General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Do you believe that everyone deserves food and housing, regardless of ability to work? [View all]1939
(1,683 posts)When I was in Germany (early sixties), the commissaries were constantly having shortages of catsup or other canned type goods. Once an item came into short supply, everyone began to hoard it and it disappeared from the shelves. Stateside commissaries didn't have this problem only because the shoppers could go to the local Winn Dixie or Food Lion and get the item. Government run stores have no incentive to provide sales. Their only motivation is to protect their jobs.
I saw this in Vietnam. When i went back to find my wife's family in 1993, we had to take soap, toilet paper, shampoo, and whatever we needed. The commies in Vietnam realized they had a 1st magnitude CF and began to relax strictures on capitalist retail. By 1998, you didn't need to take anything to Vietnam, you could buy what you wanted.
Social Democracy: Social Security, single payer health care, government safety net, hell yes.
Socialism: Government control of mean of production and the economy, hell no.