the most socialist countries with perhaps the highest taxes in europe are in scandanavia. they also have good education, medical, social services and standard of living. they also seem to have more equality, low crime and low prison population. and for those who think locking up the most bad guys possible is good, it is also ferkin expensive.
They are also highly democratic within their political systems, and largely because of the public social welfare measures mentioned, they are relatively democratic socially as well.
@Napoleon
Don't personally know ant socialists, or any that would admit it. Bernie Sanders, the socialist that ran for president does own three rather large houses. His daughter was paid $500K a year for teaching woodworking at the university run by Bernie's wife.
As for how well Socialism works, I suggest looking into the situation in Venezuela.
Well, Bernie talks "socialism", but what's needed is to see just what he means - socialized medicine, etc., is something, but not everything. Of Democratic Party members, I figure I could support him conditionally, but then he jumped in and supported Hillary for president, so now I'm not so sure - anyway, socialized medicine would be something.
Example of a 'socialist' measure in the US: creation of the Tennessee Valley Administration.
Dazzer. You should get with the times though your view of Scandinavia is common for those looking from the outside in. Being wrapped up in cotton wool may all seem nice and cozy but the truth is, if we take Sweden for example, its more like totalitarian modernism is sweeping the land just to keep the system in place. There is political correctness at the highest levels causing paranoia to speak your mind, ghettos on the increase, segregation, ridiculous immigration, serious rape issues, rapid increase in all crimes, unemployment, heavy tax burdens on citizens, general fear. The country is suffering from mental Stalinism. I would not class that as a good standard of living, no matter how lavish my IKEA furnished, centrally heated and tax funded apartment was.
@vicar: won't argue about Scandinavia, but how does it compare with US democracy and the Democratic Party?
Your term 'totalitarian modernism' is interesting - seems like a bit of an overstatement, but it's one to think about. Seems to me Norman Mailer used a term that was something like 'technological fascism' about 50 years ago, in, I think, his account of a moonshot, A FIRE ON THE MOON (damn good read, and informative for those of us who aren't too sharp about the science & technology involved, as well as his interesting rather metaphysical speculations and his prose and anecdotes) - not quite sure if I buy that one either, but again it was a phrase that implied something other than democracy as a simple concept that ran things in the US, and was worth thinking about.
I was also responding to your comment on the highly democratic political system. Under the current situation, although freedom of speech is encouraged, what people say behind closed walls or think is not what people say out in society for fear of being outcasted as insane. This is actually a perfect form of control for those in power. Basically, the citizens monitor themselves. This is creeping into the American system because they can see that it works. Wasn't it Obama who was particularly fond of the Nordic states model?
Sorry Alien if you think I went off topic. I'll leave this thread now.
