Keith Milne
By Keith C. Milne
Hybridized socialism, or socialism with a market economy and some private ownership, keeps winning the gold medal for keeping those who are lucky enough to live within this system of government the happiest people on the planet. Apparently, this is the system that generates the happiest people on earth every single year, and the winning country for the last four years in a row is Finland, followed by Denmark, Switzerland, Iceland, and the Netherlands.
Who wouldn’t be happy getting paid to learn a new occupation or having free day care or 16 weeks paid time off to have a child. Who wouldn’t want to have their children attend college without having to save for it endlessly or take on a massive debt for them to get started in life. Let’s think about that for a minute. Just that one simple difference alone is enormous. Your kid gets to go to college on the collective investment by the people of their country and come out ready for living without any debt. Compare that to the average kid in America, a country where going to a State University can be quite costly, let alone an ivy league school. I’m not attempting to dissect all the different types of socialism or other economic systems, what I am trying to do is convey to the average American, that this different economic system might be the very system we workers have been wanting all along. The super wealthy won’t like it, as their wealth will be redistributed for the greater good, but all of us regular working folks sure will!
In France many of the doctors not only make house calls, but they are paid employees of the government of France, rather than private practitioners. They make roughly the equivalent of $200K/year U.S. as pay commensurate with their skill level and services they provide the country of France. They do not have to pay for malpractice insurance, or for a medical practice with employees and all that goes along with that, nor do they need to continually add to the cost of medical care by charging more and more every year in order to give themselves a raise or enrich themselves faster. Costs are controlled by the government and supplies are as well. There are some private medical practitioners, but the majority still utilized the free system as it largely proves more than adequate.
Given a choice, I’d be willing to bet that most American doctors, especially general practitioners, would trade the massive debt they took on to become a doctor for a straight-up decent salary, instead of constantly taking on more and more debt—first to become a doctor, then to become part of a practice with employees, and all of the overhead thereof, or to pay for the multi-million dollar MRI or CAT scan machine the practice just decided it needed. This system of government physicians have worked well for the people of France and other countries quite well. I’m certain it could work equally well in the United States of America.
Make no mistake: socialism is not communism! Please don’t keep getting that mixed up. It’s embarrassing that so many Americans say they are against socialism in every respect, but when quizzed, it is quite obvious that they are definitely confusing socialism with communism. I get it. I am a baby boomer. I grew up when the “cold war” with Russia was alive and well and I used to have to get under my desk when the air raid siren would go off, while in grade school in southern California during the 1960’s. And, it was all about being prepared to fight Russia, or fight communism! Communism became a dirty word that few understood, and even fewer understood well, a fact that still holds true today.
It is a shame because this play on words sounding so much alike that their meanings are being blurred into a cohesion that should not even exist. Sweden is no Russia, and neither is Denmark. All these “ism’s and ist’s” and and other economic terms that are not for the faint of heart or the uneducated past high school. It is easy to see how someone used to having someone else think for them or who just votes the party or follows the local crowd, or their family, or their neighbors into adopting certain prejudices and, therefore, have come to believe that “communism=socialism” and vice-versa.
More technically and specifically, “pure Socialism” is simply a different way of organizing economic and political activity so that the means of manufacturing, transporting, and trading of wealth should be owned or controlled by the workers. This means the money made belongs to the workers who make the products, instead of groups of private owners. In theory, based on public benefits, socialism has the greatest goal of common wealth; Since the government controls almost all of society’s functions, it can make better use of resources, labors and lands; Socialism reduces disparity in wealth, not only in different areas, but also in all societal ranks and classes.
Socialism is compatible with and FAR MORE TOLERANT OF democracy and liberty, whereas Communism involves creating an ‘equal society’ through an authoritarian state, which denies basic liberties. Democratic socialism in the west involves participating in democracy to seek an incremental reduction in inequality.
Socialism is the best system that mankind has yet to come up with for a type of government that is the best for people (rather than corporations and the super wealthy).
Please do not think that I’m in favor of or talking about pure socialism. Rather, I’m referring to mixed economies of socialism and capitalism. Socialized medicine and healthcare and other essential, human-need, services are guaranteed, like schools, hospitals, emergency services, water and sewer and all infrastructure, including elder care etc., but with a market economy over all, like Denmark and like Canada, our beloved neighbor to the north. This is the direction that I would like to see the United States finally move in. It is truly the best of both worlds. You have the government oversight and distribution via taxing mechanisms, that protect people and the environment using funds from the tax pool, and the tax pool is kept sufficiently filled so that all is maintained. Interestingly enough, most people who live in these countries feel wealthy because all of their foundational needs are being met for the greater good of everyone living in that society. This is uplifting for everyone, not just the lucky ones who grew up wealthy.
