is sending aid to Haiti socialism?

[AlphaCentauri]

if so what capitalism would do in emergency cases like this?

[blondeatlast]

1. No, it's charity. Period. nt

[AlphaCentauri]

3. so what Fidel Castro did in Cuba is charity also?

[Fleshdancer]

5. How does sending aid to Haiti compare with what Castro did in Cuba?

I'm not seeing the comparison.

[AlphaCentauri]

6. Giving to the poor n/t

[Fleshdancer]

11. Giving to the poor is not how socialism is defined.

Socialism is a theory or system of social organization that advocates the vesting of the ownership and control of the means of production and distribution, of capital, land, etc., in the community as a whole.

[AlphaCentauri]

28. Conservatives say that giving health care to the poor is socialism

I assume that the conservative definition of socialism is: give to the poor

[blondeatlast]

30. Do they? Which conservatives? I know straight ticket Repuublicans

with a load of liquid assets that donate pretty generously to humanitarian efforts, they just don't give to the arts and such. I live in Arizona and the Goldwater family is well known for its generosity (in fact, they founded Planeed Parenthood here).

There's no black and white here as far as I can tell. Kind of like life. :shrug:

[AlphaCentauri]

31. I know some people who are community activist

they don't own much but what they give to their community has more value than any million dollars that are tax deductible or left overs from a bast wealthy bank account.

I think DireStrike in post #25 has a good point on this.

[eShirl]

17. So Jesus was a socialist?

Good to know.

[proteus_lives]

24. "Give to the poor?"

:rofl:

He gave to himself and his party.

[AlphaCentauri]

29. As far as I know there are no homeless in Cuba

or children living on the streets

[proteus_lives]

32. I'm going to need a link/proof...

Before I believe that horse-shit.

[AlphaCentauri]

36. here

http://www.unicef.org/search/search.php?q=progress+for+children

http://caribbeanscienceart.blogspot.com/2009/10/unicef-recognizes-cuba-for-protection.html

[proteus_lives]

41. They take care of them, no doubt.

Is there any reason they couldn't have this and democracy at the same time?

[AlphaCentauri]

44. all depends on how democracy is defined

the will of the people or the will of corporations. They probably have some type of elections.

[Chomsky_Fan]

39. proof

You asked for it and you got it.

[AlphaCentauri]

40. Adding the word Cuba to the search

Cuba is on track to achieve most of the Millennium Development Goals by 2015 despite having suffered several major recent hurricanes and a devastating drought in its eastern provinces.



http://www.unicef.org/search/search.php?querystring=progress+for+children+cuba&hits=&isNews=

[proteus_lives]

43. No one is perfect.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4227136

[blondeatlast]

7. +1. Not the first case I've seen today of apples=oranges, though.

:shrug:

[AlphaCentauri]

8. is charity a special gift that only exist in capitalism?

[blondeatlast]

9. Not that I'm aware of. What's your point? nt

[KittyWampus]

12. No. Allocating resources in times of crisis to non-members of ones group happens in various

economic systems.

[Fleshdancer]

14. Well, Cuba and China are sending aid to Haiti as well so I'm going to say no.

[Cleita]

35. Charity exists in capitalism because it's the only way people who have too

much can assuage their guilty consciences by giving some away. Charity never completely meets social needs though like socialism, administered by the government, does. There are certain aspects of society that have to be socialized because they would be too inefficient otherwise. Also, charity doesn't run fire departments and street departments, which is why we need socialistic programs co-existing with capitalism.

[Cleita]

34. Castro did communism or everyone shares the burden and prosperity. n/t

[AlphaCentauri]

37. I'm also thinking about the bailouts, if they are considered charity?

[Cleita]

38. No they are considered corporate welfare. That's when the government

pays for it with tax payer's money. Socialism, which includes welfare for single mothers, is also socialism when it's welfare for bankers and Wall Street. If you get your concepts right, it's not hard to figure out, same bail out, but different recipients. Charity, by definition, comes from the private sector. I haven't seen any charities bellying up to help out those corporations. Have you?

[KittyWampus]

2. well, first we distinguish between money/aid coming from NGO's and Government Organs

[Fleshdancer]

4. I don't see how sending aid to Haiti could be socialism

:shrug:

[blondeatlast]

10. Are you talking private aid or government aid? nt

[Zoeisright]

13. Anything government does is socialism.

Like build roads, staff police and fire, conduct medical research, and fund FEMA.

And true capitalism and capitalists would ignore Haiti because it's poor. Capitalism doesn't help anyone.

[Mudoria]

15. Google just donated a million dollars..........

[Fleshdancer]

16. and Microsoft donated 1.25 million dollars.......

[DireStrike]

25. Right and wrong

Capitalism and capitalists will act in the interests of good PR. The smarter ones will, anyway.

It is an opportunity to purchase good will. How much good will they want to purchase, and how much funding they have available to buy, depends on the company.

[stray cat]

18. Socialism would be making sure your money to live on was the same as the average Haitian

[SOS]

22. Or the average Swede

(who lives better than the average American)

[fascisthunter]

26. no... that's called globalization

the opposite

[Lasher]

19. A thought provoking question.

Laissez faire capitalism doesn't account for such things. I wish for a return to Keynesian sanity.

[KittyWampus]

21. Okay, I think you figured out the point the OP'er was trying to make. I couldn't quite figure it out

[Igel]

27. Laissez fair capitalism is

a rather narrow theory. It doesn't include a lot of things. It includes economics. If it's not a paid transaction between two people, or can't be curried to such a transaction, I think it's fairly quiet.

That doesn't mean it rules it out. Most people I know that support capitalism also think it would suck without Xianity. In other words, you have the economic and political right to private property and being ruthless; however, you have a moral or ethical obligation to spread the wealth, but it's a personal decision (subject to peer pressure) to comply or not.

[Liberal_in_LA]

20. Helping a country in need isn't socialism. The world rallied around the US after 9/11

for gawds sake

[riverbendviewgal]

23. It is not socialism

as they say in Denmark: It is civilized and humane.

[Cleita]

33. Actually, it's charity.

If Haiti had socialism, the need wouldn't have been as dire as it is now in spite of all the charities who have tried to help the Haitian people and who continue to try to help. Capitalists like charity. However, milleniums of relying on charity for social programs have proved it's an inefficient system to take care of everyone who needs help. I don't understand why no one gets it.

[jdp349]

42. A strong argument on the grounds of national security could be made for aiding Haiti