# I will stab the next fuckwit that says socialist **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 10, 2013, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-stab-the-next-fuckwit-that-says-socialist/675956 "2013-12-10T04:34:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-stab-the-next-fuckwit-that-says-socialist/675956/21 "2013-12-10T18:57:31Z")
He was oddly specific about that middle school dance, though. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-stab-the-next-fuckwit-that-says-socialist/675956/22 "2013-12-10T20:36:46Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > Um, I don’t think you know what “socialism” means any better than the fuckwits who think it is TEH EVIL. A country in which the government pays for certain things, such as public buildings, infrastructure, or the military, is not thereby socialist. If it were, every country with a central government that has ever existed throughout history would be socialist. The word does actually have a meaning, however. If we’re looking for a single word to describe a country that does those things, then “socialist” might not be the best one, but the fact is that those programs are run in a way that socializes wealth by redistributing it for the common good through a system of taxation and government spending. Philosophically and politically, institutions like the fire department and the military and public schools are really no more or less socialist than a single-payer health care system. The questions of which services get socialized, and which don’t, reflect particular moral and political priorities. Of course, even in a system where government provides things, there is still room for different levels of socialist redistribution. Part of the equation is where the government gets the money that it uses for the things it provides. For example, a system where the government builds roads out of general tax revenue is, in some important ways, more socialist than a system where the government builds roads and funds them through tolls or a tax on gasoline. A system where schools are funded by all taxpayers is more socialist than a system where schools are funded by a levy placed directly on families with children. User-pays services are not really socialist in the same way as generally funded services. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-stab-the-next-fuckwit-that-says-socialist/675956/23 "2013-12-10T22:27:12Z")
> [@Nobody](#): > > Growing up in the 80’s (in America) the most common definitions were: > Capitalism - The means of production are privately owned. > Communism - The means of production are government owned. > Socialism - State ownership is preferred, but private ownership is allowed. . . . Mixed cases. The Interstate Highway system is a government project…but private construction companies bid for the contracts to build segments of it. The Apollo Project was a government thing, and lots and lots of private companies built the components of it. These are “socialism” to a certain degree. The military, the police, public fire departments: socialism. Like it’s a bad thing? ---
**Author:** ![TheSeaOtter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ed655f/32.png) [@TheSeaOtter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheSeaOtter)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-stab-the-next-fuckwit-that-says-socialist/675956/24 "2013-12-10T22:47:11Z")
> [@Zakalwe](#): > > Not sure all of the examples of the OP are actually socialism, but _damn_ that was one well written rant. Thumbs up! > > It helps if you read it with a Dennis Leary rapid-fire delivery in your mind. Agreed! OP, I think you might have a future in comedy. Or at least in angry YouTube videos (a thriving industry!) ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-stab-the-next-fuckwit-that-says-socialist/675956/25 "2013-12-10T23:52:45Z")
> [@Zakalwe](#): > > Not sure all of the examples of the OP are actually socialism, but _damn_ that was one well written rant. Thumbs up! > > It helps if you read it with a Dennis Leary rapid-fire delivery in your mind. My thoughts exactly. For a **Dumbguy** , he shore talks purty. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-stab-the-next-fuckwit-that-says-socialist/675956/26 "2013-12-10T23:56:28Z")
Look, I think to qualify as “socialist” a country needs to have a much larger measure of state/social management/ownership of the economy than is now found in any European country save Belarus. Venezuela might qualify or be getting there. Socialism != social democracy. Which we don’t really have much of in the U.S. either, by any reasonable measure; our [Gini coefficient](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gini_coefficient) alone disqualifies us from the social-democratic club, IMO. ---
**Author:** ![sisu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@sisu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sisu)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2013, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-stab-the-next-fuckwit-that-says-socialist/675956/27 "2013-12-11T00:35:43Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Look, I think to qualify as “socialist” a country needs to have a much larger measure of state/social management/ownership of the economy than is now found in any European country save Belarus. Venezuela might qualify or be getting there. Socialism != social democracy. Which we don’t really have much of in the U.S. either, by any reasonable measure; our [Gini coefficient](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gini_coefficient) alone disqualifies us from the social-democratic club, IMO. It’s a bell curve. