army is not socialism. Penalizing people that are rich because they are rich is Socialism.

[Bill 84 318i]

I know of Frances Collins (though I've yet to read that book) and I think it's a damn shame that he was appointed as the head of NIH. I'm sure he's a well-meaning man and that he'll do a fine job, but he's very vocal about his Christianity, and I don't think that someone agenda driven by religion should have such a scientifically significant job.

I'm not sayin', I'm just sayin': http://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress....-help-himself/