Americans are already almost 75% of the way to socialism in the U.S. anyway, and we are the original market economy super power, so that part is already in place. Why not go ahead and finish it up, so that millions of people can finally be uplifted enough to enjoy their lives and not necessarily just living lives of endless toil and hardship. This means having an easy to use, paperless, no complexity system that ensures all who need health care at any level will get everything available to make them well again, with no worries about how much it is costing or about having to lose all of your life savings or assets to pay for a treatment or surgery
Why not put aside our “American Superiority Complex” long enough to finally start showing the world just how smart we still can be? Why not change for the better? Why not learn from others for a change? Why not do what has worked extremely well elsewhere for a change? Why not give workers the break they deserve? How about a living wage for a change? How about having your kids going to college without you having to save for that event all of your working adult life, while simultaneously trying to fund your own retirement fund? How about that?! How about being able to go to the doctor and just have them swipe a card and that’s it. And, you never get any bills or paperwork or have to figure out what your share is going to be? How about that for a change?!?! Who is going to pay for this? ALL OF US TOGETHER. But, that means that the largest share will be paid by the now super wealthy because they currently hold over 90% of all the wealth in this country, and that wealth will be redistributed to a large extent via taxation to give back some of that vast resource to the people residing in that country.
Smart European countries who already enjoy universal healthcare include Austria, Belarus, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Isle of Man, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom.
The citizens and common working people of the United States can become more like these other countries if we want to and we should! Why should everyday people in America have to work work work work work work work endlessly working all the time without much of anything to show for it except a ton of debt, and maybe a few expensive toys? All the time you have been toiling away, the costs of living continue to spiral upward keeping your stuck right where you are no matter how much you make. And that is the way the Capitalists designed the program; to keep you toiling and in debt. They know debt is economic enslavement.
Look how much money is deducted from your paycheck for health insurance premiums that still leave you paying more and more of every single visit to the doctor or hospital. There is more on you every single year, along with premium hikes which are also an annual event. Talk about a hidden tax! But GOD FORBID should the United States copy Finland or Denmark by evening out the economic playing field, starting with healthcare. Healthcare that, under a mixed economy system wouldn’t cost you anything out of pocket for medical care. And on top of paying all of that money for healthcare insurance premiums, let’s not forget to also add in life insurance, home owners insurance, liability insurance, disability insurance, and unemployment insurance? Jewelry insurance and even cancer insurance. We already pay a ton in taxes that we don’t call taxes. Instead, we call them fees, premiums, or just invoices, but one thing is for sure: we Americans pay pay pay for everything!
One final note or tidbit to think about; why do you think that every time the republicans, the party of the wealthy, think that the democrats are going to take over, they try to scare everyone about how, if elected, “THEY” will try and turn America into a Socialist country, implying that socialism is the same as the evil nemesis communism, and that taxes will go through the roof to pay for their “far left, socialist agenda.” Yes, taxes will go up . . . FOR THEM! NOT YOU! That’s what they’re worried about! OMG! We can’t pay all of that tax money! Billionaires would have it rougher for sure, but they would still be billionaires, despite the huge increase in taxes, while you and I my friend, will FINALLY have a much better existence. We will finally have some decent wages, decent time off, and having huge loads taken off our backs, like saving for our kids college tuition. NO MORE. An educated society is uplifting for everyone, and smart countries see the whole affair as an investment in the future of their country, so everyone shares in paying for all the children to go to University. Think about that for a minute!
Socialism with a capitalist/market economy needs to be the new way for the United States of America. Americans work way too hard for the meager rewards that we reap, especially compared to so many places abroad. American workers deserve Socialism, the best system in the world for everyday, honest, loving, hard working, responsible, law-abiding citizens.
Please get out and vote in each election no matter how small of an election it is. Please do not simply cast your vote for the party, but for the person. Hopefully you will vote for someone who is smart, wants a better future for our nation, wants a cleaner future, and wants you and your loved ones to be happy and healthy, rather than sick, angry, overworked, under paid, and estranged from one another!
Finally, please vote in favor of all things that lead us closer to becoming, once again, the United States of America.
