Reply #230: Excuse me

[Threedifferentones]

This is the false choice we have been taught about socialism, that it is only the work of dictators like Lenin or Castro.

Chavez certainly looks to be headed in the same direction. He keeps nationalizing more and more industries, he and his allies are tremendously rich, and progress for the people remains very limited by our standards, or Cuba's for that matter.

But Venezuela, thanks largely to the wonderful, profit making efforts of capitalists here and in Europe, BTW, has always been troubled. Comparing an attempt at redistributing wealth there to here is thus inane. The USA has now had, barring one Civil War, centuries of transferring government power peacefully. If the people get behind socialism here, things could be much different. We wouldn't need a strongman like Chavez to break the strangle hold of rich people, just a 2/3s majority in the Senate and the right Pres.

The American health care system is often said to be the best in the world. Indeed, rich people outside the US make much better use of "our" healthcare system than most Americans. And the gap in health stats between us and Canada, UK, France, Japan, Korea, Norway, Sweden, etc. continue to grow, slow but sure.

I often hear and read health care is 1/6 of the US economy. Other countries are smoking us in that department, so I don't see how the failings of the USSR are relevant when discussing what CAN work. I know you didn't mean to try to end any discussion of wealth redistribution here. But people play that card as if it's significant all the time on the TV and elsewhere IRL. That is why I feel compelled to criticize it here.

I think the fact that even well meaning DUers buy into that talking point is great evidence of how strongly the tiniest rich fraction of America controls our media and public discourse, and also of the necessity of socialism as an ideal of the masses.

Edit to add: Most socialist DUers don't need you to explain what cognitive dissonance is. Don't give up on reading.