Why do people in USA fear socialism so much?

[MonkeyBear68]

They fear it because of the propaganda constantly bestowed on them. They confuse socialism with communism. They make all these claims about how socialism causes all these ills yet they fail to consider the facts. They outright lie to support their claims.

In Canada we did not suffer the effects of the 2008 crash to anywhere near the extent that the US did, that is a fact.

In Canada our unemployment rate is lower than the US even though we are much more socialist, that is a fact. If socialism causes laziness then Canada should have more unemployed, not less!!

In Canada we do not have to worry about spending our life savings on a health emergency. Health care is universal and premiums are about $50 a month ($100 a month for family). In Alberta (my province) the provincial government pays the health premiums for everyone, so health care is free. Also the unemployment rate in Alberta is only 4.8%. With free health care, we should have more people sitting around unemployed, not less!!

People in the USA should also consider the fact that if Capitalism is so great and Socialism so bad, then why is it currently the case that they need to hitch a ride with the Russians in order to get up into space??

If you look at all the countries in the world, those with mixed economies seem to be the most successful and have the happiest citizens.

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[Lethn]

What matters in an economy is that it's managed well, it doesn't really matter what ideology you follow in the long run but you are right MonkeyBear68, for Americans, even though they'll never admit this. It's the propaganda they've been hit over the head with, because they don't have the Soviets to be afraid of now they've imagined a new enemy out of thin air called the Socialist. Obama for instance isn't really a socialist even though the Republicans yell it all the time. In fact I remember watching a clip of the Colbert Report and this guy who was the leader of the actual Socialist party came along and was really annoyed about how people were claiming Obama is a Socialist when he clearly wasn't.

The mainstream parties that most of our countries have are in fact wannabe Imperialist parties but they know if they go around with portfolio's saying they want to conquer the world again they'd get no votes.

For Americans:

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Imperialist?s=t

imperialist
Use Imperialist in a sentence
im·pe·ri·al·ism
[im-peer-ee-uh-liz-uhm] Show IPA
noun
1.
the policy of extending the rule or authority of an empire or nation over foreign countries, or of acquiring and holding colonies and dependencies.
2.
advocacy of imperial or sovereign interests over the interests of the dependent states.
3.
imperial government; rule by an emperor or empress.
4.
an imperial system of government.
5.
British . the policy of so uniting the separate parts of an empire with separate governments as to secure for certain purposes a single state.

[hawkeye]

Socialism is an economic system characterised by social ownership of the means of production and co-operative management of the economy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialism

Yes, it's wikipedia, but I think it's generally accepted.

Government owns the means of production (ie, us).  It lets us keep a fraction of the fruits of our labour.

I'm sure there were many slave plantations that were managed well and didn't treat their slaves so bad.  Doesn't make it a valid system.

The American system is very socialist.  How many people work for the government?  Then how many people work indirectly for it through contracting?  How many social security and medicare benefits are there?  And people try to tell me the Americans aren't socialist?

Most Americans love and want socialism.  I believe this is actually true for anywhere because let's face it most people want free stuff (or the perception of free stuff) and they want to be looked after rather than take responsibility for their own lives.   

The free market system is what has been shown to generate the wealth, the socialist system just feeds off it and eventually consumes it whole.

The fact that Americans "fear socialism", for the most part is just something they've been ingrained to think, just like virtually the entire rest of the world likes socialism and hates the free market.  Neither group have any idea what they are talking about for the most part and it's just coincidence (due to history) that the Americans have this one right.  Not because they intellectually know it to be true.

[antibanker]

They fear it because of the propaganda constantly bestowed on them. They confuse socialism with communism.

that is indeed appearant to many non US citizens.

US types are completely brainwashed by their masters.

[Geddi]

that is indeed apparent to many non US citizens.

Douche

[Mike Christ]

Capitalism, socialism, communism; they're all terrible systems once they fall prey to the state.

Americans hate socialism and communism because they're trained to through propaganda.  I don't think North Korea and China are teaching their citizens about how wonderful capitalism is, either.  Point is, big government is going to tell you anything to keep you under their foot.  For those who support voluntary socialism: cool beans.  But if you're promoting involuntary socialism (e.g. state socialism), you're missing the point.  You're still putting all the power into the few and they'll do what they want with little regard to how anyone feels; the point is to keep you thinking you're beneath those on top.

Plus, it doesn't help that the socialism that does exist in America is completely fucking us over.  But as I said, it's not socialism, it's fascism that's killing us.

[claire]

socialism is a precursor to communism. once you run out of other people's money and there are no more people to make money then it fails to either anarchy or communism. if it is anarchy then the government attempts to take over even more and it will become a totalitarian communist state. it's only a matter of time. if it doesn't happen over night with force, it evolves. once communism fails years later out of the lack of money and resources then we fall back to anarchy and once again capitalism because people need some sort of structure. it's a cycle that happens with roadblocks, speedbumps, and acceleration created by people with agendas. and honestly, the biggest capitalists are huge socialists like soros, etc. the big guys who like to eat countries for dinner.

it's unfortunate that FDR did what he did and i'm glad he passed away before his 2nd bill of rights had a chance. it's unfortunate that the racist LBJ did what he did for the reasons why health care in the USA does cost so much is because of insurance and medicare/medicaid. why did i say racist? did you hear what he said about the reason WHY he passed it? it wasn't to help poor people. it was to get those n****** to vote for them. words out of LBJ's mouth, not mine.

i personally find it unethical for the government to put its hand in everything and control what you do. you can't have a socialist or communist system without a lot of control and government hand dipping. we were free like that once, until the progressive era and those annoying two roosevelts (both progressive - one a democrat and one a republican.)