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2013, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-stab-the-next-fuckwit-that-says-socialist/675956/28 "2013-12-11T00:58:12Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Look, I think to qualify as “socialist” a country needs to have a much larger measure of state/social management/ownership of the economy than is now found in any European country save Belarus. Venezuela might qualify or be getting there. Socialism != social democracy. Which we don’t really have much of in the U.S. either, by any reasonable measure; our [Gini coefficient](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gini_coefficient) alone disqualifies us from the social-democratic club, IMO. Good luck convincing some people I know, who think Europe is a socialist hellhole, and Scandinavia is practically the Soviet Union of Europe. It’s good for a chuckle though. And kudos to the OP, that rant was a thing of beauty. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2013, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-stab-the-next-fuckwit-that-says-socialist/675956/29 "2013-12-14T20:06:25Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > And your collection of Japanese tentacle porn? Its… ahem… _Art!_ :o ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2013, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-stab-the-next-fuckwit-that-says-socialist/675956/30 "2013-12-14T21:38:03Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > Its… ahem… _Art!_ > > :o [And of an ancient and venerable school, too.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dream_of_the_Fisherman%27s_Wife) ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2013, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-stab-the-next-fuckwit-that-says-socialist/675956/31 "2013-12-14T21:41:14Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > So apparently nobody doesn’t know what socialism is. 😛 > > But seriously, although it is a complex idea with many variant forms, and there is much to argue about from both sympathetic any unsympathetic perspectives, the word is not so ambiguous that you cannot get a good sense of what of what it means by looking in a [dictionary](http://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/american/socialism) or [two](http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/socialism), or even in [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialism). Or even [TVTropes](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/UsefulNotes/Socialism). For political ideologies in general, see [here](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/UsefulNotes/PoliticalIdeologies). ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2013, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-stab-the-next-fuckwit-that-says-socialist/675956/32 "2013-12-14T21:59:50Z")
> [@Dumbguy](#): > > The freeway that lets you careen to work at speeds unimaginable through most of human history, paved in the dead of night by magical tar elves who live only to paint the horizon with ribbons of buttery asphalt. Those are communally funded. I happen to think socialized medicine is a pretty fine idea, but could people PLEASE the fuck cease and desist with the strawman argument “social medicine because highways”. It’s dishonest and unpersuasive. Infrastructure is a fairly transactionally obvious benefit in that everybody knows they’re needed, they see what’s been delivered, and everyone benefits equally. It’s a wholly different animal from arguing that society should help people when they’re unlucky, vulnerable, or disadvantaged, and that it’s okay for the extremely lucky to bear a disproportionate share of this expense. That is a worthy and noble proposition that has fuck-all to do with whether the government makes roads. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2013, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-stab-the-next-fuckwit-that-says-socialist/675956/33 "2013-12-15T00:22:49Z")
Highways - Provide a good for society as a whole. Everyone pays so non drivers, or at least people who don’t use highways, subsidize those who do. Socialized medicine - Provides a good for society as a whole. Everyone pays so those who aren’t sick subsidize those who are. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2013, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-stab-the-next-fuckwit-that-says-socialist/675956/34 "2013-12-15T00:46:41Z")
\ ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2013, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-stab-the-next-fuckwit-that-says-socialist/675956/35 "2013-12-15T01:06:50Z")
Agree so much with the OP! I hear so many people throwing that word around without realizing what kind of effect true unrestrained capitalism would have on their lives. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2013, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-stab-the-next-fuckwit-that-says-socialist/675956/36 "2013-12-15T06:02:01Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > \ Uhm, OK. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2013, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-stab-the-next-fuckwit-that-says-socialist/675956/37 "2013-12-15T08:45:15Z")
Socialists are hipsters. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2013, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-stab-the-next-fuckwit-that-says-socialist/675956/38 "2013-12-15T14:11:32Z")
> [@Nobody](#): > > Uhm, OK. 😕 In actual words: “Right on the nose” Meaning: An accurate statement. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2013, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-stab-the-next-fuckwit-that-says-socialist/675956/39 "2013-12-15T16:52:18Z")
“Indeed, the only people who seem to think Obama displays even the slightest social democratic tendency are those who imagine that the very mention of the word ‘socialism’ should inspire a reaction like that of a vampire confronted with the Host.” – [John Nichols](http://www.thenation.com/article/159929/how-socialists-built-america) ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2013, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-stab-the-next-fuckwit-that-says-socialist/675956/40 "2013-12-15T16:53:50Z")
> [@jackdavinci](#): > > Socialists are hipsters. How did the hipster burn his tongue? He was eating pizza before it was cool! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-stab-the-next-fuckwit-that-says-socialist/675956.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-stab-the-next-fuckwit-that-says-socialist/675956.md?page=3)