I'm a political studies student and recently I've gotten into debates about the term 'Socialism' and how it applies to many Democratic nations around the world. To briefly explain my argument:
Socialism is defined by - An enterprise (economy, police, military, public hospitals, public schools, etc) which operates for the benefit of everyone. Everyone can have their say - through voting or campaigning - regarding the nature of these public services which are funded by everyone (through taxes).
Because of this raw definition of Socialism I argue that many Democratic nations around the world (perhaps all of them) employ, to some degree, an aspect of Socialism. I state that all nations that tax their citizens for the purpose of funding public services, such as the ones I listed above, are employing a fundamental aspect of Socialism. It is based on a principle that everyone is equal and has the right to these services which provide people with a service that ensures the rules and rights of the State are enforced. Everyone has a right to be protected by the military and the police, they have a right to seek welfare if they cannot support themselves, they have a right to free-market trading, they have a right to have a say about how their money is being spent on public services.
So one of my questions is this: How come people still pidgeon hole Socialism as having a negative impact on a country, even though majority of societies internationally benefit from it?
For example the American government - whilst is Democratically elected - still utilizes Socialist aspects as pretty much the infrastructure of power. What I mean by this is that Americans pay taxes and those taxes go towards funding services that are intended to benefit everyone, such as the ones I stated above. Without taxes American society would fail.
Many people would respond to this and tell me things like "a country needs a military, that's not socialist" and "state funded public services have nothing to do with socialism". Looking at it from a definition point of view it seems to me that Socialism plays a monumental role in American society, yet the word ignites a defensive response when its mentioned. People pay and elect the government, the government makes actions that are intended to benefit the country as a whole.
Have Western societies been scared into fearing Socialism because of failed or undemocratic Socialist states - such as Nazi Germany, modern China, Cold-war Russia, etc - or am I missing something imperative to the argument?
PS Don't get me wrong, I see flaws in an entirely Socialist society and in no way support outright Socialism. But it is hard to give it a bad name because of everything we gain from it. My main point is that Socialism, along with Democracy and Capitalism are all essential, to some extent, for a country to flourish so you cannot say that Socialism is bad as a whole.
TL;DR:
What are your views on modern Socialism?
If you don't like Socialism, does that equate to your support of the increasingly wealthy "1%" of American income earners?
If you support the equalistic nature that would see rich people getting taxed significantly more so more people can benefit, make you, to some extent, a supporter of Socialism?
Sources/Relevant Sites:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/historicals - Taxes make up roughly 80% of federal govt. revenue.
http://www.cbo.gov/ - details the intricacies of the budget.
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/doemoff/...ov_ushist.html - List of useful sites.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4Tq4VE8eHQ - Noam Chomsky on Socialism.