My elderly parents were in a car crash a year ago. Mother had 3 broken ribs, and spent 1 month in hospital. My father spent 2 months in hospital, 11 broken ribs, bilateral pelvic fractures, and a small puncture in his lung. The hospital bill came to: you might want to sit down for this... $45 each, the costs of the ambulance rides. Plus the annual provincial healthcare tax that maxes out at $900 per person. Did I mention, we live in Canada?? Yeah, those filthy Socialists up North, eh...
Yes, we Americans have no idea how it could be. My father fell while on vacation in France. We were on a house boat on a river and stopped at a small camp ground for medical help, this was on a Sunday. The hospital in the nearest city SENT A DOCTOR TO THE CAMPGROUND to examine my dad. She said he had broken ribs and drove dad to a nearby small town, to a pharmacy. She got the pharmacist to open his store, she took dad to the back to an exam table, wrapped his chest and got him medicine for the pain. The hospital arranged free transportation the next morning, Monday, for chest x-rays. EVERYTHING WAS FREE. In America you'd have to be a multi millionaire with an expensive contract for "concierge" doctor services, in order to receive the same level of service that everyone in France receives. We were on vacation, dad is NOT a French citizen, we aren't rich or special. Americans cannot imagine how good it could be, until you see it with your own eyes.
I Am a USA Citizen for 65 years... Thank You for that!!! Im Jealous!!! How many Gun Related Deaths in Your Beautiful Country this Year??? 5?..... Its a War Zone South of your Border!!!
I too am a Canadian. In my opinion the greatest benefit of universal health care is peace of mind. If I or a loved one needs medical care, there is no compounding worry about potential financial ruin, no battles with insurance companies.
Look at the DEBT CLOCK and see how much is already owed by each taxpayer - isn't it over $200,000? We're drowning in debt - and the rich are not that many. Watch "Eat the Rich" and see how few wealthy there are in comparison to the massive amounts of poor. And how little their money could fund the massive government - quit pretending your theory would work.
My extremely conservative parents were against government spending to help the needy, until the hurricane dropped a tree on their house, then they happily took that FEMA grant money to repair the roof. (They also hate the idea of Socialized Medicine, while acknowledging that they like their Medicare health plan).
@@helenpellegrino7759Yes it is frustrating. When I asked Dad about socialized healthcare he said "We can't afford it"! I shook my head thinking "We can't afford NOT to do it".
You're proving my point. Conservatives don't want socialism but they're the first ones with their hands out when a natural disaster happens and they lose their house.
Thank you Mr. Reich. I learned that from school, reading, and my mom. But, it was just a few years ago that I met a man who thought our President had complete power. This is also why i have been concerned about students who were never taught about the constitution or the Bill of Rights- including my own children- that i just found out a few years ago. They are 33 and 34 now. The money being pulled out of education makes me wonder if they just want the working class to be drones.
The rich were overtaxed in France and so they left FRANCE. Quit being so naive. No one owes YOU their wealth. And the government WASTES money! I worked for the government - and I don't worship bureaucrats. YOU should not, either. The unions want more and more for their bureaucrats.
Lovely vid, Robert. I live in Wales in the UK. My dad worked in the local coal mine and was a socialist. when I was a young kid, I asked him what "socialism" meant. He explained that it was just people working together, helping each other to live better, healthier lives and fighting against the exploitation of workers by the rich. Seemed like a good idea to me. I'm 74 years old now and have been (and will be) a socialist all my life. It's really not scary at all🙂
Socialism for the lower class sounds great but it's a scam by the rich to enslave us willingly. The dude who is most well known for the theory was Karl Marx. He was from a rich family lol. His idea was that too many of us are too stupid to lead our own lives forward so a central power must control our lives by force. Modern socialism forces the people through slow indoctrination and policies that make us thing we are doing something good. Why do you think science is declining sharply? The number of malpractice and modern medicine related deaths increased every year, especially after the whole COVID bullshit. You need to stop getting horny over sound goods and actually read and see why the solution is not any centralized system. Centralized powers 100% of the time fail because they corrupt. Always.
Well that’s a nice definition, but not remotely what socialism means in any historical sense. That’s the problem, every man and his dog has their own personal definition, which makes it meaningless at this point.
@@beech5950 nonsense. I wasn’t referring to a particular country, I was referring to the definition. Socialism has always concerned the productive power of a country, and where the ownership of that power sits. “Working together” and having “healthier lives”, is vague platitudinal waffle. There have been plenty of countries throughout the last 100 years or so who have implemented socialist policies, where large swathes of their economies and the productive power of their work force was taken out of private hands.
Somehow, Americans never learned the difference between Socialism, Communism, and Stalinism. They seem to think that the minute a national health system is established, the Secret Police would start rounding up people on the streets and sending them to Siberia.
meanwhile the police starts rounding people up and sends them to prison in their "capitalist utopia" but hey it wouldnt happen to them right? only to those bad people...
No, that's crazy! That only comes once you go a little further down the road, and you've agreed to give a small number of elites absolute power over your life and death...because that's how to fight climate change! You do want to save the planet right? Well then...be a good person , and be first into the "box car" that will take you to that "better future".
I think the comments section is evidence of that. The point of the video is that collecting tax for public services isn't socialism. Most people in the comments sections seemed to have missed that point entirely. The Right and the Left are misusing the term in equal measure.
Can't see other replies, so someone may have mentioned this already: I don't think Stalin would have been so ruthless if the west wasn't so aggressive, there were a number of outside threats he needed to prepare for. Various western countries sent support to the White army during the civil war, and Fascism was on the rise in Germany and Italy, all major threats to a Socialist state. His reaction was a tighter security force and a focus on Heavy industry (think Steel, concrete, Tanks, Fighter Planes, etc...), which unfortunately came at the expense of the workers (although it was better than being a peasant farmer). Whether or not you agree with that strategy is a different story, and maybe with hindsight we can do better. The important thing is we try to understand why Stalin took that path, rather than just sweep him and all his ideas under the rug and call him evil, maybe with hindsight we can take a different, more peaceful path.
Look at the DEBT CLOCK and see how much is already owed by each taxpayer - isn't it over $200,000? We're drowning in debt - and the rich are not that many. Watch "Eat the Rich" and see how few wealthy there are in comparison to the massive amounts of poor. And how little their money could fund the massive government - quit pretending your theory would work.
@SipLeila People, Mayor Adams is already screaming about the fact that they are spending more than they are taking in. And that is just one city. As a country, we are spending $1.6 TRILLION more than we are taking in. Robert is taking in UA-cam income ......and if he was spending more than he is taking in, he would stop producing these videos.
Robert Reich worked for Medicaid (welfare medical for the poor)? Bernie never did. It is filled with fraud and unhappy people. There is never enough money. Try working there and you will see for yourself.
Here's my story about the ridiculous US healthcare system. We were on vacation in the US, renting an air BNB. My daughter was only year old and fell and cut her face on a metal coffee table. It was not a big cut, but deep, so I figured probably needed a couple stitches. In Canada of course we'd take her to at least have it looked at. Anyway we went to the local hospital and saw the doctor for about 8 minutes while he superglued the cut. They charged my insurance company $750USD for that procedure! One a homeless guy would've done for a big Mac and fries. The US system is insane. And despite the horrible healthcare system, you're gun crime is off the charts. Highest US mortality among kids now is due to gun violence. Amazing!
@@davidlafleche1142 That's a very stupid ignorant statement, but that's a conservative for you. Most conservatives are that way because they're ignorant and stupid. "Not all conservatives are stupid, but stupid people usually are conservative." (John Stuart Mill, you'd get a clue if you Google). Also all Trumpanzees are worthless filth. Now you know.
Elon & Bezos (along with countless others) sure like their Corporate Socialism... Bailouts, free warehouses and manufacturing facilities... Apple spends more on avoiding tax than the amount they actually pay in taxes. (a bit hyperbolic, but still ridiculous)
Look at the DEBT CLOCK and see how much is already owed by each taxpayer - isn't it over $200,000? We're drowning in debt - and the rich are not that many. Watch "Eat the Rich" and see how few wealthy there are in comparison to the massive amounts of poor. And how little their money could fund the massive government - quit pretending your theory would work.
The rich were overtaxed in France and so they left FRANCE. Quit being so naive. No one owes YOU their wealth. And the government WASTES money! I worked for the government - and I don't worship bureaucrats. YOU should not, either. The unions want more and more for their bureaucrats.
Look at the DEBT CLOCK and see how much is already owed by each taxpayer - isn't it over $200,000? We're drowning in debt - and the rich are not that many. Watch "Eat the Rich" and see how few wealthy there are in comparison to the massive amounts of poor. And how little their money could fund the massive government - quit pretending your theory would work.
@@annettejohnson7790 NO! France already tried overtaxing the wealthy and they just left France, making the whole country poorer! THINK! The wealthy are needed - they invent products and build nice communities. But, also there aren't very many and they contribute by spending which gives poorer people jobs. Robert is very naive.
I’m a working class guy who would happily pay more in “bananas” if it meant that I didn’t have to worry about health care, or infrastructure falling apart around us, or how we could pay for my daughters ridiculously expensive secondary education, or my elderly parents care, or my neighbors preschooler getting his best start in life or any of the other myriad positive things the dreaded “socialism” could bring us!
Taxpayer money goes to nonsensical things like hundreds of billions of dollars in Medicaid and Medicare FRAUD every year! Our country is filled with criminals in large cities trying to bill for things like expensive wheelchairs and getting millions back. Even Eric Holder admitted that. Please READ MORE.
@@BradCampbellmn You’re probably the type of guy that complains if his road has potholes or the snow isn’t plowed off it fast enough, or if the rescue squad doesn’t come quick enough for your grandma, or complains about Medicaid not paying enough for her prescriptions, or wants FEMA to help your town after a big storm blows through…all the while bitching about paying taxes. Well, y’know what? Nothing is for free, and all those services (and many others) that you and all the others in your community make use of are funded (at least in part) by taxes. So, unless you’re an independently wealthy hermit that never leaves his off-the-grid property, and never has anyone from the “outside world” show up either, you’re talking out both sides of your mouth!
Blah, blah, blah with your Huff Post talking points. There is nothing wrong with taxes paying for essential services but the Dem party is all for cradle to grave entitltments and that is asinine. Keep voting for your socialist comrades bud but the problem is that you and your cohorts will run out of those people's money....LOL@@johns3106
I don’t understand why people complain so much when the money goes to improving the lives of all of our society, but don’t say a word when billions go to subsidizing multi million and billion dollar corporations.
Lately, I've seen a lot more people meet the accusation of "That's Socialism!" with something along the lines of, "So, Socialism is a superior way of running the government? Thanks for letting me know!"
@tedtimberson4262 lol, imagine trying to organize a successful boycott of monopolized industries. it is a sysophysian pointless task...this is a limitation of free markets and no amount of ayn rand propaganda will fix that, but government anti trust laws and regulations would...
I remember a year when I was a teenager working at a restaurant and record store and I saw that I paid more in taxes that year than Microsoft. Microsoft!?! THAT IS INSANE.
@@SipLeila You realize not everyone can be a business owner right? They still need to pay taxes. Microsoft should not be paying less taxes than a teenager working in a restaurant. They are a multi billion dollar company. Pay taxes like the rest of us, and if Microsoft can't, then they aren't as profitable or good of a business as you think.
If the American government doesn't pay you millions of dollars each year while you pay zero taxes (and this is without even considering any subsidies and/or government contracts) then you pay more taxes than a giant list of multibillion dollar corporations. If you pay zero taxes you pay more because they pay *negative* taxes. People point to things like day drinking, but in America getting government handouts is the biggest "trendy if you're rich, trashy if you're poor."
@@SipLeila If we should be expected to foot the bill of their operations and subsidize the wages they pay their employees then the company should be nationalized and they should be government employees. If we're paying for it, we should benefit from it. If they can afford to operate without handouts, great (they can, but they can also afford to bribe politicians for handouts which is even more profitable), if they can't, well, doesn't "the market say" then that they're too inefficient and should perish after all?
I am a retired geodetic surveyor and worked for the DOD for thirty years as a mission support contractor. One day in a meeting a government civilian manager was decrying the ruination of or country due to socialism. I got tired of his rant and right in front of everyone said “Dave, don’t you realize that the entire Department of Defense to include all branches of the military and all its corporate contractors are taxpayer funded for the greater good? That’s socialism! That includes your paycheck buddy!” That stopped him in his tracks, including all the other trump supporters in the meeting.
But also a great country creates a great society with great infrastructure and great institutions. I think the biggest loss of the US has been a loss of confidence. Socialism requires a certain level of social confidence that we can actually make things better and a certain level of social responsibility towards the common good.
@@RapsCalorie 10%? Closer to 1% or even 0.1%. Ever physicians get paid salaries and so pay full taxes PLUS payroll taxes. Most of the ultrawealthy earn through investments and so are taxed at a FAR lower rate and no payroll taxes. Most people don't realize how wildly the system is tilted for the ultrawealthy.
Look at the DEBT CLOCK and see how much is already owed by each taxpayer - isn't it over $200,000? We're drowning in debt - and the rich are not that many. Watch "Eat the Rich" and see how few wealthy there are in comparison to the massive amounts of poor. And how little their money could fund the massive government - quit pretending your theory would work.
1980 I was in surgical rotation in nursing school. One day we were in the break room between surgeries when a male anesthesiologist said this to our mostly female class! "Women are good for 5 surgeries-episiotomy, C-section, cholecystectomy, mastectomy, hysterectomy." Unbelievably sick for profit healthcare.
@@censorship_cant_stop_truth2almost all the money you pay for healthcare doesn't go to the doctors or nurses or even the people that manufactured the medicine. It mostly goes to the stockholders of pharmaceutical companies and executives. And insurance of course. Part of the reason there's a nurse shortage right now is that they don't get paid enough and a bunch of them died from covid.
Once all costs and salaries are paid, why does a hospital need to make a profit? Please don't say investment, because profit is what is left AFTER investments...
I’m a socialist. In the U.K. America people don’t know what a socialist is. It’s funny that it frightens yanks😂. I love it. It doesn’t take much to wind up an American and they have no sense in humour.
