Jungle Said:
Canada is not a socialist state; some people like to pretend it is... if it was, we would not be in the G8.
Historically, socialist states invariably turned to totalitarian dictatorships... I wonder if Che would like today‘s Cuba... "Power to the people" yeah right...
I think that there‘s some confusion between socialism and communism here. Socialism and Faux Communism (the Communism we‘re used to is not actual communism) have the same origins in Karl Marx, however, Socialism is the more democratic approach to gaining communism - the ideal utopia that does not involve dictators etc. Here‘s a rather long definition of socialism from Encarta (I‘d provide a shorter more concise one, but I seem to have shipped my political science notes from last semester back home):
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The socialist doctrine demands state ownership and control of the fundamental means of production and distribution of wealth, to be achieved by reconstruction of the existing capitalist or other political system of a country through peaceful, democratic, and parliamentary means.
Source: Encarta.com Article: Socialism
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Is Canada a socialist nation? Yes we are, to a certain degree. The Government owns several crown corporations, which are not meant to produce a profit, but instead to provide services, regardless of how much debt is piled up, to areas where no private company will provide those such services. We have universal health care and the social security safety net - both socialist ideas as they are meant to make everyone in society equal (or at the least, secure). While Canada has its many capitalist points, the bottom line is that we are a socialist nation and moving further into socialism...not the dictator kind, since that isn‘t really socialism or communism (it‘s totalitarianism or authoritariasm), but the true form of communism which Marx believed - one where everyone is equal in society and works towards the greater good, not their own personal gain (no where in this system does it state we must be ruled by a dictator etc. - bottom line is, we‘ll all be long dead before Canada reaches real communism, and the chances of us reaching faux communism are slim to none). For the record, I‘m actually a centralist when it comes to Canadian politics (fiscally conservative, socially somewhat-liberal in other words).
Jutes:
I know when to shut up and when to state my opinion.
Good to hear, and I respect you for that. However (and this is a general tip to all newbies to Internet forums), the swearing, while we all sometimes do it, doesn‘t need to be so frequent...calm down a bit...also, the regular members of the forums tend to have been around a long time and have pearls of wisdom dripping from their mouths. The best way to get along with people at a forum such as this is to read as much as possible so you learn the stuff before you post your opinion...expressing your opinion is great, just make sure it‘s an informed one first!
Cheers