Perhaps the BEST B1G Forum anywhere, here at College Football Fan Site, CFB51!!!

I simply used it as an example as I outlined the two basic forms of economic systems.  Quite a few humans "like" a centrally planned economy, you know, because it's "fair".  No rich folks, no poor folks, everyone gets the same medical care and legal help, etc.  It's nirvana, and "fair".

Spread the wealth, Robin Hood the billionaires, get the poor out of poverty.

Well I will say that the one promise of a central planning system is that they do make everyone equal, that is equally poor. 

Usually, not everyone of course.  Every economy has some degree of central planning, it's inherent.  Sweden tried the experiment in the 1990s, not well known I think, they drifted pretty hard into socialism, and bad things happened, and they pulled back pretty hard.  It's a mostly free market economy today.

Norway is more socialistic, but they have the advantage of North Sea oil entirely owned by the government.  They've done rather well as a result.  It can work if you have a "gold mine", so to speak, at least until the mine plays out.

I don't know why people keep holding up the Nordic countries as examples of what socialism can be.  They're not socialist.  In particular, Sweden is more capitalist than the USA...far less restrictions and government regulation in the free market.  More incentives and less penalties to be a business owner.  The average American I see supporting socialism also does not understand what the income tax structure is in those countries--it's directly opposite of what they think is "fair."  In fact (I'll just use Sweden in particular as an example again) the tax system is exactly what they think the Republican party wants/has done in the US, that they claim to hate and deem unfair.  Mind you, I'm not claiming the Republican party has done much of anything helpful with taxes that I think should be done.  I'm strictly noting what the typical liberal perception of the Republican party is, and that a country like Sweden is closer to that than anything we actually have here, yet somehow Sweden is a socialist paradise.  

I also can't figure out why the young US would-be socialists can't figure out that to any extent the Nordic countries are actually doing something they want here, Democratic leaders aren't aiming in that direction.  Like, at all.  If you want to look at the policies actually supported by the blue leaders, the country that implements the closest comparison is Venezuela.  

My step-sons' step-mother (yeah, I know) is from Venezuela.  According to her, there are quite a few reasons why she's here instead.  I just read about stuff.  She's lived it.    

The grass is always greener until it isn't.

This country, as founded, is the best example for the World from a freedom perspective. Unfortunately, many freedoms are eroding with time. 

We've seen a lot of change during our time on this earth, and even Moreso in the past 30 years.

I still feel as free as I did 30 years back.  I'm not sure what I've lost.

Do you feel any sense of loss when it was recently revealed that our government is teaming up with various social media to censor unwanted speech?

Do you feel any sense of loss when it was recently revealed that our government is teaming up with various social media to censor unwanted speech?

No, I did not, at all.  Nor did the Patriot Act limit my freedom that I could discern.

One could state the rise in crime tends to limit freedom, and I'd agree broadly, but violent crime is still down versus 30 years ago.  Taxes are down on income, higher taxes would limit my freedom.  I pretty much do whatever I did back then, with changes of course in condition.

"What is the use of living, if it be not to strive for noble causes and to make this muddled world a better place for those who will live in it after we are gone? How else can we put ourselves in harmonious relation with the great verities and consolations of the infinite and the eternal? And I avow my faith that we are marching towards better days. Humanity will not be cast down. We are going on swinging bravely forward along the grand high road and already behind the distant mountains is the promise of the sun." - Winston Churchill

President Joe Biden, with less than a week to go until the midterms, delivered a speech Wednesday night condemning political violence and urging voters to protect democracy.

"We must with an overwhelming voice stand against political violence and voter intimidation, period," he said. "Stand up and speak against it. We don't settle our differences in America with a riot, a mob, or a bullet or a hammer. We settle them peacefully at the ballot box."

agreed which will happen next Tuesday

God Bless America