OK, what corporations would be Nationalized in your

[cali]

version of the U.S? (it's a given that there would be a single payer healthcare system)

Utilities?

Trains?

Airlines?

Pharmaceuticals?

Companies like Microsoft?

[OKNancy]

1. Only things that are required for a sustainable life

not Microsoft, airlines. "public transportation" already is, isn't it?
Some utilities are too, for example my city's water.
I think utilities should be highly regulated, but not so sure about "socialized"

[Initech]

2. The energy industry (ESPECIALLY oil) should be heavily regulated

[angstlessk]

3. I think the correct term is Nationalize, not socialize...what ever that means???

ONLY those items that are life and death, health care, utilities...beyond that...regulate industries. Water and Electricity USED to be run by LOCAL entities..and they ran great for years and years and years...till your Reagan buddies got their hands into the till!

[Deja Q]

4. Reasonable regulation is not an undue, evil scary liberal crime.

Just as too little regulation has brought the world the muck from China, too much regulation has people drowning in bureaucracy.

There's got to be an efficient medium.

[sicksicksick_N_tired]

5. What do you mean by "socialized"?

Is enacting laws to prevent abuses a form of "socialization"? If so, all the rest of us are "socialized" so why not make those OTHER PERSONS be socialized, as well. Only seems fair.

[cali]

9. You're right. Brain fart. I'd nationalize Amtrak and other

railroad companies. I'm really tempted to say I'd nationalize Pharmacetical companies. Airlines, no. Perhaps electric utilities.

[sicksicksick_N_tired]

10. Well, as I stated, I'd certainly enact laws that prevented abuses.

Those laws would apply to ALL those other 'persons' (i.e. all corporations).

[rucky]

18. or at least enforce our existing laws. n/t

[Solon]

11. Nationalize the electric grid!

That is something I would go for, as soon as possible. People bitch an moan about inefficiency in government haven't run into AmerenUE, our electric Utility. We had a total of 3 weeks or so without power last year do to, in part, bad weather, but, for crying out loud, it took them forever to fix the problems. Almost a week and a half without power because of a heat wave in the summer, and then another week in the winter due to ice. Then, just a few days ago, we had a bad thunderstorm, electricity was fine, then, the next day, AFTER the storm already passed, we had power go out for over 6 hours.

[Sparkly]

15. I think that's "regulation."

I think "socialized" means the public pays, the public benefits, the government manages.

[sicksicksick_N_tired]

35. No. It is called, "law",...unless you want to apply the "regulation" meme to ALL citizens.

This is the STRAW that breaks the BACK OF DEMOCRACY!

The corporacrats say "REGULATION" when we are talking THE RULE OF LAW.

The corporations want to be TREATED like "persons", protected by the rule of law, BUT DO NOT WANT TO BURDEN THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF BEING A PERSON IN THIS COUNTRY.

How aweful, to be burdened with the same laws "common" persons must abide.

Uh,...yeah,...back to "socialized". IT DOES NOT EXIST!!!! :rofl:

What's truly insane is that: THE PUBLIC PAYS AND PAYS AND PAYS,...and every citizen in this country (man, woman and child) has an average debt of $29K. How many have been relieved from their hardship as a result of that debt? Oh, gee, who's gonna pay off that debt (and who never has to worry about it, EVER)?

[Solon]

6. Well, most Utilities already are socialized, being owned by cities and counties in many areas...

In some of those, they need to be re-regulated, deregulation has been a bad idea for natural monopolies. Beyond that, any other natural monopolies that exist, and any industry that cannot sustain itself without taxpayer paid subsidies, that would include Airlines, telecommunications, etc.

In the case of trains, the TRACKS should be owned by the government, to allow open access, through scheduling, for all trains that run on the tracks. I don't get how those can be owned by any entity beyond the government, almost like toll roads, which are also a bad idea. As far as Pharmaceuticals, well, those drugs that rely on public funding or government labs for research should be licensed out by the government to private companies for marketing, AT COST, no patents, no profiteering, just cover the costs. If those same companies want to make their own drugs, then they have to absorb the total costs of researching said drugs before they can be awarded patents and allowed to profit off of them.

Beyond that, I think the Government, through an organization similar to the Small Business Associations, should encourage the development of non-utility co-ops as a model for private businesses. In addition(after Edit), the health insurance industry should be replaced by a single payer system.

[Chimpy McCokespoon]

7. I would nationalize the banks. Create a real central banking system.

I think it is also essential that people have a piece of property they can call their own without being beholden to a landlord, so I would make that happen somehow.

[meow2u3]

8. Socialize is the wrong word--the right word is "deprivatize"

Nevertheless, some functions were never meant to be turned over from public to for-profit private ownership. Among them are: utilities such as the local water supply, electricity, heating, and the like; public infrastructure such as roads, bridges, etc.; and public safety, including law enforcement, penal institutions, etc. This list is far from exhaustive, but it illustrates the havoc privatization of public functions can wreak on the society at large, when companies charge exorbitant prices for substandard services, all to turn a quick, obscene profit.

[Sparkly]

12. In my Utopia, everything would be public or "socialized."

The individual and the community wouldn't be in conflict, but instead as the individual benefited, so would the community; as the community benefited, so would the individual. There would be no capitalism.

HOWEVER... That presupposes something about human nature -- that we're all inherently "good," basically, and there's no greed or inhumanity to others etc. In which case, anarchy is possible -- laws and government not being needed. But since there's more to human nature, it kind of falls apart.