Predatory capitalism is so mainstream in the US that Americans need to be taught and reminded about things other societies understood since the Industrial Revolution. Genuinely frightening and bloodchilling
It's not hard to see why, either. The Red Scares were full-on cultural revolutions. They were violent and repressive, purges in every sense of the word
Their legacy lingers to this day, and under neoliberalism, that legacy has been enshrined and become almost unquestioned by most. We must rise up against and in spite of that legacy, we must organize networks and community, and build tomorrow today _(Sorry for the two-parter, automod isn't an ally)_
"preadatory" you mean separated financially ignorant people from their money? Being stupid with your money doesn't make the people you gave it to predatory....you're just bad with your finances.
The rich were overtaxed in France and so they left FRANCE. Quit being so naive. No one owes YOU their wealth. And the government WASTES money! I worked for the government - and I don't worship bureaucrats. YOU should not, either. The unions want more and more for their bureaucrats.
That was true since the inception of this country. The Constitution was written to benefit wealthy landowners and slaveowners, which is why it took a long time to end it with a civil war, and to protect their economic interests. Today we see that economic protection extended in the Global South as national security interests.
Look at the DEBT CLOCK and see how much is already owed by each taxpayer - isn't it over $200,000? We're drowning in debt - and the rich are not that many. Watch "Eat the Rich" and see how few wealthy there are in comparison to the massive amounts of poor. And how little their money could fund the massive government - quit pretending your theory would work.
@@timothyjackson4653 It is still exploitation of the working class from the surplus value they create for the owners. Besides, these new start ups either fold up or get bought out over time. All I see in the US is homelessness, poverty, bankruptcies while the rich get richer. Sure, there has been improvements in the past but they are eroding away.
In his paper on taxation, physicist, philosopher and architect of cybernetics Heinz von Foerster wrote, "When A is better off, B is better off." In another paper he also recommended that we, "Act always so as to increase the number of choices." I think it's not bad advice these days.
Taxpayer money goes to nonsensical things like hundreds of billions of dollars in Medicaid and Medicare FRAUD every year! Our country is filled with criminals in large cities trying to bill for things like expensive wheelchairs and getting millions back. Even Eric Holder admitted that. Please READ MORE.
@@knguyen6061 Exactly. If we had actual universal Healthcare our taxes might go up a bit, but it would definitely be less than what most people pay for insurance every month that literally decides whether you live or die by denying lifesaving treatment. And if you eliminate the insurance companies, you eliminate the middleman as you stated. That alone would save billions.
Great job explaining this in the most basic language. Unfortunately after years of being indoctrinated many people, who refuse to investigate what words mean are willing to go against their best interests because of the fear of a word.
No one's afraid of the word, ffs. That's just plain dumb. It's the policies that are scary af when you actually make an effort to understand the harm that they actually cause in practice. You know, like when you went homeless because of tight finances. You might just have made it through if only the government hadn't been taking from you more than a third of your earnings to favor other people. I live in a country with public healthcare in europe. I, like everyone else, pay two minimum wages a year for it, despite the fact that I'm not needing it. By the time I need it, I've paid the bills many times over, and I'm still gonna have to pay for medicine and more. The hospital in my area was a smelly old decrepit scary place to be in. It was like that before I was born and up until I was in my 30s, when they finally built a proper new one. Thing is, that hospital wouldn't have lasted five years in the private market facing unhindered competition. A friend of mine waited 7 months with broken ribs from a bike accident to get attended for surgery, and then they told him it was too late for surgery, it would have to heal the rest on its own. I've seen on the newspapers quite a few times over the years, reports of someone having died waiting. Sometimes there's also lack of stock, staff on strike, you often get rushed home out of the hospital asap to free up space, and many other things. These, and many more, are all the kinds of things the dishonest or utterly ignorant socialist figure-heads never tell you about. They always paint a bright and shiny picture of it, like they're selling poison in a pink bottle with rainbows and ponys. Socialism is always in the name of the poor, but the poorest are always the ones getting f***ed by it the most. The more the gov does for us, the more it has to take from us in taxes, the less we have left to invest in our living standards and economic growth, and thus the slower the economy gets. The more the government gives, the less we all have.
@@skaruts And the staff at Medicaid and other government run organizations are in UNIONS! Which means they won't work nights, weekends, holidays.....though the poor get sick all the time. The private sector plans paid their employees MORE but those people were very energetic and also nice. But what Robert Reich doesn't get is the sheer VOLUME of patients. We had 360,000 on Medicaid and a handful of us answering the phones. LOL! And at one point the medical cards were late because of a mistake OUR staff in another section made. So, people were on hold for HOURS waiting for answers. And there were thousands and thousands of complaints coming in because Medicaid did not cover everything. Only 100 diagnoses were covered. A panel of doctors decided which diagnoses were covered. Very few exceptions were made. And that was a Democrat-run state.
@@chompythebeast you misspelled "tyranny", btw. :)
Рік тому+237
The über-rich need to step up and contribute their fair share. The hoarding of cash and assets is what's killing economies and threatening democracies.
The uber rich contribute by spending - more than their fair share. They buy products and that money goes toward hiring people! How much do the poor contribute - those in prisons and on welfare? I worked for welfare - the poor are a huge drain and so are federal employees and their hot benefits.
What about all the welfare queens - generations on welfare and contributing kids that don't even get good grades or know how to hold a job. Nurses see it. You're blaming the wrong people. Look at the debt clock. We're dying of debt that YOU OWE if you are a taxpayer.
Look at the DEBT CLOCK and see how much is already owed by each taxpayer - isn't it over $200,000? We're drowning in debt - and the rich are not that many. Watch "Eat the Rich" and see how few wealthy there are in comparison to the massive amounts of poor. And how little their money could fund the massive government - quit pretending your theory would work.
@@SipLeila >They buy products and that money goes toward hiring people! This is total BS. They to do not SPEND when hiring people, unless they don't care about PROFIT they get from hired people. Every act of employment under capitalism is robbery, the goods worker produced cost MORE than you worker get back as salary. So, they DO NOT spend when they hire, they EARN when they hire.
I'm glad you made this video. This argument needs to be hammered on. FEMA is an expensive piece of Socialism. FEMA saves mostly the Red states that happen to be disaster prone regions to hurricanes and tornados.
Poppycock. What FEMA performs is totally pure Socialism... If you lose everything, what does FEMA do? FEMA provides medical care, gives shelter and gives direct money to the victims of disaster. Then FEMA money finances the rebuilding of the areas effected. This includes restoring drinking water and electrical services, the rebuilding of the damaged infrastructure of the roads, airports, the dams. Often times in regions where disaster after disaster strikes over and again. If FEMA is not Socialism, what is it??? I'm an Independent voter who doesn't care about Left and Right labels. I'm about Right and Wrong. I choose to view problems in a pragmatic and objective manner. If Socialism provides the best help of our society in whole, count me in. @@pwimbledon
One of the things we could do is stop bailing out big corporations so that they can buy back their stocks and make themselves richer without increasing production or improving their company. It is amazing that no one questions that, but when it comes to bailing out the citizens of this country who are suffering, all sorts of arguments come up to prevent Congress from doing anything.
This may be odd, but maybe we can do both a wealth tax, and a land tax. We can tax the wealthy 1% on their incomes, but not everyone else's. We can tax everyone, including the wealthy based on their land. Only their land, if they take care of it, that's a low tax, if they do not care for the land, that's gonna be a high tax. Then all of the extremely wealthy cannot own all the land. The land tax is an idea by Henry George, amazing guy.
@@AnnoyingAllie3 Income tax for the wealthy is an iffy thing. Consider that the wealthy may have considerable assets, but little actual income. They can borrow against their assets without ever liquidating them, but make them grow by using the money they borrow. Next time they can borrow more money and still not pay taxes. Elizabeth Warren’s wealth tax took this into consideration. Land taxes are also problematic, someone may own a lot of land, but be dirt poor. If the assessment of the land goes up, they cannot afford to own the property and would have to see the family farm just to pay the taxes. In my case, I bought property in 1973 for $39,300. Now, 50 years later, the property is worth over $500,000. If California hadn’t passed Prop 13 years ago, I wouldn’t be able to keep it now that I have retired. All of my retirement would be going to property taxes.
I 3:26 met a guy in Germany in 1992 who was studying in University. He was in year 3 of a 6-year program. The German government paid for his schooling, his flat and his food so he had nothing to worry about except concentrating on his studies. He told me when he graduates and gets a job all of those benefits he received will begin to be paid back in the form of government taxes. And that's what lets other people receive the benefit of higher education. This is what Republicans don't understand in this country. When all receive, all benefit
Then do NOT use public roads hospitals parks piers & any other social benefits socialism provide & don't collect your Social Security check because that's socialism Your ignorance is hilarious
Exactly!!! Ask the elderly, "Are you satisfied with your Medicare provided health coverage". They'll tell you "Yes". I know this because I asked my parents.
The rich were overtaxed in France and so they left FRANCE. Quit being so naive. No one owes YOU their wealth. And the government WASTES money! I worked for the government - and I don't worship bureaucrats. YOU should not, either. The unions want more and more for their bureaucrats.
Look at the DEBT CLOCK and see how much is already owed by each taxpayer - isn't it over $200,000? We're drowning in debt - and the rich are not that many. Watch "Eat the Rich" and see how few wealthy there are in comparison to the massive amounts of poor. And how little their money could fund the massive government - quit pretending your theory would work.
Taxpayer money goes to nonsensical things like hundreds of billions of dollars in Medicaid and Medicare FRAUD every year! Our country is filled with criminals in large cities trying to bill for things like expensive wheelchairs and getting millions back. Even Eric Holder admitted that. Please READ MORE.
People, Mayor Adams is already screaming about the fact that they are spending more than they are taking in. And that is just one city. As a country, we are spending $1.6 TRILLION more than we are taking in. Robert is taking in UA-cam income ......and if he was spending more than he is taking in, he would stop producing these videos.
@@SipLeilaIf the rich would just pay their share for once, this wouldn't be an issue! Elon Musk paid 3% of his income in taxes last year while the average citizens paid nearly 33%! Elon Musk got a 10k$ tax credit for his daughter's college while even the poorest in this country still can't even get a single dolar tax credit for college or even one penny forgiven! The number one problem is the rich not paying their share! 😉
@@TXEROXT OH, GIVE IT UP. DO THE POOR PAY BACK FOR THEIR PRISON SENTENCES? NO. DO THEY PAY BACK WHAT THEY GET IN FOOD STAMPS? NO. DO THEY CONTINUALLY WHINE WHILE SOCIAL WORKERS HAVE TO WORK AT LOW PAY? YES. WORK. THERE ARE FEWER WORKING THAN WERE WORKING IN 2009. LOOK AT THE DEBT CLOCK. THE FACTS ARE THERE. THE PEOPLE IN THE WORK FORCE IS LOWER! ELON MUSK? SO WHAT - YOU ARE JUST CHERRY PICKING. YOU DON'T KNOW ELON MUSK'S TOTAL TAX BURDEN OR JOBS HE MAY PROVIDE. THE WORKERS PAY THE TAXES AND ELON IS ULTIMATELY THE ONE TAKING BUSINESS RISKS. IF BEING IN BUSINESS IS SO LUCRATIVE, WHY AREN'T YOU TAKING OUT A BUSINESS LOAN? ALSO, THAT IS A HUGE LIE ABOUT COLLEGE EXPENSES SINCE STUDENTS CAN GET PELL GRANTS THEY NEVER HAVE TO PAY BACK.
The rich were overtaxed in France and so they left FRANCE. Quit being so naive. No one owes YOU their wealth. And the government WASTES money! I worked for the government - and I don't worship bureaucrats. YOU should not, either. The unions want more and more for their bureaucrats.
Look at the DEBT CLOCK and see how much is already owed by each taxpayer - isn't it over $200,000? We're drowning in debt - and the rich are not that many. Watch "Eat the Rich" and see how few wealthy there are in comparison to the massive amounts of poor. And how little their money could fund the massive government - quit pretending your theory would work.
@@timothyjackson4653 Socialists have read hundreds or thousands of pages and have had those conversations hundreds or thousands of times, that's precisely why they're trying to build socialism. We can have it every now and then with people who need to hear it, but if the goal is simply to demand debate in order to stump against working class power in every single interaction, that's not really a debate or an argument, it is a distraction, a deliberate attempt to make sure nothing is achieved
I used to live in the US in my twenties and love the Country. My family still lives in Florida. I keep a very close watch on American Politics. Now I am 67 and live in Germany since 1986. Here we have free universal Healthcare and don't have to pay for medication if you have a doctors prescription. All you pay is 5 Euros prescription charge and if you are retired you pay nothing at all. We have been thinking of moving back to Florida to be with the family, but that whould cost us 1500 Dollar each per month, just for Health Insurance alone. That would take almost all of our monthly retirement pay. We also have Free education, depending on your age 6 - 8 weeks fully payed vecation, 1 month extra salary as vacationmoney when you take your holidays and another 1 month extra salary as season pay for xmas. Just to name a few advantages of a social market economy. I will never understand anybody voting for Republicans who in all my years paying attention to American Politics have boycotted any attempt of the Democrats to make life better for all. Obama wanted to implement a really good healthcare System for all americans - got boycotted by the Republican Party- the outcome was a much lesser healthcare. The list goes on and on. Whenever America is about to move ahead to a better and brighter future for the entire nation - Republicans put a STOP to it. It's no wonder America never really solved all it's many problems like racism, gun violence, aso. As long as there is a Republican Party having any say in the country there will never be any real changes for the better. America could be sooooo strong and the most beautiful place to live, if they would finally start seeing each other as 1 People and 1 Nation and 1 common goal - namely a better life for all. The "social market economy" is the socially anchored law for the industrial economy, according to which the achievements of free and able individuals are integrated into a system that produces the highest level of economic benefit and social justice for all. Social market economy - Wikipedia en.m.wikipedia.org › wiki › Social_mark...
we could also increase the quality of life here in the u.s. without raising taxes by spending maybe a fraction of the nearly $1 trillion we spend on the military on other programs that help the working classes.
