Thread: Finland and the Credit Crunch

The way forward now is the form of government called....

Social democracy, thats what European governments have by and large.

In capitalism US style the individual is a slave to the dollar, each citizen is only as valuable as the amount of money in his wallet. If you are born poor, you most likely will die poor. Every man for himself! The American dream is an illusion!

In Communism the individual is a slave to the state. They will never get rich or have many luxuries, and basic freedoms are denied, but the basics are covered.

In social democracy the state is subservient to the individual, but the individual also has responsibilities, is pay tax etc. In a social democracy we expect the state to protect and educate us. The state is an extension of the family!

Socialism is best explained by Raoul Castros --

"Socialism is equality in opportunity, but not equality in prosperity". In other words the state will give you opportunities, but no free ride.

Yes capitalism has failed, but no more or less than any other system. The best governments comrise elements of all of the others.

In my opinion, the state should encourage innovation and hard work, but protect the weak and provide social services paid for by taxes. Strength through unity.

If Public health care was ended and we had private health care only, I am quite sure that nothing would change in the quality or quantity of services. Instead of seeing waste and inefficiencies, we would instead see an equivalent amount of profiteering. There is nothing wrong with profit, but if we lose control of our health system we will gain nothing in the long run.

http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=a3HyK5rB9jY

Originally Posted by drummerac

The way forward now is the form of government called....

Social democracy, thats what European governments have by and large.

In capitalism US style the individual is a slave to the dollar, each citizen is only as valuable as the amount of money in his wallet. If you are born poor, you most likely will die poor. Every man for himself! The American dream is an illusion!

In Communism the individual is a slave to the state. They will never get rich or have many luxuries, and basic freedoms are denied, but the basics are covered.

In social democracy the state is subservient to the individual, but the individual also has responsibilities, is pay tax etc. In a social democracy we expect the state to protect and educate us. The state is an extension of the family!

Socialism is best explained by Raoul Castros --

"Socialism is equality in opportunity, but not equality in prosperity". In other words the state will give you opportunities, but no free ride.

Yes capitalism has failed, but no more or less than any other system. The best governments comrise elements of all of the others.

In my opinion, the state should encourage innovation and hard work, but protect the weak and provide social services paid for by taxes. Strength through unity.

If Public health care was ended and we had private health care only, I am quite sure that nothing would change in the quality or quantity of services. Instead of seeing waste and inefficiencies, we would instead see an equivalent amount of profiteering. There is nothing wrong with profit, but if we lose control of our health system we will gain nothing in the long run.

YouTube - Tony Benn from Sicko

Very nicely written, I largely agree. But then again that utopic idea of a perfect social democratic society works on the assumption that mankind is flawless. But of course human susceptibility to laziness, scrounging and selfishness can very quickly make a mockery of social democracy and make the need for more totalitarian systems seem more necessary. But that varies greatly from country to country, for example Scandinavian social democracy is fairly productive however anything but a heavy handed form of governance in certain middle eastern states and Africa etc would pretty quickly lead to warring and petty conflict.. So really one has to gauge the level of education, social development and the kind of national mentality before assigning an effective form of governance. I think.