4 ms·

Wrong- the generally accepted term is "welfare state".

tptacek 10y ago
I think you will have a hard time generating conclusive evidence for this argument. Doing so will force you to argue that well-known people who describe themselves as philosophically socialist are wrong about that.
- mattmcknight 10y ago
  Such as whom? Bernie Sanders is a politician clearly lying about the definition of socialism, while those he claims to want to imitate deny they are socialist.[1] [1] http://www.thelocal.dk/20151101/danish-pm-in-us-denmark-is-not-socialist http://www.thelocal.dk/20151101/danish-pm-in-us-denmark-is-n...
alkonaut 10y ago
No. Welfare state is the apparatus prividing social security and benefits for a population. It's not an ideology or a political system. Sweden has a large welfare state in the sense that we have free single payer health care, free education etc. We are a social democracy in the sense that the current political climate and consensus is shaped by a few decades of social democratic rule. High progressive taxes etc are seen as norm and are of course necessary to finance a large welfare state. However: How the money for a large welfare state like the Nordic ones is raised is orthogonal to whether it's being spent on a large welfare state or not. Had we had 10% military spending we'd have a much smaller welfare state than today, with the same taxes. It's entirely possible for a country to have a very large welfare state without being the least bit socialist - especially if they have natural resources. If the swedish national mining Company (yes, a state owned Company!) suddenly found resources allowing taxes to be halved - we would.
- mattmcknight 10y ago
  The prior comment said that the correct term for a large social safety net was "democratic socialism", that was what I was responding to. This is a lie propagated by Bernie Sanders.[1] I agree that a welfare state is not necessarily socialist- that was my point! So, you think you are disagreeing with me, but you are perhaps missing is the point that, in the USA, Sanders continual lying about what Socialism means so that he can fit into the Democratic Party has confused the issue in many young people's minds. The Swedish mining company LKAB is a socialist (state-owned) enterprise, however the entire economy is not composed of socialist enterprises, therefore it is clearly a mixed economy. Relatively high taxes on their own are not "social" or "socialist". [1]http://www.thelocal.dk/20151101/danish-pm-in-us-denmark-is-not-socialist http://www.thelocal.dk/20151101/danish-pm-in-us-denmark-is-n...

I think you will have a hard time generating conclusive evidence for this argument. Doing so will force you to argue that well-known people who describe themselves as philosophically socialist are wrong about that.

mattmcknight 10y ago
Such as whom? Bernie Sanders is a politician clearly lying about the definition of socialism, while those he claims to want to imitate deny they are socialist.[1] [1] http://www.thelocal.dk/20151101/danish-pm-in-us-denmark-is-not-socialist http://www.thelocal.dk/20151101/danish-pm-in-us-denmark-is-n...

alkonaut 10y ago

No. Welfare state is the apparatus prividing social security and benefits for a population. It's not an ideology or a political system. Sweden has a large welfare state in the sense that we have free single payer health care, free education etc. We are a social democracy in the sense that the current political climate and consensus is shaped by a few decades of social democratic rule. High progressive taxes etc are seen as norm and are of course necessary to finance a large welfare state. However: How the money for a large welfare state like the Nordic ones is raised is orthogonal to whether it's being spent on a large welfare state or not. Had we had 10% military spending we'd have a much smaller welfare state than today, with the same taxes. It's entirely possible for a country to have a very large welfare state without being the least bit socialist - especially if they have natural resources. If the swedish national mining Company (yes, a state owned Company!) suddenly found resources allowing taxes to be halved - we would.

mattmcknight 10y ago
The prior comment said that the correct term for a large social safety net was "democratic socialism", that was what I was responding to. This is a lie propagated by Bernie Sanders.[1] I agree that a welfare state is not necessarily socialist- that was my point! So, you think you are disagreeing with me, but you are perhaps missing is the point that, in the USA, Sanders continual lying about what Socialism means so that he can fit into the Democratic Party has confused the issue in many young people's minds. The Swedish mining company LKAB is a socialist (state-owned) enterprise, however the entire economy is not composed of socialist enterprises, therefore it is clearly a mixed economy. Relatively high taxes on their own are not "social" or "socialist". [1]http://www.thelocal.dk/20151101/danish-pm-in-us-denmark-is-not-socialist http://www.thelocal.dk/20151101/danish-pm-in-us-denmark-is-n...