• Neuromancer@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    Food stamps etc are not socialism. I wish people would stop that trope.

    As a republic, we can vote for social programs and not be a socialism. Socialism is the workers controlling the means of production. Capitalism is people inject capital to create a business.

    Social welfare programs are not socialism. The workers do not own the means of production.

    The United States, Sweden l, etc are all capitalist countries. Sweden has elected to use taxes to fund more robust social programs but that is funded by captialism.

    In America we could do the same thing and we’d still be a republic based on capitalism.

    • BlameThePeacock@lemmy.ca
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      1 year ago

      First off, you may live in a republic. I don’t. Don’t assume everyone is American.

      Secondly, your definition of Socialism is too narrow. Socialism isn’t strictly an economic system of who owns things. Social welfare programs are Socialism, but in the political sense. The political movement of Socialism almost always involves wealth redistribution programs like food stamps.

      The US is very obviously not strictly a capitalist country. The government owns and controls significant assets including land, resources, and companies which it utilizes to the benefit of the citizenry and would fall under even your definition of Socialism.

      Between the federal and state governments, they own around 60% of all the land in the US. https://www.nrcm.org/documents/publiclandownership.pdf

      Fanny and Freddie? FDIC? Government owned Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM)? Government owned Hospitals? There’s a number that are owned by State Governments Airports? Liquor Stores? Lotteries? Utilities? Transit Systems? Also lots of them owned by Governments in the US