Why "Democratic" Socialism Doesn't Work...

[_ldsfaqs]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XgdtHewGR0

Because it's just Socialism made to sound like it's not, and it doesn't work and has never worked ANYWHERE on the planet or in history.
Even those country's that are praised as socialist utopia's have to have a large degree of Capitalism and Freedom, or start returning to it in order to survive.
Those that don't, end up like Venezuela....

[_Gunnar]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XgdtHewGR0

Because it's just Socialism made to sound like it's not, and it doesn't work and has never worked ANYWHERE on the planet or in history.
Even those country's that are praised as socialist utopia's have to have a large degree of Capitalism and Freedom, or start returning to it in order to survive.
Those that don't, end up like Venezuela....

Sorry, I don't think that either you or Crowder really know what you are talking about. The fact remains that countries like the Scandinavian countries and other Western industrialized countries are doing quite a better job of providing health care and education for a greater proportion of their population at less cost that we are managing to do in this country. They are obviously doing something right, and if we are smart we will study what they are doing and try to learn from their successes. There is something glaringly awry when the richest one tenth of one percent of the people in this country control as much or more wealth than the combined total of the vast majority of the rest of us, and people working one and sometimes two full time minimum wage jobs can't make ends meet without government assistance.

One of the outrageous things that really galls me is that due to the influence of big pharmaceutical companies, Medicare and other government health insurance programs are forbidden by law to negotiate the price of drugs. As far as I know, no other nations' governments have hobbled themselves with that kind of foolish restrictions. That's why they pay far less for essential drugs and medications than Americans do, helping to make their healthcare more affordable

[_Doctor CamNC4Me]

Libertarian utopia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congo_Free_State

The ultimate Conservative wet dream.

- Doc

[_EAllusion]

Yes, nothing says libertarianism like a racist, colonialist monarchy seizing virtually all property for the state to exploit previously sovereign locals.

[_Doctor CamNC4Me]

Hey, King Leopold did what he wanted. He was the ultimate ubermensch carving out a piece of the Dream for himself unrestrained by conscience, policy, or law. Everything else was just a resource for him to put food on the table!

- Doc

[_EAllusion]

Hey, King Leopold did what he wanted. He was the ultimate ubermensch carving out a piece of the Dream for himself unrestrained by conscience, policy, or law. Everything else was just a resource for him to put food on the table!

- Doc

You have a childish understanding of libertarianism.

[_just me]

delete

[_The CCC]

The Libertarian Paradise.
SEE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ul-Efi1Xys

[_Doctor CamNC4Me]

Hey, King Leopold did what he wanted. He was the ultimate ubermensch carving out a piece of the Dream for himself unrestrained by conscience, policy, or law. Everything else was just a resource for him to put food on the table!

- Doc

You have a childish understanding of libertarianism.

Would you be kind enough to point out a few examples of Libertarian governments in the world that are functional and progressive?

- Doc

[_EAllusion]

Would you be kind enough to point out a few examples of Libertarian governments in the world that are functional and progressive?

- Doc

Libertarianism does not refer to people being free of moral or legal restrictions to do what they want. That isn't even a successful parody of the most extreme anarcho-capitalist views that sit at the libertarian fringe. Libertarianism refers to relative economic conservatism and social liberalism with a focus on reducing both the scope and centralization of government power. Libertarian movements are associated with specific views - opposition to seat belt laws and public smoking bans for example - that you simply have to get familiar with to understand. All libertarian thought requires social organization to be maintained through the force of law. That even includes the libertarian anarchists who don't believe in lack of law so much as have radical concepts about how the law gets organized.

You cited the literal opposite of libertarianism as if it were its natural end. And, when called on that, decided that all libertarians want is everyone to grab as much for themselves as they can get away with. Not even the Ayn Randian libertarians think that.

The world is becoming more libertarian all the time. Economic conservatism and social liberalism, year after year, win a little more ground. Your post is about as fair and informed as saying that the natural ideal of liberals like Rachel Maddow is found in Stalinist labor camps. As for which societies are libertarian, that's hard to say because libertarianism is just a range on a political spectrum, not a single political philosophy. No society is perfectly libertarian in the same sense that no society is perfectly liberal. There are more libertarian nations than others, of course. Switzerland and New Zealand are quite libertarian by nature.

By all means, feel free to explain why Gary Johnson is so much worse a candidate than Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump. Or feel free to explain why mainstream conservative economists or civil libertarians like the ACLU are so wrong about their views despite holding so much academic sway. Better yet, explain why the natural end of the ACLU and The Economist is King Leopold. Good luck.