Taxpayer money goes to nonsensical things like hundreds of billions of dollars in Medicaid and Medicare FRAUD every year! Our country is filled with criminals in large cities trying to bill for things like expensive wheelchairs and getting millions back. Even Eric Holder admitted that. Please READ MORE.
@@Prororo sure it would. a population better able to meet their basic needs is going to be able to put more into their work and their communities, which profits everyone.
We certainly have socialism in the US... for the ultra wealthy and mega corporations, for everyone else, it's cold hard austerity and bootstraping. We need a society that functions and works for everyone.
Comrade...that's the only kind of "socialism" you're going to get...but you will only find that out after you've given them absolute power over you. This naive "pie in the sky" socialism has never existed and will never exist...but you're told that it will succeed in the future....but that future never comes, as the people of the Soviet Union found out when they had seventy plus years of abject misery. Don't listen to this idiot Reich...his professors were the communists that escaped from Hitler and were granted professorships by America's communists in IVY League universities...that's where his empty head was poisoned against his own country...and Hillary Clinton was a classmate.
@@theholyone6corporatism doesn't have to be capitalist. A corporatist state is actually the basis for fascism, and communism has also historically benefited from social corporatism. So "rich socialism" isn't really that far fetched.
@@OtherDAS----Whoever taught you that is lying to you, and they should be ashamed of spreading that tripe. That being said, we DEFINITELY need to make the rich pay more than they currently do. The GOP has been the mouthpiece of the ultra-rich for well over fifty years now, and all they do is lie about the percentage of taxes paid by the ultra-rich. There are literally tens of trillions of dollars in offshore banks right now doing nothing but gaining interest for the gangs of ultra-wealthy people that have no problem whatsoever taking our money. The government definitely does not waste nearly as much money as people think, either; they just lie to us about where it went. To even suggest that the top five percent is paying their fair share of taxes is laughable. If that top five percent of "Earners" would pay at the same rates the bottom fifty percent pays, we would have money falling out of the Treasury Building (figuratively speaking, of course). The only apparent reason the top five percent holds onto their money the way they do MUST be for some sort of bet amongst themselves, because hogging that much money while children are literally starving to death, veterans are being denied treatment, our infrastructure is crumbling, etc., etc. may be fine legally, but it is reprehensible morally. The top five percent letting their money sit in banks piling up interest are the same ones that are supposed to let that money "Trickle Down" to the rest of us. It never has and it never will until the government forces the issue. I think it's a shame when regular people defend that sort of hoarding among the ultra-wealthy, but hopefully people will stop thinking that much greed is a good thing. If you think making the top five percent pay what they should is socialism, communism, or anything -ism at all, then you need to stop doing so. The government has no problem raising taxes on us to give to the ultra-wealthy,, and they do so every time the Stock Market crashes. If they can do that to us for them, then they can do it for us against them. Arguing against that if you are not in the top five percent is foolish, as you are fighting against making your own life better at the expense of those that have already robbed you repeatedly, so I just don't understand it. Good luck to you.
I like the visual effect, Bob. What we have now is socialism for the rich and capitalism for the poor. 'From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs.' All things in common!
I’ve been talking about this for years. To give an example the fire department is a form of socialism, and it used to be privatized until such time someone’s house was burning down and it took half the city down with it. With healthcare it should be socialized as well, but people look at it like if I’m healthy then I don’t want to have to pay for someone else’s health insurance which is pretty screwed if you ask me
get into a conversation with them and ask them what they ACTUALLY know about insurance. the chances are LITERALLY NOTHING. it should be a basic class in school. if they bang on about the IDEA of insurance being a "socialist concept" then they do LITERALLY KNOW NOTHING about it, as the VERY FIRST 101 Introduction to Insurance Lesson, day ONE, FIRST HOUR will be about WHO invented it and WHY... and that, my friends, was the LITERAL OPPOSITE of socialists.
You know you have become rich in America when you have a team of attorneys that find you loop holes in your taxes and other financial matters. Very cool video, Robert. Very well explained.
That's not how you get rich. First you get rich, then you get a team of attorneys. But the thing you're concerned about has to do with government, not with rich people. People will do whatever they can to survive and get ahead. If government gives them ways to cheat, they will. Use your brain ffs.
@@williamlouie569 So if you win the lottery and the gov takes a huge chunk even though your winnings did not impact the environment in any way, we will hear you complaining.
Look at the DEBT CLOCK and see how much is already owed by each taxpayer - isn't it over $200,000? We're drowning in debt - and the rich are not that many. Watch "Eat the Rich" and see how few wealthy there are in comparison to the massive amounts of poor. And how little their money could fund the massive government - quit pretending your theory would work.
One important thing: The US still does a lot of bananaing, but so much of that is corporate subsidies going straight into billionaires’ pockets that the rest feels negligible
@@voland6846 The cost of the LCS ships that the Navy doesn't even want - and hasn't wanted since shortly after they started making them due to their being completely garbage, could cover the cost to end homelessness in the USA, or eradicate hunger completely. Just that ONE SINGLE military contract would have been enough. The politicians literally forced the navy to take 3 extra ships , at 500million each instead of 200million like they were first said to have cost, simply because stopping the program would lead to layoffs of a couple thousand people. A few thousand people's jobs cost the government 1.5 BILLION F*CKING DOLLARS. Don't get me wrong, losing the jobs would suck, but 1.5 billion spent on a few thousand jobs ????????
@@tubbysnowman no it's not. Military spending is not a socialist policy. It's a fundamental necessity and it's been a thing for a whole lot longer than socialism.
Why do you not pay enough taxes for the social programs they want we have a debt so big it defies belief because you won't pay enough taxes to pay for them our children will inherit a bankrupt shell of a nation because of it
Reich never tells you that the top five percent pay over half the federal taxes he never tells you that the top ten percent pay over seventy percent of the federal taxes he never tells you that the middle class draw more ss and medicare than they pay in taxes he never tells you that the rich pay almost all the federal taxes and get next to nothing in return he never tells you thst our debt is a staggering unbelievable 33 trillion dollars he never tells you that in nyc two percent of the cities residents pay over hslf the cities taxes
Socialism is not when the government does stuff. This pooling of resources for basic services, defense and police still serves and maintains Capitalism.
Look at the DEBT CLOCK and see how much is already owed by each taxpayer - isn't it over $200,000? We're drowning in debt - and the rich are not that many. Watch "Eat the Rich" and see how few wealthy there are in comparison to the massive amounts of poor. And how little their money could fund the massive government - quit pretending your theory would work.
Look at the DEBT CLOCK and see how much is already owed by each taxpayer - isn't it over $200,000? We're drowning in debt - and the rich are not that many. Watch "Eat the Rich" and see how few wealthy there are in comparison to the massive amounts of poor. And how little their money could fund the massive government - quit pretending your theory would work.
I don't see Canada. Regardless, this was wonderful! Robert Reich is the BEST! Billionaires & the uber wealthy NEED to pay up! It's sickening what they get away with & BOTH parties let them!
You have a gift for making your point clearly and with humor. I was more liberal as a teen. I grew increasingly more conservative as I aged, but started moving back toward the center in my 50's. I now call myself Moderate, though I'm pretty progressive on topics like gun control (I support the 2nd Amendment, but we can do a better job of keeping guns out of the hands of unstable people), universal health care, and even programs to protect the environment. It was the realization of the point you just made in this video - that we have all benefitted greatly by the social programs that our taxes have funded - that made me understand that there IS a place for a certain degree of "socialism," even in a democratic republic that emphasizes the rights of the individual.
EVERY penny you give to a starving family is a penny out of the needy maw of "Uncle Bob." If he keeps it, the family may die of starvation and make room for a more "deserving" family to exploit. FDR showed what happens when you do what's best for everyone. And Reagan showed what happens when greed rules. The decline of the USA began with Ronnie, and continues to this day..
Lies. Reagan set off an economic boom. After 4 years of Reagan he won 49 out of 50 states. Because his policies were better, the socialist policies you advocate for had high inflation and high unemployment. You can lie about History to those who didn't experience it, but I was there -- and you are full of it.
This is exactly what Bernie Sanders was going to incorporate more of in our government if elected president. Sadly, people heard the word “Socialism” and ran away frightened.
@@OtherDAS If you disagree that what the video is saying would help, I'm interested in hearing a couple of sentences about what you believe is the better alternative.
@@omarfernandez5733 Free Markets are a better alternative. The govt responds to different incentives, and has a way if ignoring the proper price because cost is borne by someone else. This wastes resources -- because you can't tell if you are doing so for a loss or a profit. Govt should stick to protecting Rights, not trying to achieve "cosmic justice" or arrogantly assume they can better place resources than the Free Market and Entrepreneurs who have skin in the game.
This is why we can't have nice things. The people who could pay for it, got that way, by being hypersensitive to taxation, and highly trained to look out for themselves above all.
Are you a sociopath for not paying enough taxes for the handouts Democrats want and sending our children a bankrupt shell of a nation don't you care about our children
I pay 38% of my income in taxes (minus deduction) in Denmark. It´s the most well spend money ever, because I know that even if I don´t get sick, break a leg, get unemployed and so on, my unfortunate neighbor won´t be left for dead if these things happen to him/her. Having that kind of security and free education for all, also makes it possible for more people to get good education, better jobs and that will make the whole country more capable in the end. It´s a win/win for all.
Why do you need govt taking money on your behalf? Why aren't you a good person who would look after their neighbor on their own? Because it's probably OTHERS paying for that and NOT YOU.
@@OtherDAS Ah, the "alms" argument. With just one problem: it doesn't work. But that doesn't matter to fundamentalists, doesn't it? As long as you can spout nonsense, you are all peachy.
@@AleaumeAnders Just pointing out your hypocrisy. And when Govt was smaller it did work better. Not spouting nonsense, just pointing out Free Markets work better and you are envious of other people's money.
@@OtherDAS ^^ you make so many assumptions about many posters, as well as proclaim "truths" without any base. You always assume people are envious... without anything to base this on, except your opinion. That's called projecting. Mind you, not everyone is a you are, so stop telling anyone they are green from envy as you are. Just because you are a greedy ..., the same must not neccessarily be true for everybody else.
@@AleaumeAnders == you make so many assumptions about many posters, ++ Based on their posts, and I do point to the "side" plenty as well, not the individual. == as well as proclaim "truths" without any base. ++ How much proof do you need to say the sky is Blue? Also, where is YOUR proof of this?? I at least copy paste my cross debater's words so you can see what I'm responding to. IN ADDITION: What is stated without evidence can be dismissed without evidence. (Hitchens's razor) == You always assume people are envious... without anything to base this on, except your opinion. ++ The other options are 1) They are actually Conservatives pulling of a convincing Troll. (if so well done) 2) They are Evil and want to steal others wealth for the lols. 3) They are incredibly stupid. And the post is more akin to monkeys on type writers than actual thought. I was being generous. == That's called projecting. Mind you, not everyone is a you are, so stop telling anyone they are green from envy as you are. ++ I'm not -- that's why I don't want someone else's money or labor. == Just because you are a greedy ..., the same must not neccessarily be true for everybody else. ++ You are Confused in your thinking. Wanting others to keep what they have produced is not Greedy. WANTING what others have produced is greedy and is from envy. I'm not a billionaire, but I'm fine with them keeping their wealth. THUS not greedy or Envious.
I think the point of the video is - what's being described by the left and the right isn't really socialism - especially in the US. Using tax payers money to benefit the less well off, or the disabled, or build roads or provide public services, isn't socialism. I've heard right-wingers describe high taxes as socialism, I've heard left wingers describe Universal Basic Income as socialism. Neither are. You could have the most generous tax payer funded job-seekers benefit, or the most generous tax payer funded health care service in the world, and it wouldn't really tell you much about whether you have a socialist economy, or a capitalist economy. And that's the point - socialism is an economic system, in response to capitalism. With the latter, the productive forces of the country, and the profits of those forces are held in private hands, the inverse is the case with socialism. Using tax payers money to provide services, says nothing about your economic system.
@BradCampbellmn why? You enjoy most of it right now? Roads, police, fire fighters, military personnel, bridges, clean water, clean food, public ed (I'm sure you're going to grasp at that one and make some profoundly ignorant statement about it),
Canadian health care paid for by taxes enabled my father to die with proper meds and care, instead of withering away of his cancer on our families own money. The system works, America, grow up and see the truth.
One of my favorite bumper stickers spotted years ago was something to the effect, "I long for the days when schools have as much funding as they need and the Air Force needs to have a bake sale to buy a new fighter jet".
I would go to an Air Force bake sale. They have so many people there that I am sure at least one of them can make some absolutely amazing rice krispie treats.
So you don't think the US needs a military - which is also one of the largest US educators and trainers - of the poor and middle classes. School teachers now have aids - so they don't have to go out in the cold for recess. They also have the summer off. How many other state employees get the summer off? Give me a break.
The following dialogue took place in the late 80's when, as a grad student, I was attempting to discuss national health care for all with a banana eating ConTard. ConTard:"My health insurance is too high!" Me:"How about national healthcare for all, like they have in Europe?" ConTard:"That's Socialism!" Me: "What is Socialism?" ConTard:"That's Communism!" Me:"What is Communism?" ConTard:"That's Socialism!"
The insurance is to high because of Govt regulation. the healthcare in Europe is worse in wait times, delivery, cutting edge and innovation. PLUS high taxes so you ALREADY paid the money -- with no choice of shopping around for a better plan.
@@OtherDAS Insurance is too high due to LACK of regulation. You have generalized over 20 countries' experiences into one fake statistical grouping. Cuba has better health care results than we do. Imagine what they get in Sweden.
@@OtherDAS My point was that this guy had no idea what Socialism is... do you? And it's not regulations driving up healthcare costs, but insurance companies colluding rather than competing. Combine this with bottom-feeding lawyers who make their money suing doctors and hospitals and HMOs who give no choice whatsoever in providers and so much for shopping around. But it's a great shitstem for the rich who can afford it. Healthcare should be a basic human right, not a commodity.
