Capitalism vs socialism

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I'm trying to decide whether I can be called a socialist in some circumstances. I lately took a more honest look at my personal values and I'm actually a pretty liberal person. The thing comes, I'm for providing adequate education and health coverage for all people, but I still believe that some inequality will be always left over and therefore inevitable, even undesirable. If not "socialist", is there a specific term for that?

Take one of these and call me in the morning...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_democracy
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_liberalism
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Way

Political realities rarely fit neatly into dichotomous categories.

Once you work, and see enormous sums of money being drained from your paycheck , then you may change your mind on "free stuff" for others.

As people grow older, they tend to move away from socialism toward capitalism.

For instance, when I was a young, idealistic person in my early 20s, I firmly believed that secondary education should be free for all. Nowadays, I firmly believe that only those who clearly demonstrate both the desire and ability to obtain a university degree should be allowed to even try.

The rest should stick to military service, trade schools, and union-based labor careers.

Since when did you start supporting union-based labor, Fnord? I thought you were rabidly anti-union?

I am. Having them perform mind-numbing, repetitive tasks on an assembly line beats having them wander the streets, crapping on the sidewalk, and hitting up honest people for spare change.

Obviously they're smarter than you are: they unionized and got way higher pay for themselves and there's nothing more capitalist than going after every penny you can get.

Funny thing is, if you aren't living off investments - that is if you live off wages and/or salaries - you aren't a Capitalist. You are just another raw material of theirs, a part of their production process.

But we've been sold on the idea that, if we just work hard enough, we too can become one of the Capitalists some day...and so many of us call themselves, "capitalists" because they Believe.

Ha HA! Couldn't agree more. Your description also exactly matches many engineers I've known....I wouldn't even trust them to poop on the sidewalk correctly....and always trying go behind other's backs to take credit for someone else's poop too. Sometimes I think "Dilbert" hits the nail right on the head.

Where do these people come from?

I'm only pro-Union under certain circumstances. I don't believe that anyone that works for the government should be allowed to organize a union: if they attempt to do so, they should be terminated immediately, without recourse. Even if I suspect a government employee of union organizing, they should be terminated immediately, without recourse. Private industry is a whole different ball of wax.

May I ask why (for both, and the difference between), please?

For starter's if you work for any government entity, you are already being paid by my taxes (yes, I'm on SSDI, but I still pay taxes on purchases.). I am your employer because of that. You don't want me as your employer, then don't work for the government. It's as simple as that.

As for private firms, I don't have to deal with a specific firm. I have a choice. Not so with government.

Besides, if management in a private firm wouldn't treat their employees like sides of beef, they wouldn't have a union problem. Unfortunately, most upper level management are mostly like Gordon Gecko nowadays. The only thing that matters to them is that their pockets get lined with cash and screw everyone else. It's been that way from time immemorial.

Capitalism isn't a complete system. It is only an aspect of an economy.

I'm a Competitionist, and social libertarian.

I invest in Mid Cap, Small cap, Micro Cap.

You are in favor of a welfare state, not socialism. In socialism there is no private productive property. Capital and land is in common ownership. In theory everyone is entitled to an equal share of the goods and services produced by the society. Nice theory. It never works out in practice because it is an open invitation to sit on one's ass and live off the effort of others.

Capitalism has an unsolvable contradiction at its root. The wages of labor are unable to clear the market of the goods and services produced by labor (because the wage received is not equal to the value of the goods or services produced). Thus the people who do the work never fully realize the value of their effort because of the bugaboo of Ownership. The best that can be managed is to have redistribution rules for the legal owners to give up claim to some of the goods and services produced to redistribute them. But redistribution is invariable entangled in a political process which virtuall guarantees it will be unjust or corrupt.

Capitalism isn't really an "ism" at all; it's what naturally happens when individual rights are protected and people are free to trade amongst themselves for mutual benefit. Every other system boils down to using force against some people in order to benefit others.

To paraphrase the late John Kenneth Galbraith - "Under Capitalism, man exploits man. Under Socialism, it's just the opposite."