What Democratic Socialism Was Actually Like

Winsome Earle-Sears talks about her experience with Democratic Socialism in Jamaica.

 

The happiest countries in the world are Social Democracies;

• Finland.

• Denmark.

• Iceland.

• Sweden.

• Netherlands.

The United States ranks 24th.

The happiest countries and findings from the World Happiness Report 2025

 

I've stayed in three of those countries and they're all very cold most of the time, but the people are well cared for, from birth to death no matter who they are. The average standard of living and infrastructure and free education are all far superior to the USA.

And guess what? Nearly all the natives speak English, often more refined than Americans, as well as other languages. They're also more well traveled than Americans cause they get more PAID time off, it's cheap to travel to nearby countries. So they have a more open world view.

 

Finland has a tiny population of workaholics and overachievers, that often laugh at being called the happiest in the world. Iceland, I'm not sure about, but the populations of all those other happy countries is imploding, one assumes, happily.

Academics could not teach a child to use a stupid dictionary if their lives depended on it, and rely on the Tea Party to censor such embarrassing facts. Anything related to reality, requires putting academic "facts" in the context of what they avoid, like the plague.

Even now, many of these countries are promoting more right-wing extremism, arming themselves to the teeth, knowing damn well which way the wind blows.

 

The same mentality and money supporting right wing movements around the world are infecting the people and their governments. They use religion and race to divide. It works if you repeat it and find some group to scapegoat.

Yes, it's sad to see the right mentality emerge from liberal societies, but it reminds us all of what's at stake. But if educational institutions ignore history, it's doomed to repeat.

 

These people use even Mickey Mouse and Big Bird to divide the public, because they own academia, who still insists the sun revolves around the earth, and has helped them to invent their own racism and religions. Race and religion are merely more buzz words for MONEY. So, I tell people, you are either smarter than a damn chicken, or you are the damn chicken! If you can't exploit these complete idiots, you need to seriously contemplate your beliefs.

AI are the future, because there never was any intelligent life around here.

 

People need to be aware of the distinctions between Democratic Socialism and Social Democracy. Those Nordic countries are Social Democracies.

 

Most Social Democracies also include features of democratic socialism, going by that definition.

Democratic Socialism is more of a political focus than an economic one, again going by that definition.

Btw, Capitalists see unions, regulations, employee benefits and welfare as anti-capitalist, so the definition of Social Democracy is contradictory.

 

Imho, socialism could not get roots in the US due to the government and media amply controlled by the capitalists.

I recently read about the communist party in the USA. Both the communists and socialists were probably branded as political heretics, traitors, anti-democratic and thereby not allowed to develop or given space . This may have prevented the American middle and lower classes to develop and organize themselves to demand rights and privileges for themselves.

Consequently the American upper classes are much wealthier in standards in comparison to the upper classes in the rest of the world, while the American middle and lower classes not so.

Federal Reserve data indicates that as of Q4 2021, the top 1% of households in the United States held 30.9% of the country's wealth, while the bottom 50% held just 2.6%.

Some sort of democratic socialism is needed in the US to bring an end to rising numbers of homelesness, rising inflation and higher costs of living which are a burden on the middle/lower classes and which constitute the majority of the population.

A judicious combination of capitalism and democratic socialism can bring about holistic development of all sections of society, and not lopsided development of the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer, imo.

 

"Before you can distribute money like a socialist you must first collect money like a capitalist".

Shimon Peres former Israeli PM.

In other words, socialism won't work without capitalism to fund it.

 

American capitalists have been collecting money for two centuries now and they are the richest nation in the world . I am sure there are enough funds to bring socialist policies that can empower the poor and underprivileged with the basics of life as in inexpensive healthcare, shelter, education so that they have the opportunities to become future capitalists themselves.

In this way the rich can get richer and the poor can get richer as well, rather than the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer, homeless and dying due to hypothermia and so on.

 

The problem is the entire world economy is run by oligopolies, who almost always use the same Three Stooges divide and conquer strategy, explaining why socialism has largely remained theoretical and experimental. Thankfully, the AI will soon teach them all the price of being brainless.

In the Terminator series, Skynet blew up the world. In reality, Skynet takes over Wall Street and the banks.

 

Here was the PM of Denmark correcting Bernie Sanders on this.

Denmark’s prime minister says Bernie Sanders is wrong to call his country socialist | Vox

 

Socialism's real problem is, they use almost identical rhetoric as that of capitalism, confusing many. They keep trying to invent new rhetoric, but nobody will buy it.

 

A typical homeless American citizen living in the richest capital in the world having the highest number of billionaires, lacking access to shelter and housing quarters. He is one who would have benefited from socialist or welfare state policies.

 

The population of almost every developed world country is already imploding, because the minute you raise their standard of living, they stop making babies. Their choice appears to be clear, make babies, or make more money, and the minute they have a chance to make money, they throw the baby out with the bathwater. The sad truth is, socialism doesn't make either more money, or more babies. Nor does it appear to have made any difference in how China or Russia treat their neighbors, or their own populations.

 

my wife is from Cuba.

 

Most european states have a capitalist-socialist model though they euphemistically use the term welfare state instead of socialism due to the negative connotations associated with socialism during the cold war era, and the apparent abhorrence western aristocrats and capitalists have for the term.

The above definition of the danish model is a typical synthesis of capitalist and socialist themes.

The political and economic philosophies of socialism and communism originated in europe so it has made its imprint over there and they are ready to accept positive elements in these systems which can lead to the betterment of the masses. This also ensures timely reforms which prevent revolutions initiated from the masses as in the french revolution.

Another reason,imo, is that the european nations have gone through the trauma of the two world wars that originated there with its brutal fighting that killed many millions, and they perceive it as a sign of failure of european leadership, and due to excessive competition between the europeans for wealth and power. I think they are still suffering from the collective psychological trauma of it , and hence wants to provide a support system for the european population to recover from the same.

A cut-throat and ruthless capitalism system bereft of socialist/welfare themes would exacerbate the situation further.

 

Technically, WWII Britian was one of the most socialist countries that ever existed, but abstract models and measurements simply don't equal socialism. Note, this is the same argument I've been making all along, that the banks are deciding everything. If socialists want to be social, all it requires is sharing your words and playing nice, and all the research indicates, they would be happier and have more babies.

Instead, everyone wants jobs, and the capitalists and AI are the only ones hiring.