Hi.
There were some Europeans talking to me once in a while and some people I talk to in the USA have said that the Europeans are socialist. I wanted to ask if Europeans consider themselves to be socialist?
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Hey, fortunately, I could not sleep. When you asked about posting this question awhile back, I had said I would put a disclaimer on it, so here it is:
I think the question is if European governments practice socialism. The question should a yes or no answer and maybe the reasons why you believe that to be the case. This topic has the potential to get political very quickly, so please donāt turn it into a discussion of what political system is superior to the other. Itās just a question of if you believe it and why you believe one way or the the other.
My ex mrs always says we in Australia have a socialist system simply from misinformation and having a different version of democracy. Yeah the left has a different slant over here but we are a democratic nation like most Europeans.
I think the problem with US policy was the Mcarthy politic where communism was demonized. Historically that gives Americans a different slant on things and honestly. I have lived in the United States and the average Americans version on what goes down outside the country is seriously skewed.
So. No. Thereās right and left in every nation especially in Europe. What you are asking is totally wrong and a very poor understanding of what goes on outside your country.
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The truth is, the US has elements of socialism as well. Iām living on it through disability. Medicare, medicaid, public education, welfare, unemployment are all elements of socialism.
Iām a political centrist in my own country. Most of the people in my province think Iām a commie. Most down east think I probably march with the Proud Boys in my spare time because Iām politically to the right of them.
I miss when people could have differing opinions without it having to turn into some sort of blood feud.
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If anything in recent years populism has been more prominent in the UK than either conservatism or socialism. I regard myself as a pragmatic socialist, i.e someone who believes that the best way for socialists to be influential is as part of a Labour party in power.
Radicalism + pragmatism.
I guess that from a US perspective Europeans are way more leftist and hence you could call us socialists.
We do have right wing and left wing parties (including a socialist party) but even the right wing parties are more to the left than the Democrats in the US.
Hope this clarifies. From a European.
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My father has lived in the USA since 1981. Heās a lot more pro democrat than pro republican . However he describes himself a āprogressive conservativeā. In the UK he always voted Tory.
It depends on what you mean by āsocialismā. Social Democracy? Thatās a form of socialism. Western Europe has gone back and forth between Social Democracy and a more capitalist society for a long time. I think the pendulum is swinging back towards Social Democracy again. A German girl told me that Germany was going back to Social Democracy. That kind of thing has been going on for a long time. I remember when I was in the army in Germany in 1978, I think, āTimeā magazine said that nearly all the countries in Western Europe had switched away from Social Democracy.
From what it seems, socialism has different connotations depending on where you are.
It is most likely shaped by a countryās sociopolitical history, and the implementation of the raw concept of socialism is dependent upon government systems that already exist, as well as the current political climate of said country.
For example, National Socialism in Germany is completely different from what Americans understand or posit socialism to be. Itās actually the party platform in which Hitler and the Nazis ruled under during WWII.
Definitely not ātraditionalā socialism, and actually contains no concepts or tenets of what Americans understand socialism to be.
Europe, like most countries is a capitalist/socialist hybrid, and each country skews towards one system or the other.
Here in Canada the healthcare system is socialist for the most part (some things you have to pay for), itās free to access but paid for collectively through our taxes. Other industries are governed by free market capitalism.
There has never been a purely capitalist or socialist society.
Thatās why I tell people my politics are practical not ideological. Different political theories should govern different aspects of society. And the better we are at figuring out what aspect of society should be governed by which polical theory the better society will be.
Saying socialism/communism or capitalism should govern everything is ideological and I think thatās dumb.
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