Venezuela Declares Every Friday a Holiday to Save Electricity

Re:Venezuela Declares Every Friday a Holiday to Save Electri... by Someone1234 on Thursday April 07, 2016 @11:55AM (#11448255)

> Let's never forget what socialism is actually like.

The term socialism has no clear meaning, and trying to group failures together is just as unhelpful as trying to group successes.

The key is to find a balance. Europe has had some success with socialising things that make moral sense (e.g. healthcare) while leaving everything else to the private industry. That's still socialism, it just isn't absolute socialism.

Even China is experimenting with the levels of socialism they want. They've been moving towards a more capitalist-style market and they've found a more workable balance.

Socialism is a dirty word in the US, but is a complex word everywhere else. Hopefully with a self-proclaimed "democratic socialist" running for your highest office we'll see people's understanding of socialism expand.

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Re:Venezuela Declares Every Friday a Holiday to Save Electri... by flohofwoe on Thursday April 07, 2016 @12:16PM (#11448451)

In Europe the term 'socialist country' and to a large extend the term 'socialism' has a very clearly defined, negative meaning: only the former Eastern Bloc states called themselves socialist, and saw themselves as one step before communism. All of them ran their economy into the ground in record time. Nobody in their right mind would call (for instance) Sweden or Germany a 'socialist country', even though they have implemented a lot of socialist ideas more thoroughly (and more successfully) than the 'real deal'.

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Re:Venezuela Declares Every Friday a Holiday to Save Electri... by Someone1234 on Thursday April 07, 2016 @12:24PM (#11448506)

That's why I didn't say "socialist country," I said socialism. The person I replied to also didn't say "socialist country."

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Re:Venezuela Declares Every Friday a Holiday to Save Electri... by danmaz74 on Thursday April 07, 2016 @12:09PM (#11448382)

A more correct name for what happened in Western Europe is Social Democracy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_democracy

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Re:Venezuela Declares Every Friday a Holiday to Save Electri... by ende on Thursday April 07, 2016 @09:34PM (#11452032)

It's also the term Bernie Sanders should be using instead of socialism. Strange that he doesn't.

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Re:Venezuela Declares Every Friday a Holiday to Save Electri... by toomuchtodo on Thursday April 07, 2016 @10:37PM (#11452244)

Bernie Sanders specifically identifies himself as a Democratic Socialist:

http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Columns/2016/01/26/Bernie-Sand...

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Re:Venezuela Declares Every Friday a Holiday to Save Electri... by toyg on Thursday April 07, 2016 @12:09PM (#11448378)

> while leaving everything else to the private industry.

That's an exaggeration. Serious countries (France, Germany, even the US) employ "socialist" industrial policies in sectors that have nothing to do with morality (aviation, defense, tech research etc). Countries that don't do it at all are extremely rare in this day and age and usually don't end up well.

I agree with your overall point though.

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Re:Venezuela Declares Every Friday a Holiday to Save Electri... by Someone1234 on Thursday April 07, 2016 @12:15PM (#11448439)

Aviation has been a complete disaster. But I can see the moral argument for defence: National security.

I don't know where tech research is socialised. Government pay for it all over the world, sometimes in-house, sometimes externally, but I've never heard of a country banning tech research unless it is government ran.

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Re:Venezuela Declares Every Friday a Holiday to Save Electri... by Jtsummers on Thursday April 07, 2016 @12:24PM (#11448515)

Socialism doesn't require that you ban competing non-government institutions. Do (economically healthy) countries with socialized medicine bar private medical practice?

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Re:Venezuela Declares Every Friday a Holiday to Save Electri... by ende on Thursday April 07, 2016 @10:02PM (#11452128)

Actually it does. The prime objective of Socialism is to prohibit private property. Social democracy on the other hand seeks to exist within a standard capitalist system. Healthcare systems similarly vary along those lines with some countries prohibiting private practice (in either care or insurance) and some not.

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