Diff b/w Communism,Socialism and the US

[100days-a-year]

Based on what is known about the 3 forms of government where do we stand?As far as the more important issues like healthcare,education,housing and freedoms such as speech,religious etc.

My description of the US is 2fold.First what is provided for in the Constitution and Bill of Rights and second what is actually done in practice.

We can all agree that all forms spend similar amounts on defense I assume.

[Bill McIntyre]

I'm not sure what you wanted to discuss, but I hate to see a thread going begging, so here is a start.

Communism-

An economic theory which stresses that the control of the means of producing economic goods in a society should reside in the hands of those who invest their labor for production. In its ideal form, social classes cease to exist, there is no coercive governmental structures, and everyone lives in abundance without supervision from a ruling class. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels popularized this theory in their 1848 Communist Manifesto.

Socialism-
A system based on public ownership of the means of production and distribution of wealth.

Capitalism-
An economic system in which the means of production are privately owned and controlled and which is characterized by competition and the profit motive.

I think people tend to associate communism with the totalitarian system that existed in the Soviet Union, but its obvious that didn't conform to the definition above.

I think that people also tend to think that socialism is not consistent with a democratic form of government, but that just isn't so. The Scandinavian countries have large elements of economic socialism, but have very democratic political systems.

No country is pure anything, they just differ along a continuum between socialism and free market capitalism. I think I've seen rankings that put Singapore at number one in free market capitalism. What is interesting is that the government there exercises a hell of a lot more control over private behavior than our government does, so more capitalism is not necessarily followed by more personal freedom. Just try to write graffiti on the wall, carry a gun, or jaywalk in Singapore and see what happens to you.

Our economic system is certainly characterized by dominant capitalism, but still incorporates many aspects of socialism such as Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, etc.

I don't think our Constitution and Bill of Rights really address economic organization, but maybe I'm wrong.

At least I've given everyone a target to shoot at.

[100days-a-year]

Thanx Bill.But I think that the Constution and Bill of Rights are specific in the powers assigned to the Federal government and those resting in State control.
I agree that totalitarianism is possible if not prevalent in all forms.

[Bill McIntyre]

Thanx Bill.But I think that the Constution and Bill of Rights are specific in the powers assigned to the Federal government and those resting in State control.


Yes, but what does that have to do with socialism vs. capitalism?

[Spleen]

Based on what is known about the 3 forms of government where do we stand?

There are far more than 3 forms of gov't.

[100days-a-year]

For one Bill,how do you view equal protection vs.regressive or progressive taxation.

[Bill McIntyre]

For one Bill,how do you view equal protection vs.regressive or progressive taxation.

I'm no constitutional lawyer, but here is Wikipedia's explanation. It goes on with all the history of interpretation, but this is the intro.

The Equal Protection Clause, part of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, provides that "no state shall… deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." The Equal Protection Clause can be seen as an attempt to secure the promise of the United States' professed commitment to the proposition that "all men are created equal".
More concretely, the Equal Protection Clause, along with the rest of the Fourteenth Amendment, marked a great shift in American constitutionalism. Before the enactment of the Fourteenth Amendment, the Constitution protected individual rights only from invasion by the federal government. After the Fourteenth Amendment was enacted, the Constitution also protected rights from abridgement by state governments — henceforth they could not, among other things, deprive people of the equal protection of the laws. What exactly such a requirement means, of course, has been the subject of great debate; and the story of the Equal Protection Clause is the gradual explication of its meaning.

So it seems to be concerned with STATES giving equal protection under the law. And if the law provides for progressive taxation, then it would seem to me that its only concerned with progressive taxation being applied equally.

[100days-a-year]

Bill there's an also in there that means ones ability to be treated equally is applied to state,federal and by extension local governments.And how can a progressive or regressive anything be considered equal.In math = has a pretty concrete meaning.In the field of human endeavors it seems to subjective.
How this ties in to the relationship b/w forms of govt is that treating any group differently is inherent in communism to a degree and particularly in socialism.
Altho in practice the Representative Republic that we have has historically treated select individuals and groups differently.Hence the amendment cited as well as others.