Which Countries Are Actually Socialist?

Which countries are actually socialist nowadays? How socialist does a country have to be to be considered socialist? Aren't most industrialized countries(including the U.S) mixed economies that may lean more in one direction than the other?

Do most of you consider the Nordic countries socialist? I was told by a "real" socialist that those countries weren't considered socialist by most real socialist but they were capitalist countries with a "smiley face". I read where a socialist commentator pointed out that having welfare doesn't even make a country socialist.

So where are the true socialist countries?

 

Im thinking the majority of the countries are capitalist ?

 

Truly socialist? That's a tough one...good question. I think obviously the best a country can do is to find the right mix between capitalist and socialist.

 

You'll get different answers depending on who you ask and someone will disagree with me.

The USA is *NOT* a Socialist nation ... which requires that the Government control ALL of the means of production ... That's not happening in the US ...

(And, Communism means that the Government *OWNS* the means of production. So, folks that call Obama a COMMUNIST don't know their history.)

However ... that said, the US Government does control SOME things - like the Drugs - but MOST things we buy and sell are under private control.

The US Govt. did provide bailouts in the 2009 stock market crash.

That was - "socialistic" since otherwise, these companies would have gone bankrupt.

Ford refused bailout money but Daimler-Chrysler-Jeep accepted it.

And that's an interesting issue since Dennis Kucinich who is regarded by some as a Socialist, actually voted AGAINST one or more of the bailouts.

He also hesitated until the last minute to vote for Obama's health care program.

Since he can think for himself then Republicans and Democrats both respect him but that's another topic.

State and local governments are where you'll find better examples of Socialism and control, such as land use, zoning, and banning plastic and paper bags.

Overall, the US Constitution in the 10th amendment gives the STATES to control things that are NOT under control in the Constitution - such as land use and zoning.

Despite what the Conservative radio hosts say, for the most part we have a Capitalistic nation.

While I'd like to see some regulations go down, I'd also like to see a "Medicare for All" single payor health plan, as Dennis Kucinich proposed. I don't think Obama's plan goes far enough. My Conservative friends think I'm a conservative dude and I try to keep this idea secret from them HA HA HA Seriously we do have a health care crisis, and I bet that 80% of the readers on Internet Forums on any topic don't have health insurance - since many of us who post on forums are "searching."

I'd also like to start by legalizing Medical Marijuana Nationwide, since this would break up the drug violence on the border and in our national forests in the Western US where there are armed pot farms.

What regulations would you like to see changed?

Who has a different opinion as to the definition? There are many definitions and it's interesting to hear what different people say.

 

Some countries like Spain have self-named 'socialist' parties in power. Not sure if they are technically socialist. Many South American countries would claim the label probably, and maybe some in Eastern Europe. Zimbabwe possibly too.

 

no country is actually any ideology. most choose one or another as their image, but image, when we're talking about actual existing governments, is all that it ever is or can be. because reality is too diverse to be dealt with entirely in the manor of any of them. granted, some of what is sometimes called socialism, usually by those opposed to it, comes the closest of any.

 

Cuba, Vietnam,...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_socialist_countries

 

A cat isn't a cat either. The word 'ideology' obviously doesn't refer to any real entity. Any object of thought we delineate with thought can only refer to itself and not the real object.

 

AMERICA THANKS TO BARACK HUSSEIN OSAMA

 

There are no true socialist countries in the world, but Cuba is probably the nearest example.
Who knows where Cuba would be now economically if it weren't for the 50 year long US embargo.

 

Healthcare has not been socialized. The healthcare bill actually helps out capatalistic insurance companies.

On the other hand, certain aspects of America has been socialized for quite some time. Education, for example.Welfare programs. Healthcare for the very old and very poor. Police and firemen. Etc.

 

It's all really about the Americans not able to regard the fake democracy with legalities of liberalism (private ownership by force of Law) NEVER true to socialism. Gee-wiz skip, is Sweden a Socialist country? to

 

no countries isnt socialistic.
if you read some books,explore some articles on the net. you will see that no countire in this world isnt or wasnt socialistic

 

Haha it was just sarcasm.

 

Any country that taxes the wealth from the people and uses it to increase its own power is socialistic. I would say the relationship the government has with the banks and corporations amounts to corporatism, but the government uses a form of socialism to increase its control over the general population, taxing the wealth of the people so they have less money while the government becomes increasingly bloated and less accountable to the people, all the while promising to solve the problems it creates while only making them worse.

You simply cannot have the tyrannical big government we have today without socialism. The thing is, the people who support socialism have their own idea of what socialism is or is supposed to be, and they believe that capitalism is the problem when true capitalism does not exist. Corporate, crony capitalism and socialism exist under one tent today.

The super-rich who run this world prefer socialism over all else because it consolidates power into their hands, as socialism is simply monopoly capitalism administered by the state (controlled by the central banks and transnational corporations). Obviously the people at the bottom cannot believe this, however, so they are sold a utopian lie that says it's all about redistributing the wealth so that everyone is happy and healthy, which of course is simply not true. It may appear that way for a while, but over time people only lose more of their rights and freedoms.

 

Oh however pulls Rats strings really doesn’t want anyone even thinking about socialism, I wonder what they’re afraid of?

 

I don't think a country can be socialist. True socialism works best under anarchism or outside of government. Research the Kibbutzims, worker co-ops, and the Mondragon Corporation.

 

Obama has helped the corporate elite more than anyone else. Now if you want to discuss the parallels between the "Democrat/Republicans" to the "Communist" regimes of Soviet times, that's another story. To say that any of it is truly socialist or liberates the global proletariat is false though.

 

Socialism for the rich and capitalism for the poor and middle. That's us.

 

Cuba. That's it, and that's only one form of socialism (Marxism-Leninism). Any of the other supposedly "Marxist" nations are twisted aristocracies or pseudo-theocracies (North Korea).

Socialism, by its own definition, dictates that all private industry be abolished. Therefore, these European nations mentioned, are not socialist. They are heavily progressive social democracies. There's a distinct difference.

And communism is the stateless society achieved after socialism, which has never occurred anywhere.