My ideology matches up a lot more closely with countries like Iceland, Sweden and Denmark. The people who have lived through the results tell me its a great success and they love it. You are mischaracterizing the specific set of policies I support and are using a vague umbrella term to try and align me with things I am against.
Those aren't Socialist nations. The Prime Minister of Denmark annoyed with this constant assertion even came out and chastised the implication.
https://www.thelocal.dk/20151101/danish-pm-in-us-denmark-is-not-socialistI am not mischaracterizing anything. The ideologies you support are based in Marxism. Marxism is inherently totalitarian. Maybe you can demand I make your argument for you some more. That will fix it.
but I don't support the nations you call socialist nor do I endorse their policies. I support the policies that have been adopted in Denmark. If that means I am not socialist, then fine, you don't have to call me a socialist. I have no interest in semantics. Never did. I do have interest in discussing policies though so lets look at what the man said.
Denmark is far from a socialist planned economy. Denmark is a market economy,” Rasmussen said.
I don't think we should have a planned economy nor does anyone I know of including democratic socialists and those in the socialist party.
“The Nordic model is an expanded welfare state which provides a high level of security for its citizens, but it is also a successful market economy with much freedom to pursue your dreams and live your life as you wish,” he added.
True freedom with everyone's basic needs met? That is all I really stand for so I agree here. confusion comes when a lot of people say "welfare is socialism" but those same people say "welfare creates venezuela" but when you point to denmark they say "but denmark isn't socialist". Its a circular game of semantics.
“We also have a strong and fee educational system. Students in institutions for higher education and university do not pay for their education, on the contrary they receive educational grants for studying,” he added.
Free tuition and UBI? I agree again here.
“So, what is the catch you might ask. The most obvious one, of course, is the high taxes. The top income tax in Denmark is almost 60 percent. We have a 25 percent sales tax and on cars the incise duties are up to 180 percent. In total, Danish taxes come to almost half of our national income compared to around 25 percent in the US. Quite a substantial difference,” he said.
High taxes on the wealthy? I agree again here.
These are all the policies I, and any democratic socialist want to see put in place and they are all the same policies you see in the nordic model. Combine that with insanely high union participation rates and mandated union decisions throughout entire sectors, and you can see how Nordic countries have a high degree of worker control.
Are these policies socialist? Donald Trump and much of the American media sure thinks so. The point is, the definition is jumbled and the word is defined differently by so many people that it is useless in American discourse.
https://www.google.com/search?q=free+college+socialism&source=lnms&tbm=nws&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiB-YK_k_fgAhU4JDQIHTOyBtcQ_AUIDigB&biw=1416&bih=651Whatever they are, there is a stark contrast between the policies there and the policies you call "marxist" and no one in America is advocating for what you call marxism. Everyone on the far American left denounces authoritarian policies and closely aligns with the "not socialist" policies spelled out in that article. Its actually quite funny that I have to go this far to explain how a group of people who want to abolish law enforcement agencies and prisons do not embrace totalitarian rule.