Democratic Socialism - the "democratic" part is the problem

[dblack]

Liberals and progressives have decided that adding the "democratic" modifier to socialism will make it an easier sell. I don't understand why. Socialism has always been democratic. That's the problem. It applies majority rule to everything.

The problem with democracy is that it forces everyone to abide by the preferences of the majority. Usually this isn't necessary.

Sometimes it is. When choosing leaders, deciding to go to war, deciding what acts will be considered crimes, or in any situation where we truly need everyone to be in lockstep, democracy is a reasonable way to make a decision.

But usually we don't need everyone to be in lockstep. We don't need to vote on one way to pay for health care and force everyone to play along. We don't need to vote on food or drug policy and force everyone to abide by the majority preference. In most cases, we can let people make their own choices. And we should. Putting all our eggs into one basket limits our options and commits us to policies that are often filled with "unintended consequences" and other drawbacks.

 

[task0778]

"Socialism has always been democratic. That's the problem. It applies majority rule to everything."

---- I don't think so, usually when a socialist gets into power, he doesn't leave or he gets replaced by another socialist who continues the same policies. And they don't apply majority rule to anything, all their decisions become what's best for those in power rather than the people. They talk about being more democratic, but in actual practice a socialist country ends up being just as totalitarian as it was before if not worse. Ex: Cuba.


"The problem with democracy is that it forces everyone to abide by the preferences of the majority. Usually this isn't necessary."

---- It isn't all that often when everyone has to be in lockstep, at least not in our democracy. When the ACA was passed, no one was forced to participate. IMHO most of the time we allow for choices, and seldom is anyone forced to play along with a given policy or program. Our immigration laws are routinely flouted by sanctuary cities and states, and I believe other laws are not enforced in some places. We elect people to make changes that are believed to be necessary. If our elected representatives fuck it up, they get voted out in the next election. Sometimes. If not, then it's on the voters for not making the best decisions. So, if it turns out that the people don't like how the preferences of the elected majority are legislated or enforced, we can do something about it.


"Democratic Socialism - the "democratic" part is the problem"

---- I believe the "socialism" part is an even bigger problem. In Sweden during the 1970s-1990s, the socialists gained control and adopted a number of their policies that reduced that country's economic growth and prosperity substantially. To my knowledge, there are no successful democratic socialist states, where capitalism was replaced by socialism to the benefit of it's citizens.