So, between that ideal and what exists now, and if we're keeping capitalism (which we obviously are), I'd like to see the government move to establish and cover minimal levels of public needs like utilities, pharmaceuticals, and resources required to work (including childcare!!!). These wouldn't need to be provided to everyone at an equal level, but depending on need. (Again, in my Utopia everything IS at an equal level, but that's not where we'll ever be.)

[LWolf]

13. these:

Utilities
All health care
Pharmaceuticals
Mass transit

Some housing.

[dkofos]

14. Water, Gas, Electric, Communications. Just the basics.

[Warren Stupidity]

16. Nationalized?

The energy sector including what used to be known as 'public utilities' should be nationalized as they are in many other industrial democracies.

Health insurance as a private industry should exist only for those who want to buy cosmetic surgery on the installment plan.

Given the out and out pillage being conducted by the communications sector, from landline phones to cell phones and the current attack on public access wi-fi, that entire sector might be better off in public hands as well. What is your monthly telecom bill (include every source)?

Other industries should simply be more regulated with respect to the environment, workplace safety, and employee rights and benefits. See Europe for an example of how this might work.

[Sparkly]

19. Question about energy

How about a ceiling though -- for example, for large corporations -- so the public isn't funding energy gluttony and/or pollution? Requirements and support for using clean and renewal sources, for example?

Also, why would people who want cosmetic surgery buy health insurance? (In case something falls out or breaks or something? lol) I think an "installment plan" refers to financing, and some sort of work warranty is more in order than insurance. :shrug:

[rucky]

17. Pharma & Energy/Utils for sure.

we should re-vamp our railways and let the USPS run it for freight.

That's about all I can think of.

We need to privatize NASA. I know that will piss off a few science geeks, but...

[TahitiNut]

20. Any enterprise requiring an 'easement' - utilities, telecom, energy, airlines.

Whenever the consumer's choice is constrained by location, the company is a candidate for nationaliztion. In some cases, this would be best accomplished by a restructuring of the industry. Telecom is a good example. The cable infrastructure should be municipal - publicly-owned and operated. Service providers would then be permitted equal competitive access with strict service standards.

I regard the broadcast spectrum to be an 'easement' and media and cellular/wireless overdue for massive regulation.

[DemGa]

21. Essential utilities

For example natural gas. Even when my bill for usage is $4.50, I pay a $26.00 bill. I'm just paying extra for some ceo to sail around on a yacht and send his kids to private school. Ridiculous.

[backscatter712]

22. Prisons!

There shouldn't be such a thing as a privately owned or run prison.

Also nationalize Blackwater and the other mercenary companies - seize their assets and draft their goons (if we're going to have a draft, start by drafting them - it's actually practical: they already have training, weapons and equipment.)

Also, utilities like power, gas, water should be under local, county or state government control. Nationalize health insurance too, make it paid for by taxes and have it cover every human being on U.S. soil.

[Ezlivin]

29. Another vote for prisons. And for all water utilities

The corporations are buying up water rights and are getting into a position where they control our water supply.

[TahitiNut]

36. I'm comprehensively opposed to the privateering of government functions.

No on-going function of government should EVER be transferred to the private sector, imho. Highest on that list would be military and law enforcement.

That's not to say that specific one-time tasks (construction, etc.) shouldn't be contracted ... they should ... but that's only to ensure that the regular operations of government at the local, state, and federal levels aren't disrupted by irregular non-emergency demands.

Privateering ("out-sourcing") is inherently more costly to the taxpayer, when the direct labor costs are held constant (and fair).

[alfredo]

23. energy if they keep working against our best interests

[roamer65]

24. Energy and healthcare.

[TimBean]

25. Nationalize everything

if the government can run utilities and a big pharma better, why couldn't they run Google or Subway?

[ulysses]

26. those necessary for general well-being.

Any involved in health care, including those not directly under single-payer health care. Utilities. At least some transportation.

[Vidar]

27. Pharmaceuticals, Energy, Defense-related

& anything that has achieved monopoly status (eg Microsoft).

[JackRiddler]

28. The banks. As these control capital and decide where to lend, everything else follows. n/t

[Radical Activist]

30. General Electric and the energy industry.

We'd all be much better off.

[yella_dawg]

31. In general, natural monopolies

like energy distribution and so on. Plus those things necessary for living, such as health care and even food distribution. Oversight might be sufficient in some cases, but oversight doesn't have much of a track record so far.

My food distribution suggestion might sound extreme, but the FDA has conducted close oversight of our food chain for years. Only recently has it stepped aside and allowed the disasters of the last few years. I don't have a problem with for-profit food distribution as such. Just profit maximization at the cost of health risk. Should food become more expensive in our economy, it might be worthwhile to examine removing the profit from the transaction. (Government subsidies have the effect of offsetting profits already, at least until recently.)

As for Microsoft, they have chosen to become a monopoly, and thus should pay some kind of penalty, such as close oversight or actual input from a public manager of sorts.

[WinkyDink]

32. Utilities, for sure. They are more accurately called "life's necessities".

Then pharmaceuticals; why not? Should sick poor Americans just die?

Major transport? Sounds good to me.

Microsoft? Not so much.

[Mutineer]

33. You're kidding right?

Okay so now I'm beginning to get the whole "love for Chavez" thing around here-some of you would be happier in a socialist state. I wouldn't. Heavily regulated and patrolled and monitored and legislated and all that good stuff? I'm all for it, especially with the oil and healthcare industries but NATIONALIZED? Hell fucking no.

[nealmhughes]

34. Hugo y Fidel are suspending all future stipends, effective now!

:evilgrin:

Believe it or not, there are quite a few socialists here in the US and many of us are also Democrats.