why police and fire departments are not socialismwhy police and fire departments are not socialism

I've seen some attempt to say that universities are socialist institutions due to tuitions, enrollment and profits from sports events being central to their continued operation. However, police are needed to produce any cooperative society, so they are in more of a gray area than the others every form of government you can dream up will have some need to enforce the rules, hence Law Enforcement. Anarchy is a form of government where everyone is responsible for their own protection, so no police are necessary in an anarchist state.. We use cookies to understand how you use our site and to improve your experience. (Exceptions were made when rich senators offered to ponyup denarii on projects so theyd have their names attached to roads.). Simply electing politicians to office or watching the government expand by its own momentum has never been, and never will be, enough. Citizens United) and lobbying activities. Government spending on social programs and other activities may well increase in the coming decades because of the aging population, the climate crisis, and other developments. The GOP Is Afraid to Cut Social Security. The list goes on and on. Socialism, loosely defined, is "From each according to their ability, to each according to their need." Some people pay, while some people receive, often those paying are excluded. No centralized Department of Education. Additionally we host events, provide commentary for traditional media shows, and give speeches to groups of all sizes. Presidential hopeful Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) looks on during the second Democratic primary debate of the 2020 presidential campaign season hosted by NBC News at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami, Florida, June 27, 2019. Socialism, no matter what you learned in High School, is a labor inspired revolution aimed at defeating the class barriers and wealth inequality created by capitalism. And if capitalism is in some sense a contrast term relative to socialism, then what are we to make of such terms as state capitalism and market socialism, crony capitalism and democratic socialism, so often used in but slightly more specialized contexts than those of mere punditry? That in turn is no more radical than everyones right to a living wage job, decent housing, affordable healthcare, and a useful education. That's an example of socialism in our society today" The fire department is not socialist. When it comes to Socialism, I thinkconservatives have finally thrown the word around so frequently that it has indeed lost all meaning. Why is a public library socialist, but police and fire departments aren't? Fire departments are a service associated with the well-being of society and not a means of production. Which seems more socialist in such case Lincolns, Reagans and Sanderss labor republican capitalism, which actually produces outputs from inputs, or Mr. Trumps state-funded oligarchical feudalism, which simply brands already existing entities that earn money by luring working people into gambling casinos and overpriced low-quality hotel accommodations? Since the Clinton Administration, the federal government has also funded the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) hiring grant program. Capitalism says that the profits belong to the owner of the business and it is up to them to determine pretty much all aspects of running their business. progressive) taxation; and when was the last time you got private national defense, private policing, private fire departments or the like? Everyone gets government provided housing, health care, and even government clothing. Those fares pay for maintenance, but your taxes are supposed to do that since the system technically belongs to the entire city. Trumps penchant for cronyism, moreover, along with his comfort with the growing practice of share-buybacks that have drawn legislation from Senators Sanders and Baldwin, are classically autocratic preferences they disenfranchise existing diffuse shareholders in favor of smaller coteries of smaller groups with more concentrated ownership. They would be one of the most important institutions in any socialist society worthy of the name. The third best option is what the United States has nowa mix of public, private, and charter institutions, all directed to some degree by the corrupt and socialist federal government bureaucracy. As our middle class continues to shrink at a record rate thanks to our shift over to oligarch socialism, the present would seem an apt time to reexamine the question of what kind of socialists we want to be. Privacy Policy. Let's start by observing two readily confirmed facts. That requires a community effort. Why is a public library socialist, but police and fire departments arent? They used the word socialism in order to dupe the country into thinking they were merely a pro-labor movement when they were anything but. Use a private highway and you pay a small electronically collected fee, just as most public tolls are collected now. Yet another question in this realm of productive processes is, for industries that we decide should be more privately and less publicly ordered, which private parties should do the ordering? Well, for starters there is the question of who should own, control, or benefit by these inputs disposition in the productive process. Its also how theyre able to conflate their own interests with a larger public or national interest under a capitalist system, theres some truth to their claim. Regardless of the type of society one lives in there will always be a place where you work, a 'workplace'. Does it increase our subordination to market discipline or offer us more freedom from its demands? For more than 30 years, he has researched radical left, Marxist, and terrorist movements and their covert influence on mainstream politics. This it does under the rubrics of distribution and inequality. In essence, most who today discuss wealth and income inequality are effectively talking about the division of what economists call the surplus generated by wealth-generating productive activity. This is not to say that progressive reforms can never be won under capitalism, or that the government is completely immune to public pressure. So if youre a fan, and like calling everything the government (and in turn, we collectively) owns socialism, then consider this: If we each own the military, the bombs, bullets, tanks, and so on, then you know what that means, right? They are a public resource, and one that incurs a personal financial burden if you would like to use them in addition to the social contribution. The military is the most socialist institution we have. Michael McAuliff of the Huffington Post pointed out that the federal government spends huge amounts of money to support all those professions. This is true, yet the federal government does things frequently that many consider to be outside of the proper scope of the federal powers. Achieving an optimal mix should be an important goal of the government. Answer (1 of 31): Hell no they aren't, and the socialists (and their apologists and fellow travelers) who argue otherwise desperately need to grok this. Bail out shortfalls in state and local treasuries is not a core function of the federal government. There is socialism, like the fire department. