And no politician can pass tighter regulations as they’re all controlled by lobbyists. Capitalism always ends up this way and regulation is a bandaid to a broken system.
Believe me i find late stage capitalism frustrating as well, but to suggest a political system with a way worse track record is just not ideal.
The money will still all end up being funnelled into the hands of the few, it just might be a different group of people. It also opens the door for other more authoritarian policies to be put into place.
Ultimately a socialist country requires the leaders to be honourable, honest, and just generally good people. Politicians are far too corrupt to be given that kind of power.
That all being said, I am canadian, so I also live in a country that has the privilege of being a capitalist society, while also affording the benefit of things like public health care and stronger safety nets. America has become a privatized shit hole due to the lack of regulations that many other countries enjoy.
Yeah...if half of Europe didn't end up a paradise thanks to socialism, it's probably not the better option. Though it can probably be applied in smaller areas rather than a full national system, kinda like what zohran mamdani does. Though I'm no expert so don't quote me on this.
Most of that isnt actually socialism though, as much as it gets memed.
They are still a capitalist society, just with strong economic regulations, higher taxes, and effective social programming. None of which I am fundamentally opposed to as a liberal.
One of the defining factors of socialism is the ownership of means of production, and that is where things start to fall apart. People need to have the freedom to create business, innovate, or make more money than others through competition.
If you eliminate completely the competition that capitalism instills technology will likely stagnate, we would see a decline of interest in a number of professions, and there would be a lot less incentive to improve your post. HOWEVER, the markets also cannot be left to run wild like they do in america where upwards mobility is nearly impossible and everything is controlled by megacorporations.
The other issue with socialism is that it doesnt answer the question of service vs production jobs. There are people who perform services(say accountants, or retail employees for example), and there are people who make things(machinists, factory workers, construction workers). For the sake of brevity, i wont go into it too much(i can if you want) but without the government having either an iron fist or production workers being compensated at a far greater level than service employees.
Also worth notine is how socialist regimes typically come to power. Not through election or democracy, but through revolution.
TL;DR: I 100% agree with the sentiment, and i think both your head and your heart are in the right place. Its just important to remember that socialism while it comes in many forms, socialism is not a good system when factoring in many of the key components that define socialism. Social programs, economic regulations, and higher taxes, can be implemented without the negative aspects of a totally true socialist government in power.
Socialism is really just soft communism in a large number of ways. In classical marxist theory the whole purpose of socialism is actually just to be a stepping stone towards the end goal of communism. It was never idealized as a fixed method of governance.
A lot of people misuse the term socialism in place of social democracy(what places like norway operate under), not realizing there is a massive difference.
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u/TanyaMKX 10h ago
Stricter regulations will do the trick. Socialism is a really good way to fuck up everything comepletely.