Democratic Socialism

[OmahaBeastieFan]

I have a friend who is a hardcore demo-socialist and I was just wondering what the pros and cons of this were. I have tried to find them but most of the people on this board are pretty smart so i figure ask you guys.

*Plus it would make a good debate between people here

[Qdrop]

don't insite us.....




socialism was born to fail.
it goes against human nature.......
history has shown this.....


all ideology......no reality.

[OmahaBeastieFan]

i am not insighting anyone i am just curious. does it go against human nature because people naturally want to compete? or is there more?

[Señor Stino]

i have no idea, define "democratic-socialism" in your point of view

you mean socialism as in "the step before communism (and after capitalism, according to communist theories...)"

or socialism as "we" know it for example in some European countries

[Whois]

you mean socialism as in "the step before communism (and after capitalism, according to communist theories...)"

or socialism as "we" know it for example in some European countries

Which is funny because what we have in America is a socialist form of capitalism.

[ASsman]

so·cial·ism Audio pronunciation of "socialism" ( P ) Pronunciation Key (ssh-lzm)
n.

1. Any of various theories or systems of social organization in which the means of producing and distributing goods is owned collectively or by a centralized government that often plans and controls the economy.
2. The stage in Marxist-Leninist theory intermediate between capitalism and communism, in which collective ownership of the economy under the dictatorship of the proletariat has not yet been successfully achieved.





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The term "Socialism" or "Socialist" can refer to several related things:

1. An ideology or a group of ideologies.
2. An economic system.
3. A state that exists or has existed.
4. In Marxist theory, the society that would succeed capitalism, and then develop further into communism.

The word dates back at least to the early nineteenth century. It was first used, self-referentially, in the English language in 1827 to refer to followers of Robert Owen. In France, again self-referentially, it was used in 1832 to refer to followers of the doctrines of Saint-Simon and thereafter by Pierre Leroux and J. Regnaud in l'Encyclopédie nouvelle. Use of the word spread widely and has been used differently in different times and places, both by various individuals and groups that consider themselves socialist and by their opponents. While there is wide variation between socialist groups, nearly all would agree that they are bound together by a common history rooted originally in nineteenth and twentieth-century struggles by industrial and agricultural workers, operating according to principles of solidarity and advocating an egalitarian society, with an economics that would, in their view, serve the broad populace rather than a favored few.

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

[Qdrop]

does it go against human nature because people naturally want to compete? or is there more?

that is the biggest problem, yes.

others include the inability for people to plan an economy.
ecomomies include so many variables, it is virtually impossible to predict, let alone control and plan it.

it's like trying to guess the exact rainfall, snowfall, sunny days, cloudy days, ect for an entire year for a region.
can't do it.

[OmahaBeastieFan]

Well the type of socialism my friend supports is the democratic type where the people would democraticly vote on what companies produce. but i see this planning stuff and will throw that at him

[Funkaloyd]

the people would democraticly vote on what companies produce.

The people being everybody or just the company's shareholders? That sounds more like communism.

[OmahaBeastieFan]

I dont know enough to know yet

[EN[i]GMA]

Well the type of socialism my friend supports is the democratic type where the people would democraticly vote on what companies produce. but i see this planning stuff and will throw that at him

That's a horrible idea. You can't vote on how many light bulbs to make. Nobody had any idea of that.