Reblogged on kommonsentsjane/blogkommonsents.

3/12/2024

If you want freedom and the Constitution – you can’t be a Democrat/SOCIALIST – just my opinion.

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KOMMONSENTSJANE – THINK – ARE YOU REALLY A DEMOCRAT

Posted on August 1, 2015 by kommonsentsjane

What is the difference between a Socialist and a Democrat?  This is what is happening to the Democratic Party – it has been hijacked by the socialists and Muslims in that party and it seems that even the members of the party don’t know what their party stands far any more.

Since the 1930s, the party has promoted a center-left, social-liberal platform,  supporting a mixed economy and social justice.   The party’s philosophy of modern American liberalism advocates social and economic equality, along with the welfare state.^[12] It pursues a mixed economy by providing government intervention and regulation in the economy   These interventions, such as universal health care, labor unions, social programs, equal opportunity, consumer protection, and environmental protection, form the party’s economic policy basis.

Until the late 20th century, the party had a conservative pro-business wing based in the major cities and a populist conservative wing based in the rural South. After 1932, the business wing withered and, after 1990, the Southern whites moved into the Republican Party. Today, the Congressional Democratic caucus is composed mostly of progressives and centrists.

In order to really understand the Democratic Party, we need to ask DNC Chair Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz what is the difference between being a Democrat and being  a Socialist.  It seems  DNC Chair can’t, or won’t, explain the difference between a Democrat and a Socialist.

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MSNBC host Chris Matthews asked DNC chair Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (D-FL) what should have been a pretty straightforward question: “What’s the big difference between being a Democrat and being a socialist?” But as the DNC chair’s response made clear, that question has become, well, unwelcome. 

After a discussion of whether or not to allow the openly socialist presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) to speak at the Democratic Convention, Matthews asked Wasserman-Schultz to clarify their terms.”What is the difference between a Democrat and a socialist?” Matthews asked.After getting only a laugh out of the DNC chair, Matthews tried again: “I used to think there was a big difference. What do you think?””The difference between—the real question is what’s the difference between being a Democrat and being a Republican,” Wasserman-Schultz replied in an attempt to steer the discussion in a politically acceptable direction.

But Matthews would not let her off the hook, saying, “Yeah but what’s the big difference between being a Democrat and being a socialist? You’re the chairwoman of the Democratic Party. Tell me the difference between you and a socialist.”

“The relevant debate that we’ll be having over the course of this campaign is what’s the difference between being a Democrat and being a Republican,” she repeated lamely.

Earlier in the interview Wasserman-Schultz praised the avowed socialist Sanders for being a “good Democrat,” so perhaps that’s her real answer.

Socialism is a social and economic system characterised by social ownership of the means of production and co-operative management of the economy, as well as a political theory and movement that aims at the establishment of such a system.  “Social ownership” may refer to cooperative enterprises, common ownership, state ownership, citizen ownership of equity, or any combination of these.

Top 10 Most Socialist Countries in the World

Money Smarts 228

Top 10 Most Socialist Countries in the World

The term socialist has been thrown around quite a bit in the past few years. Not since the cold war has the term garnered so much attention in the press and from politicians. But when you look at countries who actually have a socialist economic structure, you can see some similarities to the United States – but there are some really stark differences.

Below, you will see some of the most socialistic nations in the world today:

• China
• Denmark
• Finland
• Netherlands
• Canada
• Sweden
• Norway
• Ireland
• New Zealand
• Belgium

Despite popular myths, there is very little connection between economic performance and welfare expenditure. Many of the countries on this list are proof of that, such as Denmark and Finland. Even though both countries are more socialistic than America, the workforce remains stronger.

China

In China the government manages and controls the economy. Many of the domestic companies are owned and run by the government. Recently, the Chinese economy has become more geared towards capitalism, but is still officially socialist. Life in China remains relatively less stressful and more relaxed than life in capitalist countries like America.

Denmark

Denmark has a wide range of welfare benefits that they offer their citizens. As a result, they also have the highest taxes in the world. Equality is considered the most important value in Denmark. Small businesses thrive, with over 70 percent of companies having 50 employees or less.

Amagertorv in Copenhagen, Denmark (image CC BY 2.0 by Furya via Wikimedia Commons)

Finland

Finland has one of the world’s best education systems, with no tuition fees and also giving free meals to their students. The literacy rate in Finland is 100 percent. Finland has one of the highest standards of living in the world. Like Denmark and other European countries, equality is considered one of the most important values in society. Whereas in the Netherlands, government control over the economy remains at a minimum, but a socialist welfare system remains. The lifestyle in the Netherlands is very egalitarian and organized, where even bosses do not discipline or treat their subordinates rudely.

Paasitorni by the Sea in Helsinki, Finland (Image CC BY-SA 3.0 by Kati Kosonen via Wikimedia Commons)

Canada

Like the Netherlands, Canada also has mostly a free market economy, but has a very extensive welfare system that includes free health and medical care. Canadians remain more open-minded and liberal than Americans, and Canada is ranked as one of the best top five countries to live in by the United Nations and the Human Development Index (HDI) rankings.

Sweden

Sweden has a large welfare system, but due to a high national debt, required much government intervention in the economy. In Norway, the government controls certain key aspects of the national economy, and they also have one of the best welfare systems in the world, with Norway having one of the highest standards of living in all of Europe. Norway is not a member of the European Union.

