Socialism:
Discussion over.
Posted on 04/19/2010 8:58:08 AM PDT by AngryCapitalist
It doesn't work for people, because we are individuals, and this has been proven over and over again. Every attempt to make people live under socialism has ended up producing a condition of abject despair and apathy in the general population.
Socialism: Small upper class, very small middle class, large lower class — not much social mobility from lower to upper class.
Capitalism: Upper class, large middle class, lower class — with social mobility between the lower class to upper class via the middle class.
You want a ladder with all the rungs in it (capitalism) or a ladder with just a few rungs at top and lots of rungs at the bottom and no rungs in the middle? Then you’ll love socialism.
I always like this scenario. Ask him if socialism is so great, why not also try it in the classroom and see what happens. Try having everyone get an average grade to help those students who can’t achieve as much as the better students.
This way the high achieving students will give part of their score to the lower achieving students...so that the minumum grade will be at least a C. Surely this will be fair because it’s not the students fault he wasn’t born as bright or as ambitious as the better scoring student.
He’ll obviously pass on the challenge. But if he takes you up on it be sure he runs the class to the end of the year like this and he must be sworn to give the student the grade that was given and not earned. So A students really won’t have a chance to get an A...see how well that works out for him.
I agree!
Point out the deaths of MILLIONS in all socialistic/communistic societies and how labor camps and gulags THRIVED and were NECESSARY for the system to appear successful to outsiders. Citizens have been forced into slave labor “for the common good.”
Your professor will point to China as an example of a successful economy under totalitarianism, so do your homework on the human rights abuses, low wages, labor camps, lack of freedom, etc.
Expect to be shouted down and called names when you are WINNING the debate!
Good luck! Go get em! Please give us an update. Post an audio or video of this blessed event!
To me the entire debate revlolves around a single word- incentive.
Socialism is in my opinion literally evil becuase it robs all incentive. That is likely to be stronger wording than you are comfortable with, but I stand by it.
Also I believe that there is nothing more wonderful in human nature than reaching into one’s pocket to help anouther. There is at the same time nothing more insidious than reaching into the pocket of another even if for the same reason.
Among other things, to take away what people have earned and passing out the wealth robs one of the opportunity to give voluntarily.
What is the incentive for the state top be efficiant or profitable? If things do not work out well, they simply take again whatever they need to stay afloat.
I pity your teacher trying to defend Socialism.
I would say go armed with statistics, real numbers - people are impressed by that, and it ambushes your opponent, who does not have the response to those numbers prepared. Go with real facts.
Real off every country that has tried socialism and their GDP. Then make sure you back that up with the fact that on the back of the Reagan/Thatcher revolution of the 80s, third world persons were better off in real, bottom line terms such as the amount of meat consumed per person.
Socialism’s zero-sum game ignores the fact that wealth can br created. Only socialism cuts down the pie, then consumes it itself.
Above all I would say attack socialism and defend capitalism as being simply the normal order of things.
Nations that tightly control their borders like Norway do not have to take care of millions of immigrants.
Remember, in the US as of now, 47% do not pay any income taxes.
Socialism = slavery. He will then be required to defend his position RE slavery.
Have fun!
He'll respond with "Sweden" "England" etc.
I'm in a long-term, on-again, off-again debate with a person (or two) who believes that there is nothing wrong with socialism. I've heard all their answers to things like this.
There really is no arguing with these people.
Here is an explanation of the rules of the world
in simple two-cow terms:
* Socialism: You have two cows. You keep one and give one to your neighbor.* Communism: You have two cows. The government takes them both and provides you with milk.
* Fascism: You have two cows. The government takes them and sells you the milk.
* Government Bureaucracy: You have two cows. The government takes them both, shoots one, milks the other, pays you for the milk, and then pours it down the drain.
* Corporate: You have two cows. You sell one to make the stockholders happy, force the other to produce the milk of four cows and then act surprised when it drops over dead.
* Democrats: You have two cows. The democrats tax you to the point that you must sell them both in order to support a man who has only one cow which was a gift from your government.
* Capitalism: You have two cows. You sell one and buy a bull.
Socialism:
Discussion over.
Rich people invest, buy, strategize, motivate, give charitably and hire, thus creating jobs and opportunities for many.
Poor people metabolize.
This is not to say that poor people are not of value or are unnecessary. But they possess little power to influence the world for good.
The nomenklatura.
In this nitwit's mind, Socialism rewards professors rather than managers. He has a lot to learn.
You will likely be debating the professor in a facility endowed by a wealthy philantropist.
The one I always hear is Capitalism is not fair..What a joke. They will chase Utopia right off a cliff.
Don’t forget “trickle up poverty”.
Let me be clear on this...this is not a curve. But is a system where points are taken from the high achievers and given to the lower underachievers.
So if there are 3 kids in the class and they score as follows (where 70 = C).
Student 1 gets a 100.
Student 2 gets an 80.
Student 3 gets a 50.
Student 3 needs 20 points to achieve a C (70%). So Student 1 has to give up 15 points giving him an 85%. And Student 2 has to give up 5 points giving him a 75%. And Student 3 will have a 70%.
See now isn’t that fair. I wonder what will happen the following week? Will the peer pressure make the weaker kids pick it up or will the better kids just say screw it and let someone carry them in that class while they study harder for a class that rewards them for their efforts?
And this is the point...socialism pulls everyone down while capitalism rewards success and encourages everyone to do better.
Even Socialistic China is allowing large swaths of capitalism to be applied to its economic structure with some limited degree of success but will never be able to realize its full market potential unless it completely relinquishes its governmental market controls.
There are no success driven incentives for the individual at the very elementary levels of socialism, that is why socialistic countries rely heavily on the west for innovation and production.
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