> If you believe that government should be the main delivery agent of > solutions to social problems, then you're effectively a commie.
Close... academically communism is a form of socialism, so start at that point. According to Wikipidea socialism is, "an ideology with the core belief that society should exist within an environment where not-for-profit popular collectives control the means of power, and therefore the means of production." The communist ideology takes it one step further - "Communism refers to a conjectured future classless, stateless social organization based upon common ownership of the means of production, and to a variety of political movements which claim the establishment of such a social organization as their ultimate goal" Socialism is the concept of having the state (not-for-profit collective) controls the means of power. Private enterprise is allowed however the goal of a business is to provide for the society not to provide for the owners or shareholder. The purpose of the government is to redirect income provided by private industry to the masses in the form of social programs. The concept of communism takes the process one step further. Private industry is not allowed or is so tightly controlled by the state that it is only a puppet. The goverment decides and runs practiaclly any large business or corportation and the monies earned go directly to the government coffers. In some implentations of this model individuals do not even earn a wage, they are provided everything they need to subsist in exchange for their contribution to the workforce. So the difference is this - most of the people that have been labelled as "commies" by some are more socialist than communist. Canada has many socialst policies and programs. Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security are all examples of socialist programs that have been implemented in the US. It is interesting to point out that they are all at a breaking point fiscally right now. Hatton ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:5:194431 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:5 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