Ireland

Ireland has arguably one of the best welfare systems in the world, with unemployment checks higher on average than Denmark or Switzerland’s average. Around 25 percent of Ireland’s GDP goes towards paying for the welfare system, as compared to 15 percent of America’ GDP towards America’s social support programs.

New Zealand

New Zealand may not be a socialist country, but the welfare system in the country is very wide ranging, offering support for housing, unemployment, health, child care, and education as well. Therefore, New Zealand has many of the characteristics of a socialist country, even while remaining officially free market.

The location of Hobbiton, as used in the Lord of the Rings films. Near Matamata in New Zealand (image CC BY 2.0 by Rob Chandler via Wikimedia Commons)

Belgium

Lastly, Belgium has most of the same social security benefits that New Zealand offers, including invalid and old age pensions. The welfare system causes much of the country’s budget deficit though, and so is considered by some to be a burden on society.

Het Plein at the Hague, Belgium (image: CC BY 2.0 by zoetnet via Wikimedia Commons)

Communism

In political and social sciences, communism (from Latin communis – common, universal)  is a social, political, and economic ideology and movement whose ultimate goal is the establishment of the communist society, which is a socioeconomic order structured upon the common ownership of the means of production, absence of social classes, money, and the state^]

Communism includes a variety of schools of thought, which broadly include Marxism, anarchism (anarchist communism) and the political ideologies grouped around both. All these hold in common the analysis that the current order of society stems from its economic system, capitalism, that in this system, there are two major social classes: the working class – who must work to survive, and who make up a majority of society – and the capitalist class – a minority who derive profit from employing the proletariat, through private ownership of the means of production (the physical and institutional means with which commodities are produced and distributed), and that political, social and economic conflict between these two classes will trigger a fundamental change in the economic system, and by extension a wide-ranging transformation of society. The primary element which will enable this transformation, according to this analysis, is the social ownership of the means of production.

Progressivism is a broad philosophy based on the Idea of Progress, which asserts that advancement in science, technology, economic development, and social organization are vital to improve the human condition. Progressivism became highly significant during the Age of Enlightenment in Europe, out of the belief that Europe was demonstrating that societies could progress in civility from barbaric conditions to civilization through strengthening the basis of empirical knowledge as the foundation of society.   Figures of the Enlightenment believed that progress had universal application to all societies and that these ideas would spread across the world from Europe.^[1] Sociologist Robert Nisbet defines five “crucial premises” of the Idea of Progress as being: value of the past, nobility of Western civilization, worth of economic/technological growth, faith in reason and scientific/scholarly knowledge obtained through reason, intrinsic importance and worth of life on earth   Beyond this, the meanings of progressivism have varied over time and from different perspectives.

The contemporary common political conception of progressivism in the culture of the Western world emerged from the vast social changes brought about by industrialization in the Western world in the late 19th century, particularly out of the view that progress was being stifled by vast economic inequality between the rich and the poor, minimally regulated laissez-faire capitalism with out-of-control monopolistic corporations, intense and often violent conflict between workers and capitalists; and thus claimed that measures were needed to address these problems.^{[Centrism – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia// // // //}

CENTRISTS

In politics, centrism or the centre is a political outlook or specific position that involves acceptance or support of a balance of a degree of social equality and a degree of social hierarchy; while opposing political changes which would result in a significant shift of society either strongly to the left or the right.  Centre left and centre right politics both involve a general association with centrism combined while leaning somewhat to their respective sides of the spectrum. The term is often used interchangeably with the Third Way, a political position popularized by Bill Clinton, Tony Blair and Paul Keating in the 1990s, whereby policies favored a balanced approach and the removal of extreme ideologies.

And, since they have Muslims in the Democratic Party, we have to define their definition.

Islamism (Urdu: اسلام پرستی‎; Arabic: إسلاموية‎), also known as Political Islam, is a set of ideologies holding that “Islam should guide social and political as well as personal life.” Islamism is a controversial concept not just because it posits a political role for Islam but also because its supporters believe their Islamic views are superior to all others’, and that the contrary idea that Islam is, or can be, apolitical is an error. Islamists can have varying interpretations on various Quranic suras and ayahs. Islamist views emphasize the implementation of Sharia (Islamic law); of pan-Islamic political unity; and of the selective removal of non-Muslim, particularly Western military, economic, political, social, or cultural influences in the Muslim world that they believe to be incompatible with Islam.^[2]

Some observers (Graham Fuller) suggest Islamism’s tenets are less strict, and can be defined as a form of identity politics or “support for [Muslim] identity, authenticity, broader regionalism, revivalism, [and] revitalization of the community.”  Following the Arab Spring, Olivier Roy described political Islam as “increasingly interdependent” with political democracy.

Islamists generally oppose the use of the term, claiming that their political beliefs and goals are simply an expression of Islamic religious belief. Similarly, some experts (Bernard Lewis) favor the term “activist Islam”, or “political Islam” (Trevor Stanley), and some (Robin Wright) have equated the term “militant Islam” with terrorism.\

Here it is all spelled out and now you can decide after you read the above and decide which brand, if you are a Democrat,  are you?

kommonsentsjane