@@lysanamcmillan7972 == Insurance is too high due to LACK of regulation. ++ In correct. It is govt mandates to cover certain items that causes Insurance to go up. Price competition will lower prices for this much like anything else. In addition it is the Hospital bill that is too high, the Insurance company is just covering that part. Govt tends to have rues already in place on how much profit an Insurance company can make off a policy -- rules that make the price go higher in some cases. == You have generalized over 20 countries' experiences into one fake statistical grouping. ++ You mean like when your side groups every European country for Universal Healthcare? Also the experience of communists for healthcare is pretty general and universal (ad BAD) == Cuba has better health care results than we do. ++ No, they do not. the results of that broke poorly run country are clearly worse and it is DELUSONAL to think otherwise. You can say they have better health in some cases. BUT that is due to Lifestyle choices. Not a lot of problems from over eating in Cuba. Or Venezuela. Or the old Soviet Union. == Imagine what they get in Sweden. ++ I imagine that they exercise more, and do less drugs. BUT that when it comes to premature births the US does better. Or when it comes to developing new medicine they rely on US patents. Imagine if we had the terrible Dental of the UK!? Or the wait you get for cat scans in Canada!
@@BlankRegie == My point was that this guy had no idea what Socialism is... do you? ++ I do. Do you? Also I go by ACTUAL results of the system, not by the Fantasy theorized. == And it's not regulations driving up healthcare costs, but insurance companies colluding rather than competing. ++ That would be illegal -- if you have some evidence produce it and Govt will act. but it does not. It's Govt mandates for what MUST be included that drive costs up, among other things. == Combine this with bottom-feeding lawyers who make their money suing doctors and hospitals and ++ This would be GOVT again. Don't blame that on Free Markets. == HMOs who give no choice whatsoever in providers and so much for shopping around. ++ Then get a different HMO. You don't like the taste of Coke then go buy a Pepsi. If Pepsi isn't in your area then there isn't enough of a market for it. Govt soda is horrible. BUT in the Free market I now at the theater of fast food place have access to like 50+ flavors and combinations. You get more variety under Free Markets than Govt. Look at the VA if you want an example of "choice". == But it's a great shitstem for the rich who can afford it. ++ Most people CAN afford it. most people are Middle Class. sounds like you want something for FREE. == Healthcare should be a basic human right, ++ It is, but only in the Negative Claim sense. NOT the Positive Claim sense. No third party should be able to come in between you and a service you are getting. This is not the same as saying people are your slaves who should work to provide you with healthcare. == not a commodity. ++ But it is, and you get better results. Take FOOD. Free Market has poor people get Fat for the first time in history. Socialism had even upper middle class people check the harvest reports to see if food would be scarce. Mass starvation regularly occurs under TOW things. WAR disrupting things. OR Govt running things. Look into History would you.
This is just more prof that I was born in the wrong country. Unlike many conservatives I like Socialism. We need more democratic socialism in the US. Thank you.
FDR said: "The problem I have is that the socialists think I eat caviar for breakfast, while the capitalists think I eat beans for breakfast. In truth, I eat steak and eggs for breakfast just like average Americans do." He also said: "I believe in a system of free enterprise, where a man can go as far as his God given talents can take him. But not to the extent of making fodder out of large segments of the population." FDR was a centrist, who saved capitalism from itself and used government spending to pull the country out of a deep depression.
ua-cam.com/video/OK0KOimnZu0/v-deo.htmlsi=VzLx8W_1BSyJX097 No, he wasn't a centrist. He was actually Left of Bernie Sanders even. The centrist tag is more appropriate for Joe Biden. The real story behind what saved us after the Great Depression is highlighted in this video clip I provide, and the key groups behind him.
The White House cook during the Roosevelt administration was Henrietta Nesbitt, a friend of Eleanor's that she hired because she really needed a job. Trust me, no one was eating caviar under Mrs. Nesbitt. Her meals were "economical", which is a nice way of saying cheap and terrible. If someone sent a request to the kitchen and she didn't like it, she ignored it.
@PBFoote-mo2zr Unfortunately he caved in to Stalin. My country was enslaved by Stalin's hordes for >40 years thanks in part by Roosevelt agreeing to every demand by Stalin.
Uncle Bob doesn't realize he's making it easier for the rich to benefit from socialism. He's not actually against socialism, he's against the very notion of helping others.
@@youtubesucks1499 Actually, society will support all its members, and you _will_ be forced to contribute if you wish to draw any benefit from it at all 👍
@@chompythebeast No, I won't. I build houses. I will fake an injury and you get to support me. Lol. Enjoy working for crap pay. I will be fishing. You know my doctor said it's good for my health. You can't force me to do shit.
@@chompythebeast ps. I own 3 construction companies and employ 127 people. While I am fishing, I will shut down my businesses, put 127 people out of work and enjoy the outdoors while you are working for the betterment of society. Lol. You can't do shit. You think I will be the only one? Lmaoo. Plumbers, electricians, builders, concrete workers, and every other trades person over 40 will get ",hurt". Lol. Why would we work for the betterment of society? We are all going to be sucking of the government. You can support us. Have fun, hope the power doesn't go out. Oh, that's right.... you can negotiate with who is left to build your schools, hospitals, housing, and other structures. Lmao. Have fun.
Love the way you portrait Uncle Bob 😆 I'm from Norway btw and even though taxes are discussed here, we all know that without it our society would not be as good as today. And we do help people who looses their job, but it will always pay more to get another job. So saying that this just creates lazy people is not true. Benefits rarely gives you a good life. For that you need to work. Help is thus only temporarily.
I have been following your discussions re. "The Common Good." I get to spend 1 to 2 months in Europe (usually Central Europe of places once associated with the Hapsburg Empire ). We, in the US, are regressive and resistant to change. From the most rich to the most poor, we all seem to accept the arguments that work against our own self interests and the "common good."
Look at the DEBT CLOCK and see how much is already owed by each taxpayer - isn't it over $200,000? We're drowning in debt - and the rich are not that many. Watch "Eat the Rich" and see how few wealthy there are in comparison to the massive amounts of poor. And how little their money could fund the massive government - quit pretending your theory would work.
If the minimum wage had kept pace with inflation since the 60s, it would be three times what it is now - so no, a livable minimum wage and UBI wouldn't cause runaway inflation. A 200% increase in income is more than enough to cover a 5% tax hike. 55% of the world's food production is for industry, and a third of what's left gets bleached or left to rot, meaning less than a third gets eaten, while one in ten people goes hungry. If the world's food production were cut in half, there would still be more than enough food to end world hunger by giving it away for free. There are 27 unoccupied homes for every homeless person in the US - not for every homeless _family,_ for every homeless _person._ They could also be given away for free without a second thought - and unoccupied residences are expensive to maintain! There are four job openings for every three job seekers. Not everyone who doesn't have a job is actively seeking a job. Means testing does not prevent welfare fraud. If the same welfare benefits were freely available to everyone, there would be no method to defraud the system. Also it's means testing, not welfare, that creates dependency, since the cutoff threshold is less than a livable wage. Everything a right-wing politician has ever told you about economics is provably - and _obviously_ - not only false, but patently absurd. Capitalism is a mountain of lies.
Inflation is caused by one thing. Governments printing money. The problem with minimum wage isn't inflation. It is that it creates unemployment among the most vulnerable. In the US - the min wage is so low that it has no effect. If you want to see what happens when it is too high - see South Africa. Your food production analogy is nonsense. Food has a shelf life, and transportation costs. There are loads of empty homes available, and they are also available for sale at negligible cost, for example around Detroit. Nobody wants to live in them, and the typical homeless person does not have much 'get-up-and-go'. The problem with your assertions (and those on the left, generally) is that they are part of the utopian vision. i.e. the vision of the anointed. They describe a better, future world. However they do tend to ignore what happens when those visions are put into practise. It is important to try new things - we would be nowhere if we didn't. But it is easier to simply copy the good ideas from other countries, and avoid the bad ones.
@@tonycatman Your profit-maximizing supply-and-demand based model supplies exponentially more than could ever be distributed while going out of its way to deprive people of what they need to survive - which is why you have to blame the people you're murdering for you forcing them into starvation. I say this as someone who used to believe the lies. If the only reason people go hungry despite so much food being produced is an inability to distribute it before it spoils, explain the massive underground warehouse full of non-perishable surplus cheese, and the fact that surplus food gets bleached to prevent people from eating it. Where's the maximized profit in all that surplus going to waste?
@@notoriouswhitemoth"My" model doesn't go out of its way to deprive people, although I'm not sure you know what "my" model is. Empirical evidence is your friend. Please tell me how many people have starved to death under each system. You have the entirety of history, and 200 countries to choose from. And now I am murdering people ? You can probably understand why you are a risible figure - throwing accusations of that type around.
BU BU BUT that's not helpful to the people who never get sick, are never unemployed, never experience a crisis, and do everything perfectly in life without any luck! We must put their need to not pay taxes first!!!
This is the part that so many people miss: paying higher taxes is great as long as you get more back than you paid. Say that we created a universal health care system and your taxes went up $200/month -- that's great, because you no longer have to pay the $300/month insurance premium to your health care company. Likewise, if your taxes are slightly higher but you don't have to pay for college for your kids, that can still bring you out ahead. Higher taxes are not necessarily bad.
@@TheJohnbjunior better than not paying insurance and getting fucked with no cover it's worse in texas, most red states because they fuck over people for ''pre-existing conditions'' that only fly in their states and have no drive to provide quality care for anyone save the pathetically filthy rich, lobbyists and corpo rats
Lol yes that great. Esp once the government takes over healthcare and there's no more competition...... then everyone regardless of how hard you work gets the same shitty care And please believe once big daddy government runs out of evil rich people/businesses to tax, those taxes will increase. Socialist scream eat the rich BUT once their government is done eating the rich it turns on and eats you
As a diabetic.., it’s great to live in a nation with universal healthcare.., the peace of knowing that everyone in our community.. can get 24/7 emergency healthcare…, and I can still pay for $40 US a month private insurance… if I want ..
Look at the DEBT CLOCK and see how much is already owed by each taxpayer - isn't it over $200,000? We're drowning in debt - and the rich are not that many. Watch "Eat the Rich" and see how few wealthy there are in comparison to the massive amounts of poor. And how little their money could fund the massive government - quit pretending your theory would work.
That's what I hate most as a medical provider in the US is that insurance dictates medical treatment. If insurance won't pay for the procedure, doctors won't do it even if it would greatly benefit the pt. And what's worse is that many of the US doctors are incredibly complacent with this.
@@raider523-s9d Our system isn’t perfect.. far from it…, but absorbs most all the basic medical stuff the drags on a population/ nation…, Offers good power buying as well..👍
Look at the DEBT CLOCK and see how much is already owed by each taxpayer - isn't it over $200,000? We're drowning in debt - and the rich are not that many. Watch "Eat the Rich" and see how few wealthy there are in comparison to the massive amounts of poor. And how little their money could fund the massive government - quit pretending your theory would work.
Taxpayer money goes to nonsensical things like hundreds of billions of dollars in Medicaid and Medicare FRAUD every year! Our country is filled with criminals in large cities trying to bill for things like expensive wheelchairs and getting millions back. Even Eric Holder admitted that. Please READ MORE.
@@fullmetal1119 I worked for Medicaid and we had 3-4 bomb threats a month to our large building. Because you are working with ex-cons - not necessarily sweet little ladies. You are working with drug addicts who try to coerce doctors into prescribing "pain meds" when the doc knows they are dealing with an ex-con and that he isn't in pain according to their knowledge of him. Would you please give honesty a break? Both this man Robert the Ache and Bernie never worked taking complaints for Medicaid (medical for the poor) and most people have NO IDEA what that agency does or how dangerous it is even to work there. The receptionist on our floor was hard to talk to. She kept looking at the elevator door - that was her job as our protector. No signs in the elevators, no one allowed on upper floors without an appointment and someone to accompany them up to the offices. No one allowed to sit on the first floor for fear they woud be shot - that was the decision of management. It was like working in a prison.
Social mandate is the defined purpose OF the government as defined by the Constitution and the bill of rights. The Declaration of Independence states that Social Mandate was the intent of the government from the begining
I would like to push Social Security to the top of the list to start with. Using percentages to in lighten workers. What percentage of your pay is taken for Social Security. Then keep showing the percentage different super rich people pay. If I am paying 10% how is it possible that so and so can't afford .000001%?
Mr. Reich, you are so right! I’m always asking myself and others, why so many people are selfish,mean and soulless, but at the same time they pretend, they believe in God. Not willing to see your neighbor at least feed and having a place to live it is mean. People don’t care about other people and most of the time, about themselves in a dare situation. Many think that if they have a piece of bread today, they will always have it. Life is not like this and in our society we have no insurance for tomorrow. A society that guarantees your wellbeing is a society that respects you. And that is definitely something we need.
Canada has socialized medicine but won't take anyone even as a tourist is they have a DUI on their record. They recently CLOSED THE BORDER. Also, they have a very small nation of about 40 million compared to the US with 340 MILLION or more.
I grew up in a Democratic Socialist family, as a grandson of one of the Socialist mayors of Milwaukee, WI, so I know up close what real Socialists (not the fascists who drape themselves in the highfalutin' name, like the "national" variety) are like. At their finest, DS electees are a beacon of pragmatism and honest government. At their worst, they are pie-in-the-sky idealists. Frankly, we can all happily live with either, especially compared to what we have now. Bernie was a bit more of the latter, but he's a great influence; however, pragmatism drove me to vote for HRC back then, and will for Harris now. What's in a name? The uglier an organization or initiative is, the prettier the name they choose to cover it. The Peoples Democratic Republic of Korea (aka North Korea) is _none of the above._ Same for the oh-so-innocuous Project 2025. The "party of small government" is clearly seeking the smallest possible government: A dictatorship. A horrid truth hidden by a simple verbal trick.
Strange how "socialism" seems to be the scariest word some Americans can think of, while at the same time fascism and authoritarianism is rising from the very right wing politics they espouse.
Taxpayer money goes to nonsensical things like hundreds of billions of dollars in Medicaid and Medicare FRAUD every year! Our country is filled with criminals in large cities trying to bill for things like expensive wheelchairs and getting millions back. Even Eric Holder admitted that. Please remember this man is trying to make money off you! Robert is like Bernie - never worked for welfare and admits it. But claims to be an expert.
Why don't you try working for WELFARE. The first week of training is all about the FRAUD - and that was in a BLUE STATE. Bernie also loves massive welfare but his staff admits he never worked for Medicare or Medicaid and never took one complaint - those thousands and thousands of complaints are mostly taken by WOMEN.
@@tracesprite6078 If they like the parties that promote "caring capitalism" in those countries, they need to vote for the parties that are called socialists. The "socialists" that are so feared in the USA don't really exist in most places.
@@SipLeila HI SipLeila, Christianity is one of several religions that encourage people to care for one another. The Muslim, Buddhist and Hindu religions also encourage responsibility and love. In addition, many non-religious people also believe that caring is an important activity. Caring can enrich capitalism and make it more human.
I just want to say, your messaging and storytelling just continues to get better and better. We need more stuff like this to get people to stop and think
Hi Learned Moose, if you would like to know what it is like to live in a nation with caring capitalism, then I suggest you read The Nordic Theory of Everything. You can get it for free in PDF on the internet.
Leveraging our collective market/bargaining power (representative government) to secure better goods and services (social programs and infrastructure) while charging the largest consumers as much as the market will bear (tax the rich) is actually quite capitalistic when you think about it 🤔
There's a tricky bit to socialism which isn't obvious if you focus on government budgets. The question is something like "When there's a conflict between what's good for business (the individual) and what's good for society who should take precedence?". In the past this might have been settled with slogan like comments such as "What's good for General Motors is good for the United States" or some such but this palpably not true. It also doesn't touch on the problem of 'capture'. Anyway, the result of trying to have it both ways is that the mass of people get a smaller and smaller piece of the pie and then expend all their energies arguing about who's got the biggest crumb.
I pay $33 USD every 3 months for doctor check up and get prescription.., then my 9 different meds including insulin & trulicity injections are a total of $8 or 12? USD a month…, I can’t even fn remember…., but somehow the US can’t afford this.. I say bollock
Look at the DEBT CLOCK and see how much is already owed by each taxpayer - isn't it over $200,000? We're drowning in debt - and the rich are not that many. Watch "Eat the Rich" and see how few wealthy there are in comparison to the massive amounts of poor. And how little their money could fund the massive government - quit pretending your theory would work.
I have not ever understood what is so "evil" about socialism anyway. After all, Sweden, ,Finland, Denmark, and many other countries all practice democratic socialism. Their standard of living for all of their citizens leaves us far behind. We are more like Mexico than Canada if you look at our stats. But people have the "socialism" argument. It's the boogey man.
I've used this counterpoint often: "if you like using public roads and highways, you benefit from socialism. If you like that you can have your voter ballot mailed to you, you benefit from socialism. If you like having a functioning military, you benefit from socialism." Either the person starts asking intelligent questions about how that is socialism/how budgets are spent, or they shut up and look sheepish, or they go completely off the rails, red in the face and absolutely apoplectic that I'm calling them a socialist. I like the first group most, I like being able to have an intelligent conversation about prioritizing spending onto things that matter most to the country as opposed to things that benefit individuals (and indeed how often they're not at cross-purpose).
That's because Public roads and Highways are NOT Socialism... but also that Govt roads drive private roads out of business. Voter ballots mailed for most is WRONG and leads to corruption. Military is not Socialism either -- not everything Govt does is Socialism. Protecting people's right is what it is supposed to do. They get mad because you are being an insufferable ass.
Nobody will argue that we are a compassionate people. Helping others is what most of us want to do. However, who decides who gets what and how much and who is to pay. And that is the real issue when we adopt a socialist mind frame. In the words of Milton Friedman, “just who are these angels that decide”. The countries that stray from free market capitalism are where you find the masses are the worst off. Their drive for equality has made everyone poor. Not a perfect solution but with the nature of mankind, capitalism is the best way we know to raise the poor out of poverty.
Socialism is a nice theory, but unfortunately it's not the only ingredient in a political system. The combination of socialism and corruption is very common. That is what make it very ugly. Like bananas and DDT.
We need a Monarchy. "Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matthew 3:2, KJV). Even so, come, Lord Jesus! Establish the Kingdom of Peace in Jerusalem (Isaiah 9:7, KJV)!
My elderly parents were in a car crash a year ago. Mother had 3 broken ribs, and spent 1 month in hospital. My father spent 2 months in hospital, 11 broken ribs, bilateral pelvic fractures, and a small puncture in his lung.
The hospital bill came to: you might want to sit down for this...
$45 each, the costs of the ambulance rides. Plus the annual provincial healthcare tax that maxes out at $900 per person.
Did I mention, we live in Canada?? Yeah, those filthy Socialists up North, eh...
Yes, we Americans have no idea how it could be. My father fell while on vacation in France. We were on a house boat on a river and stopped at a small camp ground for medical help, this was on a Sunday. The hospital in the nearest city SENT A DOCTOR TO THE CAMPGROUND to examine my dad. She said he had broken ribs and drove dad to a nearby small town, to a pharmacy. She got the pharmacist to open his store, she took dad to the back to an exam table, wrapped his chest and got him medicine for the pain. The hospital arranged free transportation the next morning, Monday, for chest x-rays. EVERYTHING WAS FREE. In America you'd have to be a multi millionaire with an expensive contract for "concierge" doctor services, in order to receive the same level of service that everyone in France receives. We were on vacation, dad is NOT a French citizen, we aren't rich or special. Americans cannot imagine how good it could be, until you see it with your own eyes.
I Am a USA Citizen for 65 years... Thank You for that!!! Im Jealous!!!
How many Gun Related Deaths in Your Beautiful Country this Year???
5?..... Its a War Zone South of your Border!!!
I have never understood why America refuses to learn from other nations.
I too am a Canadian. In my opinion the greatest benefit of universal health care is peace of mind. If I or a loved one needs medical care, there is no compounding worry about potential financial ruin, no battles with insurance companies.
Look at the DEBT CLOCK and see how much is already owed by each taxpayer - isn't it over $200,000? We're drowning in debt - and the rich are not that many. Watch "Eat the Rich" and see how few wealthy there are in comparison to the massive amounts of poor.
And how little their money could fund the massive government - quit pretending your theory would work.
My extremely conservative parents were against government spending to help the needy, until the hurricane dropped a tree on their house, then they happily took that FEMA grant money to repair the roof. (They also hate the idea of Socialized Medicine, while acknowledging that they like their Medicare health plan).
"keep yer gummint hands off my Medicare!"
Frustrating
@@helenpellegrino7759Yes it is frustrating. When I asked Dad about socialized healthcare he said "We can't afford it"! I shook my head thinking "We can't afford NOT to do it".
You're proving my point. Conservatives don't want socialism but they're the first ones with their hands out when a natural disaster happens and they lose their house.
EXACKERY! Ignorance is bliss.
Thank you Mr. Reich. I learned that from school, reading, and my mom. But, it was just a few years ago that I met a man who thought our President had complete power. This is also why i have been concerned about students who were never taught about the constitution or the Bill of Rights- including my own children- that i just found out a few years ago. They are 33 and 34 now. The money being pulled out of education makes me wonder if they just want the working class to be drones.
No, they want them to be uneducated. The uneducated are much more easily controlled.
They've ALWAYS just wanted the working class to be drones. Look into the history of public education.
Bingo!
They want you just smart enough to run the machines, but dumb enough to not ask questions
-George Carlin.
The rich were overtaxed in France and so they left FRANCE. Quit being so naive. No one owes YOU their wealth.
And the government WASTES money! I worked for the government - and I don't worship bureaucrats. YOU should not, either. The unions want more and more for their bureaucrats.
Lovely vid, Robert. I live in Wales in the UK. My dad worked in the local coal mine and was a socialist. when I was a young kid, I asked him what "socialism" meant. He explained that it was just people working together, helping each other to live better, healthier lives and fighting against the exploitation of workers by the rich. Seemed like a good idea to me. I'm 74 years old now and have been (and will be) a socialist all my life. It's really not scary at all🙂
Socialism for the lower class sounds great but it's a scam by the rich to enslave us willingly. The dude who is most well known for the theory was Karl Marx. He was from a rich family lol. His idea was that too many of us are too stupid to lead our own lives forward so a central power must control our lives by force. Modern socialism forces the people through slow indoctrination and policies that make us thing we are doing something good. Why do you think science is declining sharply? The number of malpractice and modern medicine related deaths increased every year, especially after the whole COVID bullshit. You need to stop getting horny over sound goods and actually read and see why the solution is not any centralized system. Centralized powers 100% of the time fail because they corrupt. Always.
Well that’s a nice definition, but not remotely what socialism means in any historical sense. That’s the problem, every man and his dog has their own personal definition, which makes it meaningless at this point.
@@pwimbledonThe historical socialism you are referring to was never socialism. They were socialism in the same way China is a democratic republic.
@@beech5950 nonsense. I wasn’t referring to a particular country, I was referring to the definition. Socialism has always concerned the productive power of a country, and where the ownership of that power sits. “Working together” and having “healthier lives”, is vague platitudinal waffle. There have been plenty of countries throughout the last 100 years or so who have implemented socialist policies, where large swathes of their economies and the productive power of their work force was taken out of private hands.
Lol yea seemed to have worked well for Britain 💀
Somehow, Americans never learned the difference between Socialism, Communism, and Stalinism. They seem to think that the minute a national health system is established, the Secret Police would start rounding up people on the streets and sending them to Siberia.
Or maybe they just don't want government programs to benefit Hispanics and Blacks?
meanwhile the police starts rounding people up and sends them to prison in their "capitalist utopia"
but hey it wouldnt happen to them right? only to those bad people...
No, that's crazy! That only comes once you go a little further down the road, and you've agreed to give a small number of elites absolute power over your life and death...because that's how to fight climate change! You do want to save the planet right? Well then...be a good person , and be first into the "box car" that will take you to that "better future".
I think the comments section is evidence of that. The point of the video is that collecting tax for public services isn't socialism. Most people in the comments sections seemed to have missed that point entirely. The Right and the Left are misusing the term in equal measure.
Can't see other replies, so someone may have mentioned this already:
I don't think Stalin would have been so ruthless if the west wasn't so aggressive, there were a number of outside threats he needed to prepare for. Various western countries sent support to the White army during the civil war, and Fascism was on the rise in Germany and Italy, all major threats to a Socialist state. His reaction was a tighter security force and a focus on Heavy industry (think Steel, concrete, Tanks, Fighter Planes, etc...), which unfortunately came at the expense of the workers (although it was better than being a peasant farmer). Whether or not you agree with that strategy is a different story, and maybe with hindsight we can do better.
The important thing is we try to understand why Stalin took that path, rather than just sweep him and all his ideas under the rug and call him evil, maybe with hindsight we can take a different, more peaceful path.
In the U.S., it's bananas for the rich, and rugged individualism for the rest of us.
BOOTSTRAPS!!! LoL
Look at the DEBT CLOCK and see how much is already owed by each taxpayer - isn't it over $200,000? We're drowning in debt - and the rich are not that many. Watch "Eat the Rich" and see how few wealthy there are in comparison to the massive amounts of poor.
And how little their money could fund the massive government - quit pretending your theory would work.
@@stevechance150just keep voting for democrats so they can print more money to give to their corporate donors.
Haha nice, better than I was gonna say it
It's time to upend the Tyranny of the Bourgeoisie and chew bananas, and I'm all out of bananas
For the rich, it’s bananas for their ice-cream sundaes.
"We all do better when we all do better." Paul Wellstone
Thank you Robert Reich for your dedication to educating all of us!
@SipLeila
People, Mayor Adams is already screaming about the fact that they are spending more than they are taking in. And that is just one city.
As a country, we are spending $1.6 TRILLION more than we are taking in.
Robert is taking in UA-cam income ......and if he was spending more than he is taking in, he would stop producing these videos.
Robert Reich worked for Medicaid (welfare medical for the poor)? Bernie never did.
It is filled with fraud and unhappy people. There is never enough money.
Try working there and you will see for yourself.
A rising tide raises all ships.
And Humphrey is missed in this state too :(
"People die when they are killed" energy
Here's my story about the ridiculous US healthcare system. We were on vacation in the US, renting an air BNB. My daughter was only year old and fell and cut her face on a metal coffee table. It was not a big cut, but deep, so I figured probably needed a couple stitches. In Canada of course we'd take her to at least have it looked at. Anyway we went to the local hospital and saw the doctor for about 8 minutes while he superglued the cut. They charged my insurance company $750USD for that procedure! One a homeless guy would've done for a big Mac and fries.
The US system is insane. And despite the horrible healthcare system, you're gun crime is off the charts. Highest US mortality among kids now is due to gun violence. Amazing!
That's Socialism for you.
Your comment deserves more likes. It is insane how we treat each other here in the USA.
@@davidlafleche1142 Yeah, Canadian socialism. It's great.
The more the Government "helps", the worse it gets.
@@davidlafleche1142 That's a very stupid ignorant statement, but that's a conservative for you. Most conservatives are that way because they're ignorant and stupid. "Not all conservatives are stupid, but stupid people usually are conservative." (John Stuart Mill, you'd get a clue if you Google).
Also all Trumpanzees are worthless filth. Now you know.
Elon & Bezos (along with countless others) sure like their Corporate Socialism... Bailouts, free warehouses and manufacturing facilities...
Apple spends more on avoiding tax than the amount they actually pay in taxes. (a bit hyperbolic, but still ridiculous)
Look at the DEBT CLOCK and see how much is already owed by each taxpayer - isn't it over $200,000? We're drowning in debt - and the rich are not that many. Watch "Eat the Rich" and see how few wealthy there are in comparison to the massive amounts of poor.
And how little their money could fund the massive government - quit pretending your theory would work.
Apple hires people who in turn pay taxes. Geez. Get over this socialism dream.
Now that's bananas!!!
You got it all wrong. Trump is the one we need to go after.
@@jjohur Trump is a red herring. He's not even a billionaire.
Robert Reich is one of my favorite people on earth. Wish he had run for president years ago!
Me too. Id vote for him
The rich were overtaxed in France and so they left FRANCE. Quit being so naive. No one owes YOU their wealth.
And the government WASTES money! I worked for the government - and I don't worship bureaucrats. YOU should not, either. The unions want more and more for their bureaucrats.
I'd vote for him NOW!
Look at the DEBT CLOCK and see how much is already owed by each taxpayer - isn't it over $200,000? We're drowning in debt - and the rich are not that many. Watch "Eat the Rich" and see how few wealthy there are in comparison to the massive amounts of poor.
And how little their money could fund the massive government - quit pretending your theory would work.
@@annettejohnson7790 NO! France already tried overtaxing the wealthy and they just left France, making the whole country poorer! THINK! The wealthy are needed - they invent products and build nice communities. But, also there aren't very many and they contribute by spending which gives poorer people jobs.
Robert is very naive.
I’m a working class guy who would happily pay more in “bananas” if it meant that I didn’t have to worry about health care, or infrastructure falling apart around us, or how we could pay for my daughters ridiculously expensive secondary education, or my elderly parents care, or my neighbors preschooler getting his best start in life or any of the other myriad positive things the dreaded “socialism” could bring us!
I'm sure you are all for cradle to grave entitlements. Pass
Taxpayer money goes to nonsensical things like hundreds of billions of dollars in Medicaid and Medicare FRAUD every year! Our country is filled with criminals in large cities trying to bill for things like expensive wheelchairs and getting millions back.
Even Eric Holder admitted that.
Please READ MORE.
@@BradCampbellmn You’re probably the type of guy that complains if his road has potholes or the snow isn’t plowed off it fast enough, or if the rescue squad doesn’t come quick enough for your grandma, or complains about Medicaid not paying enough for her prescriptions, or wants FEMA to help your town after a big storm blows through…all the while bitching about paying taxes. Well, y’know what? Nothing is for free, and all those services (and many others) that you and all the others in your community make use of are funded (at least in part) by taxes. So, unless you’re an independently wealthy hermit that never leaves his off-the-grid property, and never has anyone from the “outside world” show up either, you’re talking out both sides of your mouth!
Blah, blah, blah with your Huff Post talking points. There is nothing wrong with taxes paying for essential services but the Dem party is all for cradle to grave entitltments and that is asinine. Keep voting for your socialist comrades bud but the problem is that you and your cohorts will run out of those people's money....LOL@@johns3106
Any government that has the power to give you anything has the power to take everything from you.
I don’t understand why people complain so much when the money goes to improving the lives of all of our society, but don’t say a word when billions go to subsidizing multi million and billion dollar corporations.
corpoganda
Lately, I've seen a lot more people meet the accusation of "That's Socialism!" with something along the lines of, "So, Socialism is a superior way of running the government? Thanks for letting me know!"
Thank you Mr. Reich. The rich and corporations need to pay their fair share in taxes.
The rich already pay nearly all the taxes
But what’s fair? Your fair might be different than my fair
@tedtimberson4262 lol, imagine trying to organize a successful boycott of monopolized industries. it is a sysophysian pointless task...this is a limitation of free markets and no amount of ayn rand propaganda will fix that, but government anti trust laws and regulations would...
@tedtimberson4262 But my neighbor wants the government to pay for everything and doesn’t produce anything I want
@@rickysphilosofy5984 we already have anti-trust laws
I remember a year when I was a teenager working at a restaurant and record store and I saw that I paid more in taxes that year than Microsoft. Microsoft!?! THAT IS INSANE.
Microsoft hires people. You didn't.
@@SipLeilaare you disingenuous, or are you a moron?
@@SipLeila You realize not everyone can be a business owner right? They still need to pay taxes. Microsoft should not be paying less taxes than a teenager working in a restaurant. They are a multi billion dollar company. Pay taxes like the rest of us, and if Microsoft can't, then they aren't as profitable or good of a business as you think.
If the American government doesn't pay you millions of dollars each year while you pay zero taxes (and this is without even considering any subsidies and/or government contracts) then you pay more taxes than a giant list of multibillion dollar corporations. If you pay zero taxes you pay more because they pay *negative* taxes. People point to things like day drinking, but in America getting government handouts is the biggest "trendy if you're rich, trashy if you're poor."
@@SipLeila If we should be expected to foot the bill of their operations and subsidize the wages they pay their employees then the company should be nationalized and they should be government employees. If we're paying for it, we should benefit from it. If they can afford to operate without handouts, great (they can, but they can also afford to bribe politicians for handouts which is even more profitable), if they can't, well, doesn't "the market say" then that they're too inefficient and should perish after all?
I am a retired geodetic surveyor and worked for the DOD for thirty years as a mission support contractor. One day in a meeting a government civilian manager was decrying the ruination of or country due to socialism. I got tired of his rant and right in front of everyone said “Dave, don’t you realize that the entire Department of Defense to include all branches of the military and all its corporate contractors are taxpayer funded for the greater good? That’s socialism! That includes your paycheck buddy!” That stopped him in his tracks, including all the other trump supporters in the meeting.
More socialism for the rest of the people instead of just the rich would be great
Sorry, best I can do is rugged individialistic capitalism for anyone outside the top 10%.
But also a great country creates a great society with great infrastructure and great institutions.
I think the biggest loss of the US has been a loss of confidence. Socialism requires a certain level of social confidence that we can actually make things better and a certain level of social responsibility towards the common good.
@@RapsCalorie 10%? Closer to 1% or even 0.1%. Ever physicians get paid salaries and so pay full taxes PLUS payroll taxes. Most of the ultrawealthy earn through investments and so are taxed at a FAR lower rate and no payroll taxes. Most people don't realize how wildly the system is tilted for the ultrawealthy.
@tedtimberson4262 I don't know. Unions are on the rise and gift societies have existed for a long time and to an extent still do.
@@RapsCalorieare you in the top 10 percent? Or just wishing
You're the only Uncle Bob we need!!
Thank you for all that you do, Mr. Reich
Look at the DEBT CLOCK and see how much is already owed by each taxpayer - isn't it over $200,000? We're drowning in debt - and the rich are not that many. Watch "Eat the Rich" and see how few wealthy there are in comparison to the massive amounts of poor.
And how little their money could fund the massive government - quit pretending your theory would work.
1980 I was in surgical rotation in nursing school. One day we were in the break room between surgeries when a male anesthesiologist said this to our mostly female class! "Women are good for 5 surgeries-episiotomy, C-section, cholecystectomy, mastectomy, hysterectomy." Unbelievably sick for profit healthcare.
Absolutely sick profiting from Healthcare. I guess nurses and doctors don't need to profit from their paycheck
@@censorship_cant_stop_truth2almost all the money you pay for healthcare doesn't go to the doctors or nurses or even the people that manufactured the medicine. It mostly goes to the stockholders of pharmaceutical companies and executives. And insurance of course.
Part of the reason there's a nurse shortage right now is that they don't get paid enough and a bunch of them died from covid.
@@censorship_cant_stop_truth2 blue collar healthcare employees aren't a problem
Once all costs and salaries are paid, why does a hospital need to make a profit?
Please don't say investment, because profit is what is left AFTER investments...
Holy cow. What social ignorance in someone who's supposedly educated!
I’m a socialist. In the U.K. America people don’t know what a socialist is. It’s funny that it frightens yanks😂. I love it. It doesn’t take much to wind up an American and they have no sense in humour.
Predatory capitalism is so mainstream in the US that Americans need to be taught and reminded about things other societies understood since the Industrial Revolution. Genuinely frightening and bloodchilling
It's not hard to see why, either. The Red Scares were full-on cultural revolutions. They were violent and repressive, purges in every sense of the word
Their legacy lingers to this day, and under neoliberalism, that legacy has been enshrined and become almost unquestioned by most. We must rise up against and in spite of that legacy, we must organize networks and community, and build tomorrow today
_(Sorry for the two-parter, automod isn't an ally)_
Savage Kapitalismo ! Indeed
They're going to teach by example if some of those laws on child labor some states are proposing actually go through.
"preadatory" you mean separated financially ignorant people from their money? Being stupid with your money doesn't make the people you gave it to predatory....you're just bad with your finances.
"We have the best government money can buy." Mark Twain
The rich were overtaxed in France and so they left FRANCE. Quit being so naive. No one owes YOU their wealth.
And the government WASTES money! I worked for the government - and I don't worship bureaucrats. YOU should not, either. The unions want more and more for their bureaucrats.
That was true since the inception of this country. The Constitution was written to benefit wealthy landowners and slaveowners, which is why it took a long time to end it with a civil war, and to protect their economic interests. Today we see that economic protection extended in the Global South as national security interests.
Look at the DEBT CLOCK and see how much is already owed by each taxpayer - isn't it over $200,000? We're drowning in debt - and the rich are not that many. Watch "Eat the Rich" and see how few wealthy there are in comparison to the massive amounts of poor.
And how little their money could fund the massive government - quit pretending your theory would work.
@@JohnT.4321It also has given new entrepreneurs unparalleled opportunity, and successful business benefits all of society
@@timothyjackson4653 It is still exploitation of the working class from the surplus value they create for the owners. Besides, these new start ups either fold up or get bought out over time. All I see in the US is homelessness, poverty, bankruptcies while the rich get richer. Sure, there has been improvements in the past but they are eroding away.
In his paper on taxation, physicist, philosopher and architect of cybernetics Heinz von Foerster wrote, "When A is better off, B is better off." In another paper he also recommended that we, "Act always so as to increase the number of choices." I think it's not bad advice these days.
Taxpayer money goes to nonsensical things like hundreds of billions of dollars in Medicaid and Medicare FRAUD every year! Our country is filled with criminals in large cities trying to bill for things like expensive wheelchairs and getting millions back.
Even Eric Holder admitted that.
Please READ MORE.
For health care insurance,bring back the "public option" for more choices. 😊👍
Eliminate the middle man!
@@knguyen6061
Exactly. If we had actual universal Healthcare our taxes might go up a bit, but it would definitely be less than what most people pay for insurance every month that literally decides whether you live or die by denying lifesaving treatment. And if you eliminate the insurance companies, you eliminate the middleman as you stated. That alone would save billions.
@@Washougalite1well, if in the US the military is payed with taxes, why not healthcare?
@@Jamhael1
I couldn't agree more.
Great job explaining this in the most basic language. Unfortunately after years of being indoctrinated many people, who refuse to investigate what words mean are willing to go against their best interests because of the fear of a word.
Oh stop it. I worked at Medicaid and the reality is much, much worse than you imagine.
No one's afraid of the word, ffs. That's just plain dumb. It's the policies that are scary af when you actually make an effort to understand the harm that they actually cause in practice. You know, like when you went homeless because of tight finances. You might just have made it through if only the government hadn't been taking from you more than a third of your earnings to favor other people.
I live in a country with public healthcare in europe. I, like everyone else, pay two minimum wages a year for it, despite the fact that I'm not needing it. By the time I need it, I've paid the bills many times over, and I'm still gonna have to pay for medicine and more. The hospital in my area was a smelly old decrepit scary place to be in. It was like that before I was born and up until I was in my 30s, when they finally built a proper new one. Thing is, that hospital wouldn't have lasted five years in the private market facing unhindered competition.
A friend of mine waited 7 months with broken ribs from a bike accident to get attended for surgery, and then they told him it was too late for surgery, it would have to heal the rest on its own. I've seen on the newspapers quite a few times over the years, reports of someone having died waiting. Sometimes there's also lack of stock, staff on strike, you often get rushed home out of the hospital asap to free up space, and many other things.
These, and many more, are all the kinds of things the dishonest or utterly ignorant socialist figure-heads never tell you about. They always paint a bright and shiny picture of it, like they're selling poison in a pink bottle with rainbows and ponys. Socialism is always in the name of the poor, but the poorest are always the ones getting f***ed by it the most.
The more the gov does for us, the more it has to take from us in taxes, the less we have left to invest in our living standards and economic growth, and thus the slower the economy gets. The more the government gives, the less we all have.
@@skaruts And the staff at Medicaid and other government run organizations are in UNIONS! Which means they won't work nights, weekends, holidays.....though the poor get sick all the time.
The private sector plans paid their employees MORE but those people were very energetic and also nice.
But what Robert Reich doesn't get is the sheer VOLUME of patients.
We had 360,000 on Medicaid and a handful of us answering the phones. LOL!
And at one point the medical cards were late because of a mistake OUR staff in another section made.
So, people were on hold for HOURS waiting for answers.
And there were thousands and thousands of complaints coming in because Medicaid did not cover everything. Only 100 diagnoses were covered.
A panel of doctors decided which diagnoses were covered. Very few exceptions were made.
And that was a Democrat-run state.
@@skaruts I love communism
@@chompythebeast you misspelled "tyranny", btw. :)
The über-rich need to step up and contribute their fair share. The hoarding of cash and assets is what's killing economies and threatening democracies.
The uber rich contribute by spending - more than their fair share.
They buy products and that money goes toward hiring people!
How much do the poor contribute - those in prisons and on welfare? I worked for welfare - the poor are a huge drain and so are federal employees and their hot benefits.
What about all the welfare queens - generations on welfare and contributing kids that don't even get good grades or know how to hold a job. Nurses see it.
You're blaming the wrong people. Look at the debt clock.
We're dying of debt that YOU OWE if you are a taxpayer.
Look at the DEBT CLOCK and see how much is already owed by each taxpayer - isn't it over $200,000? We're drowning in debt - and the rich are not that many. Watch "Eat the Rich" and see how few wealthy there are in comparison to the massive amounts of poor.
And how little their money could fund the massive government - quit pretending your theory would work.
Being so wealthy that you begin to subjugate "OUR" Elected Government, you may need some time in an orange jump suit to think about it !
@@SipLeila
>They buy products and that money goes toward hiring people!
This is total BS. They to do not SPEND when hiring people, unless they don't care about PROFIT they get from hired people.
Every act of employment under capitalism is robbery, the goods worker produced cost MORE than you worker get back as salary.
So, they DO NOT spend when they hire, they EARN when they hire.
I'm glad you made this video. This argument needs to be hammered on. FEMA is an expensive piece of Socialism. FEMA saves mostly the Red states that happen to be disaster prone regions to hurricanes and tornados.
FEMA isn't socialism. This is the problem - everyone is misusing the term - Left and Right, and everyone else in between.
Poppycock. What FEMA performs is totally pure Socialism...
If you lose everything, what does FEMA do?
FEMA provides medical care, gives shelter and gives direct money to the victims of disaster.
Then FEMA money finances the rebuilding of the areas effected. This includes restoring drinking water and electrical services, the rebuilding of the damaged infrastructure of the roads, airports, the dams. Often times in regions where disaster after disaster strikes over and again.
If FEMA is not Socialism, what is it???
I'm an Independent voter who doesn't care about Left and Right labels. I'm about Right and Wrong. I choose to view problems in a pragmatic and objective manner. If Socialism provides the best help of our society in whole, count me in. @@pwimbledon
The thing is we wouldn't even NEED to raise taxes IF 1. the rich actually pay their taxes and 2. we rethink what we're spending our tax dollars on.
We would still need to raise taxes on the rich considering the immense debt we have.
The problem is fox is guarding the henhouse. Government wants corporations at low tax rates, they are their donors
One of the things we could do is stop bailing out big corporations so that they can buy back their stocks and make themselves richer without increasing production or improving their company. It is amazing that no one questions that, but when it comes to bailing out the citizens of this country who are suffering, all sorts of arguments come up to prevent Congress from doing anything.
This may be odd, but maybe we can do both a wealth tax, and a land tax. We can tax the wealthy 1% on their incomes, but not everyone else's. We can tax everyone, including the wealthy based on their land. Only their land, if they take care of it, that's a low tax, if they do not care for the land, that's gonna be a high tax. Then all of the extremely wealthy cannot own all the land. The land tax is an idea by Henry George, amazing guy.
@@AnnoyingAllie3 Income tax for the wealthy is an iffy thing. Consider that the wealthy may have considerable assets, but little actual income. They can borrow against their assets without ever liquidating them, but make them grow by using the money they borrow. Next time they can borrow more money and still not pay taxes. Elizabeth Warren’s wealth tax took this into consideration. Land taxes are also problematic, someone may own a lot of land, but be dirt poor. If the assessment of the land goes up, they cannot afford to own the property and would have to see the family farm just to pay the taxes. In my case, I bought property in 1973 for $39,300. Now, 50 years later, the property is worth over $500,000. If California hadn’t passed Prop 13 years ago, I wouldn’t be able to keep it now that I have retired. All of my retirement would be going to property taxes.
I 3:26 met a guy in Germany in 1992 who was studying in University. He was in year 3 of a 6-year program. The German government paid for his schooling, his flat and his food so he had nothing to worry about except concentrating on his studies. He told me when he graduates and gets a job all of those benefits he received will begin to be paid back in the form of government taxes. And that's what lets other people receive the benefit of higher education. This is what Republicans don't understand in this country. When all receive, all benefit
"I hate socialism and big govt spending. Just dont touch my Social Security, VA benefits, and Medicare!"
Then do NOT use public roads hospitals parks piers & any other social benefits socialism provide
& don't collect your Social Security check because that's socialism
Your ignorance is hilarious
Exactly!!! Ask the elderly, "Are you satisfied with your Medicare provided health coverage". They'll tell you "Yes". I know this because I asked my parents.
The rich were overtaxed in France and so they left FRANCE. Quit being so naive. No one owes YOU their wealth.
And the government WASTES money! I worked for the government - and I don't worship bureaucrats. YOU should not, either. The unions want more and more for their bureaucrats.
Described my parents in a nutshell. Dad is a flaming big “C” conservative who hates government spending, unless it’s stuff that he uses.
Look at the DEBT CLOCK and see how much is already owed by each taxpayer - isn't it over $200,000? We're drowning in debt - and the rich are not that many. Watch "Eat the Rich" and see how few wealthy there are in comparison to the massive amounts of poor.
And how little their money could fund the massive government - quit pretending your theory would work.
Bob, your team does an amazing job helping these videos come together. I just want to take a second and thank them too
Taxpayer money goes to nonsensical things like hundreds of billions of dollars in Medicaid and Medicare FRAUD every year! Our country is filled with criminals in large cities trying to bill for things like expensive wheelchairs and getting millions back.
Even Eric Holder admitted that.
Please READ MORE.
They do.
People, Mayor Adams is already screaming about the fact that they are spending more than they are taking in. And that is just one city.
As a country, we are spending $1.6 TRILLION more than we are taking in.
Robert is taking in UA-cam income ......and if he was spending more than he is taking in, he would stop producing these videos.
@@SipLeilaIf the rich would just pay their share for once, this wouldn't be an issue! Elon Musk paid 3% of his income in taxes last year while the average citizens paid nearly 33%! Elon Musk got a 10k$ tax credit for his daughter's college while even the poorest in this country still can't even get a single dolar tax credit for college or even one penny forgiven! The number one problem is the rich not paying their share! 😉
@@TXEROXT OH, GIVE IT UP. DO THE POOR PAY BACK FOR THEIR PRISON SENTENCES? NO. DO THEY PAY BACK WHAT THEY GET IN FOOD STAMPS? NO. DO THEY CONTINUALLY WHINE WHILE SOCIAL WORKERS HAVE TO WORK AT LOW PAY? YES. WORK. THERE ARE FEWER WORKING THAN WERE WORKING IN 2009. LOOK AT THE DEBT CLOCK. THE FACTS ARE THERE. THE PEOPLE IN THE WORK FORCE IS LOWER!
ELON MUSK?
SO WHAT - YOU ARE JUST CHERRY PICKING. YOU DON'T KNOW ELON MUSK'S TOTAL TAX BURDEN OR JOBS HE MAY PROVIDE. THE WORKERS PAY THE TAXES AND ELON IS ULTIMATELY THE ONE TAKING BUSINESS RISKS. IF BEING IN BUSINESS IS SO LUCRATIVE, WHY AREN'T YOU TAKING OUT A BUSINESS LOAN?
ALSO, THAT IS A HUGE LIE ABOUT COLLEGE EXPENSES SINCE STUDENTS CAN GET PELL GRANTS THEY NEVER HAVE TO PAY BACK.
Thanks Bob for your educated approach to clarify what is going on.
The rich were overtaxed in France and so they left FRANCE. Quit being so naive. No one owes YOU their wealth.
And the government WASTES money! I worked for the government - and I don't worship bureaucrats. YOU should not, either. The unions want more and more for their bureaucrats.
Look at the DEBT CLOCK and see how much is already owed by each taxpayer - isn't it over $200,000? We're drowning in debt - and the rich are not that many. Watch "Eat the Rich" and see how few wealthy there are in comparison to the massive amounts of poor.
And how little their money could fund the massive government - quit pretending your theory would work.
If it were truly educated he would be willing to engage in a counter argument that points out the many shortcomings of Socialism
@@timothyjackson4653Who says he's not?
Besides, the topic is BANANAS, not SOCIALISM.
;-)
@@timothyjackson4653 Socialists have read hundreds or thousands of pages and have had those conversations hundreds or thousands of times, that's precisely why they're trying to build socialism. We can have it every now and then with people who need to hear it, but if the goal is simply to demand debate in order to stump against working class power in every single interaction, that's not really a debate or an argument, it is a distraction, a deliberate attempt to make sure nothing is achieved
I used to live in the US in my twenties and love the Country. My family still lives in Florida. I keep a very close watch on American Politics. Now I am 67 and live in Germany since 1986.
Here we have free universal Healthcare and don't have to pay for medication if you have a doctors prescription. All you pay is 5 Euros prescription charge and if you are retired you pay nothing at all. We have been thinking of moving back to Florida to be with the family, but that whould cost us 1500 Dollar each per month, just for Health Insurance alone. That would take almost all of our monthly retirement pay.
We also have Free education, depending on your age 6 - 8 weeks fully payed vecation, 1 month extra salary as vacationmoney when you take your holidays and another 1 month extra salary as season pay for xmas. Just to name a few advantages of a social market economy.
I will never understand anybody voting for Republicans who in all my years paying attention to American Politics have boycotted any attempt of the Democrats to make life better for all. Obama wanted to implement a really good healthcare System for all americans - got boycotted by the Republican Party- the outcome was a much lesser healthcare. The list goes on and on. Whenever America is about to move ahead to a better and brighter future for the entire nation - Republicans put a STOP to it. It's no wonder America never really solved all it's many problems like racism, gun violence, aso.
As long as there is a Republican Party having any say in the country there will never be any real changes for the better. America could be sooooo strong and the most beautiful place to live, if they would finally start seeing each other as 1 People and 1 Nation and 1 common goal -
namely a better life for all.
The "social market economy" is the socially anchored law for the industrial economy, according to which the achievements of free and able individuals are integrated into a system that produces the highest level of economic benefit and social justice for all.
Social market economy - Wikipedia
en.m.wikipedia.org › wiki › Social_mark...
we could also increase the quality of life here in the u.s. without raising taxes by spending maybe a fraction of the nearly $1 trillion we spend on the military on other programs that help the working classes.
The left just wants more taxes they don't care how it's spent.
Taxpayer money goes to nonsensical things like hundreds of billions of dollars in Medicaid and Medicare FRAUD every year! Our country is filled with criminals in large cities trying to bill for things like expensive wheelchairs and getting millions back.
Even Eric Holder admitted that.
Please READ MORE.
but it won't be profitable
@@Prororo sure it would. a population better able to meet their basic needs is going to be able to put more into their work and their communities, which profits everyone.
Our military defends the western world. Without it, a power vacuum develops, which countries like Russia and China are happy to fill.
We certainly have socialism in the US... for the ultra wealthy and mega corporations, for everyone else, it's cold hard austerity and bootstraping. We need a society that functions and works for everyone.
Comrade...that's the only kind of "socialism" you're going to get...but you will only find that out after you've given them absolute power over you. This naive "pie in the sky" socialism has never existed and will never exist...but you're told that it will succeed in the future....but that future never comes, as the people of the Soviet Union found out when they had seventy plus years of abject misery. Don't listen to this idiot Reich...his professors were the communists that escaped from Hitler and were granted professorships by America's communists in IVY League universities...that's where his empty head was poisoned against his own country...and Hillary Clinton was a classmate.
ah yes, socialism, for the rich.
It's not socialism though, that's just capitalism. In a hyper capitalist state, the state itself works directly for capital.
@@theholyone6China.
@@theholyone6corporatism doesn't have to be capitalist. A corporatist state is actually the basis for fascism, and communism has also historically benefited from social corporatism. So "rich socialism" isn't really that far fetched.
The rich and the big corporations must start paying their fair share of taxes! Enough is enough!!!
They ALREADY pay MORE than the fair share. Govt just wastes the money more efficiently. Get a clue.
The replyer above me chokes on the boot daily
@@OtherDAS----Whoever taught you that is lying to you, and they should be ashamed of spreading that tripe. That being said, we DEFINITELY need to make the rich pay more than they currently do. The GOP has been the mouthpiece of the ultra-rich for well over fifty years now, and all they do is lie about the percentage of taxes paid by the ultra-rich. There are literally tens of trillions of dollars in offshore banks right now doing nothing but gaining interest for the gangs of ultra-wealthy people that have no problem whatsoever taking our money.
The government definitely does not waste nearly as much money as people think, either; they just lie to us about where it went. To even suggest that the top five percent is paying their fair share of taxes is laughable. If that top five percent of "Earners" would pay at the same rates the bottom fifty percent pays, we would have money falling out of the Treasury Building (figuratively speaking, of course).
The only apparent reason the top five percent holds onto their money the way they do MUST be for some sort of bet amongst themselves, because hogging that much money while children are literally starving to death, veterans are being denied treatment, our infrastructure is crumbling, etc., etc. may be fine legally, but it is reprehensible morally.
The top five percent letting their money sit in banks piling up interest are the same ones that are supposed to let that money "Trickle Down" to the rest of us. It never has and it never will until the government forces the issue. I think it's a shame when regular people defend that sort of hoarding among the ultra-wealthy, but hopefully people will stop thinking that much greed is a good thing.
If you think making the top five percent pay what they should is socialism, communism, or anything -ism at all, then you need to stop doing so. The government has no problem raising taxes on us to give to the ultra-wealthy,, and they do so every time the Stock Market crashes. If they can do that to us for them, then they can do it for us against them. Arguing against that if you are not in the top five percent is foolish, as you are fighting against making your own life better at the expense of those that have already robbed you repeatedly, so I just don't understand it. Good luck to you.
@@OtherDAS Another comment said that they, as a restaurant worker, paid more taxes than microsoft. How is that a fair share?
@@EchoTheGayOne The comment is clearly wrong. Did you stop to think at all before posting that?
I like the visual effect, Bob. What we have now is socialism for the rich and capitalism for the poor. 'From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs.' All things in common!
1940-1980 Median wage growth rose 260%.
1981-2020 Median wage growth rose 5.4%.
I’ve been talking about this for years. To give an example the fire department is a form of socialism, and it used to be privatized until such time someone’s house was burning down and it took half the city down with it. With healthcare it should be socialized as well, but people look at it like if I’m healthy then I don’t want to have to pay for someone else’s health insurance which is pretty screwed if you ask me
get into a conversation with them and ask them what they ACTUALLY know about insurance. the chances are LITERALLY NOTHING. it should be a basic class in school. if they bang on about the IDEA of insurance being a "socialist concept" then they do LITERALLY KNOW NOTHING about it, as the VERY FIRST 101 Introduction to Insurance Lesson, day ONE, FIRST HOUR will be about WHO invented it and WHY... and that, my friends, was the LITERAL OPPOSITE of socialists.
You know you have become rich in America when you have a team of attorneys that find you loop holes in your taxes and other financial matters. Very cool video, Robert. Very well explained.
Right. I worked for corporate attorneys for 25 years. It's all about tax loopholes.
THEN WHY DON'T THE DEMOCRATS CLOSE THOSE LOOPHOLES? BECAUSE THEY ARE ALSO RICH. GET A CLUE.
That's not how you get rich. First you get rich, then you get a team of attorneys. But the thing you're concerned about has to do with government, not with rich people. People will do whatever they can to survive and get ahead. If government gives them ways to cheat, they will.
Use your brain ffs.
The rich don't look for loop holes they create them!
@@williamlouie569 So if you win the lottery and the gov takes a huge chunk even though your winnings did not impact the environment in any way, we will hear you complaining.
