Do conservatives really believe that Socialism

[Spunkylama]

Do conservatives really believe that Socialism (like Venezuela) is the same as European "Socialism" (think, "Nordic Model")?​

Conservatives keep calling liberals/democrats "socialists" and then bring up Venezuela to show that Socialism doesn't work.
Yet the policies Democrats propose are modeled on advanced Western economies in Europe which are capitalist mixed economies, with the Nordic Model being particularly popular.
So why do conservatives keep conflating the two?

 

[tshade]

Do conservatives really believe that Socialism (like Venezuela) is the same as European "Socialism" (think, "Nordic Model")?​

Conservatives keep calling liberals/democrats "socialists" and then bring up Venezuela to show that Socialism doesn't work.
Yet the policies Democrats propose are modeled on advanced Western economies in Europe which are capitalist mixed economies, with the Nordic Model being particularly popular.
So why do conservatives keep conflating the two?

False---------real conservatives do not call democrats "socialists". trumpers might, but they aren't conservatives

 

[ttwtt78640]

Do conservatives really believe that Socialism (like Venezuela) is the same as European "Socialism" (think, "Nordic Model")?​

Conservatives keep calling liberals/democrats "socialists" and then bring up Venezuela to show that Socialism doesn't work.
Yet the policies Democrats propose are modeled on advanced Western economies in Europe which are capitalist mixed economies, with the Nordic Model being particularly popular.
So why do conservatives keep conflating the two?

Your premise that conservatives alone can’t (or won’t) use the term socialist (or socialism) correctly falls apart when terms like democratic socialism (also used by many non-conservatives to describe mixed economies) are deemed perfectly acceptable.

Describing things like M4A (HR 676) as being socialist are correct, since M4A is a single-payer (100% government funded, thus controlled) system which requires all participating (medical care) providers to be either public or non-profit.

What makes the ‘Nordic Model’ appealing to many is that the public/private mix within those economies is 30% or more government owned or controlled (aka socialist) and they have a generous social safety net and public pension system with well-funded public services in a relatively high-tax economy.

The following link might be helpful:

The one thing almost all strands [of socialism] have in common is the idea that collective ownership of capital within a relevant economic unit is a key socialist principle. So to the extent that a country is a relevant economic unit and Norwegians own 76% of their non-home wealth collectively through a democratically-elected state, it would be fair, I think, to describe it as the most socialist country in the developed world.

The State Owns 76% of Norway’s Non-Home Wealth

Norway stands above everyone else in its level of state ownership.

www.peoplespolicyproject.org

 

[bongsaway]

Your premise that conservatives alone can’t (or won’t) use the term socialist (or socialism) correctly falls apart when terms like democratic socialism (also used by many non-conservatives to describe mixed economies) are deemed perfectly acceptable.

Describing things like M4A (HR 676) as being socialist are correct since M4A is a single-payer (100% government funded) system which requires all participating (medical care) providers to be either public or non-profit is entirely correct.

What makes the ‘Nordic Model’ appealing to many is that the public/private mix within those economies is 30% or more government owned or controlled (aka socialist) and they have a generous social safety net and public pension system with well-funded public services in a relatively high-tax economy.

The following link might be helpful:

The State Owns 76% of Norway’s Non-Home Wealth

Norway stands above everyone else in its level of state ownership.

www.peoplespolicyproject.org

The world's happiest countries, 2022 edition

• Finland.
• Denmark.
• Iceland.
• Switzerland.
• Netherlands.
• Luxembourg.
• Sweden.
• Norway.

We don't want that socialist stuff in the good old u.s. of a. We like our capitalism so we can complain about the high price of everything. We are miserable and proud and don't try changing us.

 

[Questerr]

Do conservatives really believe that Socialism (like Venezuela) is the same as European "Socialism" (think, "Nordic Model")?​

Conservatives keep calling liberals/democrats "socialists" and then bring up Venezuela to show that Socialism doesn't work.
Yet the policies Democrats propose are modeled on advanced Western economies in Europe which are capitalist mixed economies, with the Nordic Model being particularly popular.
So why do conservatives keep conflating the two?

Instead conservatives will readily tell you that the Nordic Model is “actually capitalism”.

But if you advocate for policies like those of the Nordic Model, you are a socialist out to destroy freedom and capitalism.

 

[ttwtt78640]

The world's happiest countries, 2022 edition

• Finland.
• Denmark.
• Iceland.
• Switzerland.
• Netherlands.
• Luxembourg.
• Sweden.
• Norway.

We don't want that socialist stuff in the good old u.s. of a. We like our capitalism so we can complain about the high price of everything. We are miserable and proud and don't try changing us.

I made no such value judgements in my post, yet you are doing what the OP is complaining about - implying that countries with mixed economies are socialist.