[kokjo]

socialism is a precursor to communism.

liberalism is a precursor to civil wars and anarchy.

[myrkul]

socialism is a precursor to communism.

liberalism is a precursor to civil wars and anarchy.

By that do you mean "Classical" liberalism, or what the US calls liberalism?

And you say anarchy like it's a bad thing.

[Mike Christ]

socialism is a precursor to communism.

liberalism is a precursor to civil wars and anarchy.

By that do you mean "Classical" liberalism, or what the US calls liberalism?

And you say anarchy like it's a bad thing.

Aw everyone knows anarchism is all about doing drugs, blowing stuff up and wearing your hair in a pink mo'hok

[Luckybit]

I don't understand, maybe I'm just too young with whole cold-war mentality born just around collapse. Sure communism didn't work out very well.

But, I do prefer some socialism to pure capitalism. So I don't realy get this whole fear of it in USA, it can't be all bad or is it? Can someone explain it to me?

Because socialists tend to be Jewish and Hitler hated Socialism.

[kokjo]

socialism is a precursor to communism.

liberalism is a precursor to civil wars and anarchy.

By that do you mean "Classical" liberalism, or what the US calls liberalism?

And you say anarchy like it's a bad thing.

and you are saying communism like its a bad thing.

[myrkul]

socialism is a precursor to communism.

liberalism is a precursor to civil wars and anarchy.

By that do you mean "Classical" liberalism, or what the US calls liberalism?

And you say anarchy like it's a bad thing.

and you are saying communism like its a bad thing.

'cause it is. It's killed thousands, if not millions, of people worldwide.

[kokjo]

socialism is a precursor to communism.

liberalism is a precursor to civil wars and anarchy.

By that do you mean "Classical" liberalism, or what the US calls liberalism?

And you say anarchy like it's a bad thing.

and you are saying communism like its a bad thing.

'cause it is. It's killed thousands, if not millions, of people worldwide.

no, a fucked up paranoid and delusional leader did.

[Mike Christ]

Well...communism + anarchism seems to be all right.  I just wonder how it could work in this day of age; in that movie I watched, about the Spanish, they were mostly farmers and the like.  In the digital age, where most people are in some kind of technical job, would communism still work all right?  You'd have to be close to farms (not a problem in Texas, but I imagine a place like NY might have a tougher time feeding lots of people), or barter for your food, which would essentially be capitalism.

[myrkul]

socialism is a precursor to communism.

liberalism is a precursor to civil wars and anarchy.

By that do you mean "Classical" liberalism, or what the US calls liberalism?

And you say anarchy like it's a bad thing.

and you are saying communism like its a bad thing.

'cause it is. It's killed thousands, if not millions, of people worldwide.

no, a fucked up paranoid and delusional leader did.

Funny how so many fucked up and delusional leaders use communism as the excuse to kill their people, innit?

[kokjo]

socialism is a precursor to communism.

liberalism is a precursor to civil wars and anarchy.

By that do you mean "Classical" liberalism, or what the US calls liberalism?

And you say anarchy like it's a bad thing.

and you are saying communism like its a bad thing.

'cause it is. It's killed thousands, if not millions, of people worldwide.

no, a fucked up paranoid and delusional leader did.

Funny how so many fucked up and delusional leaders use communism as the excuse to kill their people, innit?

and liberalism rob people of their home, if they can't pay the bills...

[myrkul]

Well...communism + anarchism seems to be all right.  I just wonder how it could work in this day of age; in that movie I watched, about the Spanish, they were mostly farmers and the like.  In the digital age, where most people are in some kind of technical job, would communism still work all right?  You'd have to be close to farms (not a problem in Texas, but I imagine a place like NY might have a tougher time feeding lots of people), or barter for your food, which would essentially be capitalism.

Communism would work great if:
a) we were ants or bees, perfectly content to be mindless drones.
b) we limited population to just enough to work the farms to feed themselves
c) robots did all the work and everybody could piddle-fuck around all day

At least, until the robots got tired of doing all the work, and killed us all.

[myrkul]

and liberalism rob people of their home, if they can't pay the bills...

they shouldn't have signed the mortgage.

[kokjo]

Well...communism + anarchism seems to be all right.  I just wonder how it could work in this day of age; in that movie I watched, about the Spanish, they were mostly farmers and the like.  In the digital age, where most people are in some kind of technical job, would communism still work all right?  You'd have to be close to farms (not a problem in Texas, but I imagine a place like NY might have a tougher time feeding lots of people), or barter for your food, which would essentially be capitalism.

people just need to realize that there are enough resources for all to live happily, instead of the "fuck you, this is mine" capitalistic attitude.