No. Socialism is a system wherein the state controls the means of production and the distribution of private property. Not a single Western economy, nor the economies of China, Israel, India etc., operate a socialist government. Although the rationales for the two are sometimes similar, the creation of a social safety net is entirely different from socialistic state or economy.
And where is here? There is not a single other period in human existence where your standard of living would be as high as it is now -- full stop. In all of recorded human history, man -- including the common man -- has never had access to cheap, plentiful food, cheap sources of power, cheap entertainment and a whole host of technologies that at once both improve the average life span while making one's time on earth more enjoyable and productive. The sad thing, really, is that you are blinded to the prosperity of this age by either ignorance or tendentiousness. You are ignorant to the sad fact that for most of recorded human history, man could not be sure that his station in life -- let alone that of his children -- would be materially improved by the time of death.
There has been no other system that has lifted so many out of grinding poverty as the free enterprise system. To the extent you even recognize the privileges afforded to all of us by the economic growth of the last 150 years, you myopically overlook the role that the free enterprise played in enabling these developments. At the same time, you are entirely oblivious to the great evils government has inflicted on its citizens -- or subjects -- even when it is supposedly acting in the best interests of those parties.
The correlation between the increase in the material well-being of so many throughout the world and the propagation of free enterprise and free trade is not some historical accident. I, for one, do not wish to return to the exiguity of the bad old days when the quality of life for individuals stagnated or, worse still, declined. Yet fueled by an arrant sense of pious self-importance, you seek to derogate the very system that has afforded you benefits and privileges unimaginable to the men of former ages.
Having become insulated from the harsh realities that have confronted man for most of his existence, and lacking any appreciation for historical context, you instead peddle trite slogans and hackneyed cavils all wrapped in a self-congratulatory package.
The common man has often been exploited -- his labor exacted for no compensation and his political allegiance coerced. Now, however, is not such an age. To claim differently, is to descend into the darkness of ignorance or sing the siren song of fatuous self-delusion.
Last edited: