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To the question: “How socialist are we?”

Here’s the thing...once you start handing out funding to build interstates, city streets, bridges, etc...it comes from taxation and comes under the socialism umbrella.

When you start providing student loans and grants...it comes from taxation and the socialism umbrella.

When you run a national farm subsidy program....it comes from taxes, and the socialism umbrella.

There are probably over fifty examples of this. But the secret to the system is that you have to have a trade-program, a manufacturing base, and open capitalism....in order that taxation can occur and distribution of taxes gives you the socialism umbrella. If you can’t manufacture or sell anything...socialism fails.

One can use Venezuela as an example of failure. They stepped into the middle of capitalism and felt government control and regulation would work. As the months went by...they ended up owning or controlling virtually everything...to include toilet paper. Well...it’s all a crisis now (not even enough toilet paper)...because they didn’t allow the capitalist system to work on it’s own. There’s no free money left.

You can go to Sweden, Denmark, or Finland and find where products are made, sold, and taxation occurs which pays for all the free-stuff. As long as the government apparatus doesn’t attempt to control the products...it’ll all continue like this.

Well if Venezuela is a 10 what we about a 4 France a 6 Canada a 5? What do you think? It gets weird though. There obviously are various degrees of socialism. For example all my life Canada has been more toward the socialism side but its very capitalistic and hasn't devolved or wanted to become Marxist. Perhaps thats my error in thinking Marxism is the result of turning socialism all the way up, you get Marxist communism.

This might be the case theoretically but with humans the reality is much more messy. China for example - what the hell type of communism is that. I remember watching some Chinese premier going on and on about communism with Chinese characteristics. Essentially capitalism without the capitalists and slave labor.

Some countries with great natural reasources have been able to pull off the quasi socialist fairly effectively - while we providing the defense and the muslims weren't invading. Those days are gone I think.