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who knows socialism better than anyone, often plays this deceptive game. The 10th Amendment states the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people. The educating of children, the protection of the populace from crime and the suppression of fires are clearly powers reserved to the states. under our present form of socialism? In order to withstand the inevitable backlash from capitalist and conservative forces, a socialist transition would need to draw on mass popular support and direct participation in the affairs of government. But lets be honest: thats probably not the case. Academics who study politics for a living often fall into this trap. In countries that actually practiced socialism, there is an alarming history of dissenters being silenced, sometimes violently. A government run by a socialist party (or a coalition of left and working-class parties) would move to bring the economys key industries and enterprises under some form of social control. In fact, you could say that these redefining tactics happen intentionally for the very reason of defeating logic: Sure but thats not what it means to me.. There is a sense in which most talk of socialism over the past century or so has been confined to what I am calling the output dimension. Winning government power and using it to break the dominance of the capitalist class is a necessary condition for beginning the transition to socialism. No. There is no need to explore this issue any further.. No, socialism isn't just more government it's about democratic ownership and control. These direct forms of influence are not the only way that powerful interests shape government action. and our Change), You are commenting using your Facebook account. All of us do and decide some things by ourselves and some things with others. No one who tells you otherwise has investigated the matter, let alone thought about it. In fact none of the government programs in America are socialist.Socialism is not when the government does stuff.These are social programs that exist within the capitalist frameworkAt best if you have enough of these programs you'd be left with what's called a social democracyA social democracy is a form of capitalism that advocates for intervening in economic and social matters to alleviate the worst of capitalism's inequities.But it's primary mode of production, that is, it's primary method of producing and distributing goods and resources are still owned by private interests.It's just that some of those goods and resources are redistributed among the working classSocialism is a mode of production which advocates for all the workers controlling the production and distribution of goods and resources.This is not to say social programs are badThe fire department can and will obviously exist in a socialist society.But the fire department can and does also exist within a capitalist society.If we seek to have an honest discussion about these topics it's important to separate specific institutions as examples of socialism or capitalism and focus instead on who controls how those resources are produced and distributed. Why? All economies have socialist elements and free market elements. To understand what is meant by socialism and its contrast term individualism, then, you must first clarify which dimension or phase ofasocietys process of production you have in mind. What determines whether we choose to pursue an activity more individually or more socially? In that sense all Alaskans jointly own the reserves Alaska is socialist about oil, a sort of corporation all of whose residents hold shares in equal measure. Russia was known as the United Soviet Socialist Republic and all such regimes referred to themselves as socialist, but, yes, communism is an. Where you can make something out of nothing. Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. Some could be privately run for profit. Copyright 2000 - 2023 The Epoch Times Association Inc. All Rights Reserved. And by industry, I mean anything capable of providing an income. People pay taxes and the government then gives it to others,. If we were purely capitalistic, each person would have to hire their own firemen.". It can be a dirty trick used to end an argument under false pretenses, and one that inherently carries confirmation bias as well: If the definition cannot be agreed upon, then I must be correct in my assessment. And our founders did not create a socialist system. In their incessant propaganda war to move the United States leftwards, leftists often claim that this country already is partly socialist. That's socialism. And these claims continue to this day. Fire departments could be considered a socialist program if the government was only made up of, and meant to represent, the proletariat. M-W defines socialism as "any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or government ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods." A. when you socialize democratize decision-making, Corporate Accountability and Democracy Plan, we have always been socialist in some way. Lets start by observing two readily confirmed facts. Consequently, there is a strong tendency for politicians and bureaucrats to align their policy decisions with the interests of capitalists in the private sector. Are Mike Bloomberg and Donald Trump? Nov 9, 2015. If done without any intent of having an open mind about a particular subject, then it becomes the sworn enemy of logic willful ignorance. Well, one way to start finding out is to do what any third grader could do and what pundits for some reason seem yet to have bothered to do look it up! All meaning government action or watching the government expand by its own momentum never... Are clearly powers reserved to the states thrown the word around so frequently that it has lost... Groups of all sizes government has also funded the Community Oriented Policing Services ( COPS ) hiring grant.. 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