On socialism

I have maintained for some time that the right wing hysteria over the concept of socialism is ridiculous.  The reality is that neither pure capitalism or pure socialism work very well; however those countries which have pursued a combination of capitalism and socialism have done markedly better than we are doing as a nation, and as a society and culture.

There are more versions of socialism than the totalitarian one favored by the old Soviet Union in the bad old days of Stalin et al.  The reality is that our form of capitalism, which is hardly pure capitalism, but rather a version which promotes the worst aspects of it, is not working very well.  We have the choice of recognizing, bottom line, what does work and what does not, and adjusting our thinking to the reality of those facts, or we can play at stupid ideology, close our eyes tight, stick our thumbs in our ears, and yell 'la la la la la la' to try to block out that reality.

The evidence is below.

Better care, for more people, providing a healthier nation and healthier people to be active in our society and economy, all provided cheaper than the ridiculous costs we pay. These countries do not have citizens wreaking havoc on their own lives, on their communities and on their economies with bankruptcies resulting from people becoming ill. They do not have people becoming seriously ill who could avoid those more expensive medical costs by treating them cheaply earlier in the progress of their health problem.

Bottom line, we do NOT have the best health care system in the world, we have a failed health care system. Chanting 'we're number one' and patting ourselves on the back for our imaginary exceptional-ism does not alter that reality.