re: New York Times photojournalist goes to Venezuela: pretty incredible pics

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Venezuala does not have a socialist government. Its more of a marxist dictator.

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Marxism leads to socialism. Socialism leads to Communism. Communism leads to death. Go to the Marxist side, you must not. Mmmmmmmmm...

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the politicians you refer too are embracing social democracy, not socialism. Social democracy is more like what Sweden has.

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First, Bernie literally has said he supports "democratic socialism." Ask him what the difference between that and socialism is: "Huge." Or, some dribble about eating the rich; top one percent, wealth of the bottom 90 percent, etc. neverminding that our poor are richer and have a better standard of living than the poor in places that have much less income inequality like, oh I don't know...Venezuela.

Second, the Nordic countries have many/largely socialist programs, but their economies are capitalist. Their programs are buttressed by the open markets.

Third, as for your definition of "social democracy," the words "economic and social interventions to promote social justice" say it all. What are "interventions"? Government regulation of the open market? That's fascism. Affirmative action programs? At some point, we will recognize those as simply racist. "Social" justice is a perversion of justice; it is an attempted rectification of perceived wrongs for a group based on groups. It presumes things about groups based on characteristics of the group, namely...race, sexual orientation, or gender. Sounds pretty racist, sexist, homophobic, etc. to me.

People forget or ignore that there are risks to living in a free society, and that in this country you have the right to be a dick. The market will reward accordingly (see the lunch counter protests that worked). The reward of a free society outweighs the risks. Leftists have too little faith in individuals and communities and too much faith in big government. That, or they're just power grabbing leeches. Or both. When you end up having your people literally starve to death in the streets, however, "What difference, at that point, will it make?"

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So you are in favor of reducing our social benefits per capita, increasing taxes on the lower classes, and deregulating industry across the board? 

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Not sure how you came to this conclusion. I'm a capitalist and think our current level of social welfare is sufficient, if not overly burdensome. I can hold that opinion, understand the meaning of words, and recognize how ignorant people are- All at the same time. I can even chew gum while I'm doing it.

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Yet the post you were agreeing with was wrong.

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How so? I'd hate to remain ignorant myself.

When Maduro can't feed his military consistently, that's when you'll see mass uprsing.

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How so? I'd hate to remain ignorant myself.

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It referred to Socialism as a form of government, when it's not. It's an economic system. You can have many types of government with different kinds of economies.

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I can hold that opinion

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Your opinion is fundamentally incorrect.

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understand the meaning of words

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You, apparently, don't.

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and recognize how ignorant people are

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That old saying about stones and glass houses.

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Meh. That's a nitpicky criticism.

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Confusing macro systems is hardly "nitpicky"

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You disagree that current social welfare policies are sufficient if not overly burdensome?

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I never held that as my opinion.

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Are you sure you're not a socialist?

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Positive because I actually know what that term entails.

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The rest of your reply is ignorant drivel. Go study.

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Meh. That's a nitpicky criticism. I think my broader point still stands.

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That socialism is an economic system?

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This is what the dems want here. Beware.

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That's absolute horseshite. Nobody wants authoritarian dictatorships like Venezuela, Cuba, North Korea, etc. Second nobody is advocating for actual socialism. The term has been thrown around loosely by people on the left so much it's basically ignored. What they're asking for is a social democracy. There are some socialist ideas but it doesn't call for abolishing free markets or capitalism.