If I say the word 'socialism', what are your immediate thoughts?

I always liked this one.
http://www.famguardian.org/Subjects/Politics/Articles/TwoCowPhilosophy.htm
Sue me. You put it in social.:)

An economic system where the means of production and distribution are collectively owned and democratically managed by the workforce itself.

Serious answer: I see it as working in theory. But I think we then end up with citizens expecting the government will have an answer for any questions we have. We tend to forget the government is run by people with as many questions as you or I have. So it tends to get bogged down in the functioning and it is very inefficient.

@Adirondackwannabe I like the cow explanation. Makes everything easier to understand. They should teach that in school.

@tups I don’t really see that going over well in a PC environment. :) But it is an easy to explain way to describe different systems.

The first word that comes to my mind is “Deficits.”

Unions and freedom or free lunch.

2 cows for me; 1 for the state. Makes sense to me.

For me, socialism means progressive and taking care of the populace.

I think of Europe and stuff.
I don’t know enough about it to really have an opinion on it though..

I think of Obama and what he desires for America.

I was going to say “Obama” as well. Not because I actually think Obama is a socialist, but because that seems to be the main thing his critics say against him, so when I hear “socialism”, I think “critics of Obama”. But I also think of how many times socialism failed…

I think of it as people helping people. A true government by the people and for the people.

My first thought is how sad it is that the word socialism, along with liberalism, has become such an anathema here is the US.

Please let this happen.

Nothing wrong with it. The original utopian socialists had a nice idea.

But they thought it should be voluntary. People who wanted to live communally would do so, sort of like joining a church.

The problem arises when the political state forces it upon people who don’t want it. In that case it becomes a form of slavery, not voluntary cooperation. So people who love enslaving others to their benefit love it, and those who hate being slaves hate it.

That conflict makes it a controversial subject.

But it is clearly is OK if everybody is on board with it. The classic nuclear family, working father, house managing mother, dependent children was a mini socialistic system.

Do you view socialism and liberalism as opposites? Because here in Scandinavia they are definitely viewed upon as opposites.

The word socialism makes me think of Chinese people wearing those drab worker uniforms.

@tups People in America us the terms as if they’re interchangeable.

@josie “If everybody is on board with it” well isn’t it the point of democracy that the majority decides what kind of government they want? Remember that socialism and communism are definitely not the same thing.

@tups I personally do not and I think that in the eyes of the majority of the people in the US the two words are synonymous and interchangible many times. How interesting! How are they opposites in Scandinavia and what do most people there classify themselves as?

@josie “The classic nuclear family, working father, house managing mother, dependent children was a mini socialistic system.”
Nope. The traditional family is a dictatorship. Socialism requires democracy.

McCarthy

@ragingloli Exactly. Socialism requires democracy.

@ragingloli Economically speaking, liberalism and socialism are two opposites. The socialistic and liberal parties are also at different ends of the spectrum. They are viewed upon as two different ideologies. There are three main ideologies: conservatism, liberalism and socialism.
Liberalism: “the survivial of the fittest”, “one is his own fortune”, personal freedom, free market with minimal interference from the state, minimum tax
Conservatism: nationality, slow change, traditional values, the family is the most important organ
Socialism: Equality, unity, provide the ability to enjoy as needed, the rich people pay more tax than the poor to help those who need it

Liberalism: you are the one responsibility for the value of your life
Socialism: the state holds a responsibility for the value of your life

Very quickly summed up, but I hope you understand.

I can’t recall ever hearing a discussion about socialism either in my home or high school, but from various sources I grew up inferring that it is something very bad and to be avoided at all costs.

As I grew older, I came to realize that whatever sources led me to that belief probably didn’t really know what socialism is, including the people who brand Obama a socialist and then can’t tell you why except with the same talking points I’ve head my entire adult life.

@tups Sure. I would say that what is called liberalism there would be called Libertarianism here. And while the Conservatism is the same, over here they have usurped, or at least give lip service to those traits you call liberal. In fact, there is an ideological battle taking place right now between what amounts to basically those two factions for control of the Republican party. The Tea Party Republicans would crap if they knew they were liberals.
Liberalism over here encompasses features of both the socialist and liberalist ideologies focusing on the rights of the individual and the liberal ideals of freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of religion for all belief systems, and the separation of church and state, right to due process and equality under the law. The main difference between liberals and libertarians in my opinion is the role of the state in promoting the general welfare.

@rojo I see. Well I like the American form of liberalism.

Big bloated government filled with fraud waste abuse squandering the lifeblood of hard-working overtaxed citizens.

@tups GA for how your country perceives political concepts. It’s entirely too easy to develop tunnelvision in regards to American perspectives, especially considering how polarized and cartoonish they are anymore.

My immediate thoughts the swastika, a star and the sickle.

Makes me think of the socialized medicine we have here. Which means waiting forever in the doctor’s office for your turn, and having to come back 4 times because the doc gets paid by the number of patients he sees. In the USA all would be done in one visit. Waiting years for a dental appointment. I think there is a 5 year waiting list for non emergency surgery. So everyone who can has private health care so they don’t have to go through that. It functions satisfactorily okay if you don’t work, then you have plenty of time to wait.

In a more general sense, it means why bother working your butt off to better yourself if the reward for all is the same.

It’s worthy of discussion, but won’t be discussed meaningfully while the current corporatist order runs things.

In its ideal form, I think “utopia”. Sadly, unachievable for human beings.

Funny how people have an opinion on something they can’t even define.

@tinyfaery “It’s funny that…..”. Everybody says that but nobody laughs.

@tinyfaery Isn’t that unfortunately the case quite often?

Yes, unfortunately.

wiki says “Socialism is an economic system characterised by social ownership of the means of production and co-operative management of the economy.”

For all the poor souls who don’t know the definition.

Yellow Banana. That is the first words that comes to mind.

How many Google-type companies did the Soviet Union create?

You mean a monolithic big brother organisation that constantly collects private information?
Lots of them.