[lisbbb]

I cringe every time some youngster suggests we go down the socialist/communist path because none of them have any real-life experience with how bad Eastern Europe was! Here's a hint: It's was fucking beyond belief horrible--everyone was poor, there was nothing to buy in the stores, and people spent most of their free time drinking themselves to death.

[Broken_Hippo]

On the other hand, I live in Norway. Bits like healthcare and a good safety net makes things nicer. I'm from the US originally. This nice stuff could be adapted for the US if folks would put their energy into helping others rather than spite.

Mismanagement of resources is bad no matter what system is used. Just because some under one sort of ideology and corrupt leaders failed doesn't mean that folks can't take the bits that were good, adapt and improve them, and see good results.

[NewJazz]

Norway is a petro-state that managed to amass a national wealth fund. Cherish what you have. Understand that it doesn't necessarily translate to every community.

[Wieldable4640]

Americans pay more for worse outcomes, so this is clearly a political/priorities issue, not an issue with wealth.

Other counterexamples are the other European countries with the same safety net which are not petro states (they do have colonial wealth though).

A lot of this was possible because of high corporate taxes and high marginal taxes on high incomes, so in theory this model could apply in most places.

[kjkjadksj]

Not all european countries have colonial wealth. There is universal healthcare in croatia and that nation started from scratch essentially 30 years ago and isn’t really a very strong economy today either.

[Broken_Hippo]

If this is your take, you've missed the point. I said there is no reason good bits can't be adapted to one's society. it isn't that one system will work for everywhere or that it'll even look the same. Some things are unique to Norway, but other things definitely are pretty widespread.

You see this with healthcare in different places: Details change and sometimes it is lacking, but lots of places offer healthcare to its citizens that is low-cost to free when you need it. There is a lot of variation in what countries can do. Some places are poor but still manage to a point. Some places just refuse, like the US - heck, the US has oil and could have funded things for its citizens and keeps bragging about being rich, but they aren't gonna use it for the immediate welfare of its citizens.

[kjkjadksj]

So a state where the means of production are publicly owned and this subsidizes a lot of aspects of life. Funny thats exactly socialism.

[rybosworld]

I cringe any time someone points to a failure in an unimaginably different circumstance as evidence for why something won't work here.

Some people get bit by a dog and are afraid of dogs their whole lives. It's irrational.

Also, socialism and communism are not synonyms.

[gbriel]

Doesn't it seem ingenuine how everything good is socialism and everything bad is communism? Also if socialism can't compete with capitalism then it's doomed. Socialism must make capitalism illegal in order to succeed and I don't want to be in a place where capitalism is illegal. And "market socialism" is not socialism either.

[rybosworld]

> Doesn't it seem ingenuine how everything good is socialism and everything bad is communism

Who is making that claim here? It seems ingenuine to bring that up when no one's said anything to that effect in this comment chain.