Sarah Palin is actually really intelligent. The evil lamestream media just portrays her as a fool by asking her those “gotcha” questions. Like… “What newspapers do you read?” and “Who’s your favorite founding father?”
Oh, wait…
inconvenient side effect of them not being able to produce goods for export (other than drugs) at a livable wage because of NAFTA, and also inconvenient side effect of their governments for the most part being created or propped up by the CIA in the 70s and 80s to take down democratic (socialist) movements in their own countries.
works out well for us, so what are you complaining about?
Bitch got told!
olololololololol Allende!
Who’s had the worst 9/11 now?
heh
Since we were talking about Obama being a socialist and shit, check this out - CNN has one of the best articles I’ve ever seen in corporate media on this subject.
This is the real effect of right-wing hyperbole about socialism - it has become so over the top that it forces people to think and discuss what socialism actually means, and therefore brings the concept further into the mainstream. Kudos to CNN for picking up on the trend, really rare to see reporting of this caliber from them.
Works? It’s got quite a bit less freedom. An example of pseudo-socialism in America:
cigarettes are a bit expensive.
demographic?: mostly those on the poorer side (certainly not all)
cigarette taxes have increased a shitton, most certainly making it more difficult for poor Joe Schmo to get them.
Population has been an issue in Europe, are you kidding?
The -average- couple only has one child, the population is much closer to dying off than it is to becoming overcrowded.
I hate how American media looks “o hai Europe has this && look how good they’re doing!1!”
No.
America is not Europe.
It doesn’t need to be like Europe.
Quite so.
As for Central America stuff… -.-
Yeah :\
Moar liek running a non-government health care company under universal health care. The money the gov uses comes from the people of America, the ones that own companies and the like…impossible to compete! It’s like fighting yourself…
i.e. The shots I have to get (required for school) are currently free, of no cost to me or my family. With this new universal health care bullshit, I’m likely to be picking out a hefty $250 for those injections…
please explain what the “sin tax” on cigs has to do with Socialism.
Please explain. I have experienced no limits in my freedom.
That is not socialism. Those are taxes.
Did I say it has never been an issue? I said our population is healthy, and it is. It’s also becoming older, which is a problem, but it’s still healthy.
Small things, like the government tells you what kind of light bulbs you have to buy, the car you can drive… bigger government doesn’t mean better living.
It IS socialism in a sense…it’s trying to limit people on their cigarettes. Blah blah blah cigs are unhealthy but it’s their choice and they should be free to make their decision. The Surgeon General’s warning is enough, the government shouldn’t make things more expensive to try to snuff out the cigarette buyers.
again, what does the government “trying to limit people on their cigarettes” have to do with socialism?
I’m genuinely curious because i think it hints at a “unique” definition of socialism that may only have a tangential relationship to the dictionary definition. But who knows, maybe I’m just missing something. Clue me in?
Limiting people’s choices =/= socialism. You’re on the anarchy and control scale, not the communist/capitalist one.
A socialist economy doesn’t tell you to do much anything specific. But I can understand your consumerist attitude confusing “being given too many options” with freedom.
Capitalist economies foment an atmosphere of competition, where there are a couple of choices on what brand light you want to come from your lamps. It is true that if the government makes light bulbs and nobody else does, you won’t have many options as to what brand you’ll buy. The words Government Light might replace all those little stamps that say General Electric, and… and, um… well there must be some other light-bulb company out there that you value as an option.
But I’m also guessing the Government Light factory will be able to make them cheaper, and with just as many useful varieties. Government lightbulbs may not look like this:
but with the need for clear and efficient lighting in place you’ll be able to flick-up with your old friends.
nor does the existence of more companies. Nor does bigger government mean worse living. In fact I’ll argue that there’s an asymptotic negative correlation between number of brands and quality of life.
Don’t believe me? With a hundred thousand different producers and distributors of soda, good luck finding a Dr. Pepper when you want one. Odds are there’s only one place in town that has ties with the company to sell it.
And if you’re stranded in rural Arkansas? Forget it… they won’t have heard of such chemistry. You’ll have to settle for the local brands which offer a salted-barley brew. Because the people who grew up there have learned to love the stuff.
Being able to obtain Dr. Pepper in Tokyo, to you, seems like a good thing, I can tell. It’s globalization, after all. It’s an example of significant commercial exchange. But it’s also an example of why big government is ultimately good. If we put the world under one democratic rule, you’d be able to vacation in the Maldives without a fat passport. Break your ankle while water-skiing, and you’ll have a much better chance of getting medical treatment the same as if you would back home. And finding Cuba Cola, equally likely.
Wal-Mart, and their in-house Great Value brand, are calmly and bravely approaching the fringe of socialism. It cleanses my spirit to see those cans of beans, with their white labels, saying only Red Beans (Frijoles rojos) on them, with a quick picture to represent them.
If they’re paying for the hospital visits, why not?
Wait, what? The government doesnt’ tell us what to buy at all. What a socialist government does do, however, is offer the consumer a certain incentive to pick the more ecological light bulb/car. This happens through all sorts of means, like cutting the tax on it (GASP), giving out specific checks, or just flat out reduce the price of it. But in no way do they limit you to -only- buying a specific light bulb or car or kind of paint or whatever.
It pretty much comes down to this:
You:
“Light bulb A” -> $2
“Light bulb B” -> $2
“Light bulb C (Ecological)” -> $2
Socialist murderer/rapist/monster/brute/savage:
“Light bulb A” -> $2
“Light bulb B” -> $2
“Light bulb C (Ecological)” -> $1.5
You see? You still have the same choices, there’s just the extra incentive to think about the future of you and those around you.
It’s your decision to commit long-term suicide, but it isn’t your decision to kill other people in the process. Cigarettes are not just unhealthy to you, but anyone near you. And while I realize this probably just an example, it’s a very bad one.
I for one love the fact that they’re increasing the price of cigarettes and banning them from bars/pubs/diners/restaurants (over here at least). And it’s not like they’re taking away your freedom by making cigarettes more expensive. Hell, they’re giving you even more freedom by giving you more choices (instead of “what brand”, you get “what brand… or should I just quit smoking?”/
I don’t know why people complain about limiting cigarrettes, should we suddenly make cyanide pills more readily available? It’s over-exaggerated I know but I just don’t see why the government should cop shit for trying to stop their citizens dying.
Cigarette smoke contains cyanide.
As do walnuts.
Ah, but you don’t see people shoving walnuts down other people’s throats.
No silly, that’s because you have to boil the cyanide out of the walnuts.
After some research, the cyanide in walnuts, isn’t exactly in walnuts, but in the green skin that hold the walnuts before it bursts so the nuts hit the ground.
Nobody ever eats the green skin, only the actual nuts.