4 ms·
Because it would be redistributive.
by gfodor 5y ago
Because it would be redistributive.
- actually_a_dog 5y agoYou seem to be suffering from a misconception. Redistributive policies are not inherently socialist. If you believe they are, then the US has had socialist policies for over 100 years, because progressive taxation is redistributive.
- gfodor 5y agoI assumed lower case socialist is the proper term to describe policies which trade individual agency for collective benefits, like publicly funded roads or fire stations. What is a better term?
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- actually_a_dog 5y agoI see. Programs that provide collective benefit, as long as you're a part of the group that benefits, generally aren't considered redistributive, either. As far as the things you named, I would refer to those things generally as "social programs." Some of them might fall under the term "welfare programs," such as food stamps. Fire departments and roads, I wouldn't even classify as redistributive, for the simple fact that, although you pay for them, you also benefit from them. Side note: I hate how the word "socialist" is a thought terminating cliche in the US. People should be more open minded. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thought-terminating_clich%C3%A9 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thought-terminating_clich%C3%A...
- gfodor 5y agoThanks I’m aware of all these other terms but was looking for a term to describe situations where the government spends money on things that benefit society collectively by redeploying capital unevenly. For example, a government funded army vs private militias, or a private fire department vs a public one.
- dragonwriter 5y ago> If you believe they are, then the US has had socialist policies for over 100 years The US has had socialist policies for over 100 years, and more intensely so since the mid-1900s; the modern US economic system (like the rest of the developed world) is a form of the “modern mixed economy”, a synthesis (largely ad hoc, rather than comprehensively, coherently planned) of classic capitalism of anti-capitalist alternatives, particularly socialism.
- actually_a_dog 5y agoWhich US policies involve workers owning the means of production? Because that's essentially the definition of socialism.