Very nice, Mr. Reich! I enjoyed your presentation.
Look at the DEBT CLOCK and see how much is already owed by each taxpayer - isn't it over $200,000? We're drowning in debt - and the rich are not that many. Watch "Eat the Rich" and see how few wealthy there are in comparison to the massive amounts of poor.
And how little their money could fund the massive government - quit pretending your theory would work.
One important thing: The US still does a lot of bananaing, but so much of that is corporate subsidies going straight into billionaires’ pockets that the rest feels negligible
And also the vast, _obscene_ military spending
@@voland6846 The cost of the LCS ships that the Navy doesn't even want - and hasn't wanted since shortly after they started making them due to their being completely garbage, could cover the cost to end homelessness in the USA, or eradicate hunger completely. Just that ONE SINGLE military contract would have been enough. The politicians literally forced the navy to take 3 extra ships , at 500million each instead of 200million like they were first said to have cost, simply because stopping the program would lead to layoffs of a couple thousand people. A few thousand people's jobs cost the government 1.5 BILLION F*CKING DOLLARS. Don't get me wrong, losing the jobs would suck, but 1.5 billion spent on a few thousand jobs ????????
@@voland6846 and don't forget that the military spending is ALL bananaing!
@@tubbysnowman no it's not. Military spending is not a socialist policy. It's a fundamental necessity and it's been a thing for a whole lot longer than socialism.
Name some of the subsidys you speak of you are aware that the rich pay almost all the federal taxes stop believing in democrat lies
Education is what Americans especially need more of. Thanks for the video.
What you get from this video is not true he lies by withholding information from you I can name maney examples
@@fritzforsthoefel8031 I'm sure there are much better uses of your time than copy-pasting this comment across multiple videos
Why do you not pay enough taxes for the social programs they want we have a debt so big it defies belief because you won't pay enough taxes to pay for them our children will inherit a bankrupt shell of a nation because of it
Reich never tells you that the top five percent pay over half the federal taxes he never tells you that the top ten percent pay over seventy percent of the federal taxes he never tells you that the middle class draw more ss and medicare than they pay in taxes he never tells you that the rich pay almost all the federal taxes and get next to nothing in return he never tells you thst our debt is a staggering unbelievable 33 trillion dollars he never tells you that in nyc two percent of the cities residents pay over hslf the cities taxes
Do you think it's ok to live off our childrens future earnings
Socialism is not when the government does stuff.
This pooling of resources for basic services, defense and police still serves and maintains Capitalism.
Thank you, Robert Reich. You rock, man.
The billionaires fighting social services can go to hell .
Look at the DEBT CLOCK and see how much is already owed by each taxpayer - isn't it over $200,000? We're drowning in debt - and the rich are not that many. Watch "Eat the Rich" and see how few wealthy there are in comparison to the massive amounts of poor.
And how little their money could fund the massive government - quit pretending your theory would work.
ABSOLUTELY hilarious way to help people understand. THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH
Look at the DEBT CLOCK and see how much is already owed by each taxpayer - isn't it over $200,000? We're drowning in debt - and the rich are not that many. Watch "Eat the Rich" and see how few wealthy there are in comparison to the massive amounts of poor.
And how little their money could fund the massive government - quit pretending your theory would work.
I don't see Canada. Regardless, this was wonderful! Robert Reich is the BEST! Billionaires & the uber wealthy NEED to pay up! It's sickening what they get away with & BOTH parties let them!
You have a gift for making your point clearly and with humor. I was more liberal as a teen. I grew increasingly more conservative as I aged, but started moving back toward the center in my 50's. I now call myself Moderate, though I'm pretty progressive on topics like gun control (I support the 2nd Amendment, but we can do a better job of keeping guns out of the hands of unstable people), universal health care, and even programs to protect the environment. It was the realization of the point you just made in this video - that we have all benefitted greatly by the social programs that our taxes have funded - that made me understand that there IS a place for a certain degree of "socialism," even in a democratic republic that emphasizes the rights of the individual.
You can tell where his son Sam gets it from!
Nordic countries 👍👍👍
Yes, the book The Nordic Theory of Everything paints a clear picture of caring capitalism and how well it works.
EVERY penny you give to a starving family is a penny out of the needy maw of "Uncle Bob." If he keeps it, the family may die of starvation and make room for a more "deserving" family to exploit.
FDR showed what happens when you do what's best for everyone. And Reagan showed what happens when greed rules. The decline of the USA began with Ronnie, and continues to this day..
Lies. Reagan set off an economic boom. After 4 years of Reagan he won 49 out of 50 states. Because his policies were better, the socialist policies you advocate for had high inflation and high unemployment. You can lie about History to those who didn't experience it, but I was there -- and you are full of it.
This is exactly what Bernie Sanders was going to incorporate more of in our government if elected president. Sadly, people heard the word “Socialism” and ran away frightened.
Ran away, understanding the failure of Socialism and the horror it causes.
@@OtherDASThe socialism portrayed in history was not true socialism. Venezuela is about as socialist as China is a democratic republic.
@@OtherDAS If you disagree that what the video is saying would help, I'm interested in hearing a couple of sentences about what you believe is the better alternative.
@@omarfernandez5733 Free Markets are a better alternative. The govt responds to different incentives, and has a way if ignoring the proper price because cost is borne by someone else. This wastes resources -- because you can't tell if you are doing so for a loss or a profit. Govt should stick to protecting Rights, not trying to achieve "cosmic justice" or arrogantly assume they can better place resources than the Free Market and Entrepreneurs who have skin in the game.
Define socialism
thank you! Robert for the truth, as you always do. You are my go to guy on economic. May all continue to be well
This is why we can't have nice things. The people who could pay for it, got that way, by being hypersensitive to taxation, and highly trained to look out for themselves above all.
Sociopaths most of them
The top five percent pay over half the federal taxes
Are you a sociopath for not paying enough taxes for the handouts Democrats want and sending our children a bankrupt shell of a nation don't you care about our children
I pay 38% of my income in taxes (minus deduction) in Denmark. It´s the most well spend money ever, because I know that even if I don´t get sick, break a leg, get unemployed and so on, my unfortunate neighbor won´t be left for dead if these things happen to him/her. Having that kind of security and free education for all, also makes it possible for more people to get good education, better jobs and that will make the whole country more capable in the end. It´s a win/win for all.
Why do you need govt taking money on your behalf? Why aren't you a good person who would look after their neighbor on their own?
Because it's probably OTHERS paying for that and NOT YOU.
@@OtherDAS Ah, the "alms" argument. With just one problem: it doesn't work. But that doesn't matter to fundamentalists, doesn't it? As long as you can spout nonsense, you are all peachy.
@@AleaumeAnders Just pointing out your hypocrisy. And when Govt was smaller it did work better. Not spouting nonsense, just pointing out Free Markets work better and you are envious of other people's money.
@@OtherDAS ^^ you make so many assumptions about many posters, as well as proclaim "truths" without any base. You always assume people are envious... without anything to base this on, except your opinion. That's called projecting. Mind you, not everyone is a you are, so stop telling anyone they are green from envy as you are. Just because you are a greedy ..., the same must not neccessarily be true for everybody else.
@@AleaumeAnders
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you make so many assumptions about many posters,
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Based on their posts, and I do point to the "side" plenty as well, not the individual.
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as well as proclaim "truths" without any base.
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How much proof do you need to say the sky is Blue?
Also, where is YOUR proof of this?? I at least copy paste my cross debater's words so you can see what I'm responding to.
IN ADDITION: What is stated without evidence can be dismissed without evidence. (Hitchens's razor)
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You always assume people are envious... without anything to base this on, except your opinion.
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The other options are
1) They are actually Conservatives pulling of a convincing Troll. (if so well done)
2) They are Evil and want to steal others wealth for the lols.
3) They are incredibly stupid. And the post is more akin to monkeys on type writers than actual thought.
I was being generous.
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That's called projecting. Mind you, not everyone is a you are, so stop telling anyone they are green from envy as you are.
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I'm not -- that's why I don't want someone else's money or labor.
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Just because you are a greedy ..., the same must not neccessarily be true for everybody else.
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You are Confused in your thinking. Wanting others to keep what they have produced is not Greedy. WANTING what others have produced is greedy and is from envy.
I'm not a billionaire, but I'm fine with them keeping their wealth. THUS not greedy or Envious.
And this is why many of us dream of living under democratic socialism.
I think the point of the video is - what's being described by the left and the right isn't really socialism - especially in the US. Using tax payers money to benefit the less well off, or the disabled, or build roads or provide public services, isn't socialism.
I've heard right-wingers describe high taxes as socialism, I've heard left wingers describe Universal Basic Income as socialism. Neither are.
You could have the most generous tax payer funded job-seekers benefit, or the most generous tax payer funded health care service in the world, and it wouldn't really tell you much about whether you have a socialist economy, or a capitalist economy. And that's the point - socialism is an economic system, in response to capitalism. With the latter, the productive forces of the country, and the profits of those forces are held in private hands, the inverse is the case with socialism.
Using tax payers money to provide services, says nothing about your economic system.
No thanks
@@BradCampbellmn I guess more insurance bills for you!
@BradCampbellmn why?
You enjoy most of it right now?
Roads, police, fire fighters, military personnel, bridges, clean water, clean food, public ed (I'm sure you're going to grasp at that one and make some profoundly ignorant statement about it),
@@-Subtle- none of that is socialism. Which was kind of the point of the video.
Canadian health care paid for by taxes enabled my father to die with proper meds and care, instead of withering away of his cancer on our families own money. The system works, America, grow up and see the truth.
One of my favorite bumper stickers spotted years ago was something to the effect, "I long for the days when schools have as much funding as they need and the Air Force needs to have a bake sale to buy a new fighter jet".
I would go to an Air Force bake sale. They have so many people there that I am sure at least one of them can make some absolutely amazing rice krispie treats.
So you don't think the US needs a military - which is also one of the largest US educators and trainers - of the poor and middle classes.
School teachers now have aids - so they don't have to go out in the cold for recess. They also have the summer off. How many other state employees get the summer off?
Give me a break.
I've said it since I was a kid. If you help everyone, then everyone benefits. That's just simple logic.
The following dialogue took place in the late 80's when, as a grad student, I was attempting to discuss national health care for all with a banana eating ConTard.
ConTard:"My health insurance is too high!"
Me:"How about national healthcare for all, like they have in Europe?"
ConTard:"That's Socialism!"
Me: "What is Socialism?"
ConTard:"That's Communism!"
Me:"What is Communism?"
ConTard:"That's Socialism!"
The insurance is to high because of Govt regulation. the healthcare in Europe is worse in wait times, delivery, cutting edge and innovation. PLUS high taxes so you ALREADY paid the money -- with no choice of shopping around for a better plan.
@@OtherDAS Insurance is too high due to LACK of regulation. You have generalized over 20 countries' experiences into one fake statistical grouping. Cuba has better health care results than we do. Imagine what they get in Sweden.
@@OtherDAS My point was that this guy had no idea what Socialism is... do you?
And it's not regulations driving up healthcare costs, but insurance companies colluding rather than competing. Combine this with bottom-feeding lawyers who make their money suing doctors and hospitals and HMOs who give no choice whatsoever in providers and so much for shopping around.
But it's a great shitstem for the rich who can afford it.
Healthcare should be a basic human right, not a commodity.
@@lysanamcmillan7972
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Insurance is too high due to LACK of regulation.
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In correct. It is govt mandates to cover certain items that causes Insurance to go up. Price competition will lower prices for this much like anything else. In addition it is the Hospital bill that is too high, the Insurance company is just covering that part. Govt tends to have rues already in place on how much profit an Insurance company can make off a policy -- rules that make the price go higher in some cases.
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You have generalized over 20 countries' experiences into one fake statistical grouping.
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You mean like when your side groups every European country for Universal Healthcare?
Also the experience of communists for healthcare is pretty general and universal (ad BAD)
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Cuba has better health care results than we do.
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No, they do not. the results of that broke poorly run country are clearly worse and it is DELUSONAL to think otherwise.
You can say they have better health in some cases. BUT that is due to Lifestyle choices. Not a lot of problems from over eating in Cuba. Or Venezuela. Or the old Soviet Union.
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Imagine what they get in Sweden.
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I imagine that they exercise more, and do less drugs. BUT that when it comes to premature births the US does better. Or when it comes to developing new medicine they rely on US patents.
Imagine if we had the terrible Dental of the UK!? Or the wait you get for cat scans in Canada!
@@BlankRegie
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My point was that this guy had no idea what Socialism is... do you?
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I do. Do you? Also I go by ACTUAL results of the system, not by the Fantasy theorized.
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And it's not regulations driving up healthcare costs, but insurance companies colluding rather than competing.
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That would be illegal -- if you have some evidence produce it and Govt will act. but it does not. It's Govt mandates for what MUST be included that drive costs up, among other things.
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Combine this with bottom-feeding lawyers who make their money suing doctors and hospitals and
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This would be GOVT again. Don't blame that on Free Markets.
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HMOs who give no choice whatsoever in providers and so much for shopping around.
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Then get a different HMO. You don't like the taste of Coke then go buy a Pepsi. If Pepsi isn't in your area then there isn't enough of a market for it. Govt soda is horrible. BUT in the Free market I now at the theater of fast food place have access to like 50+ flavors and combinations.
You get more variety under Free Markets than Govt. Look at the VA if you want an example of "choice".
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But it's a great shitstem for the rich who can afford it.
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Most people CAN afford it. most people are Middle Class. sounds like you want something for FREE.
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Healthcare should be a basic human right,
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It is, but only in the Negative Claim sense. NOT the Positive Claim sense. No third party should be able to come in between you and a service you are getting. This is not the same as saying people are your slaves who should work to provide you with healthcare.
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not a commodity.
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But it is, and you get better results. Take FOOD. Free Market has poor people get Fat for the first time in history. Socialism had even upper middle class people check the harvest reports to see if food would be scarce. Mass starvation regularly occurs under TOW things. WAR disrupting things. OR Govt running things. Look into History would you.
This is just more prof that I was born in the wrong country. Unlike many conservatives I like Socialism. We need more democratic socialism in the US. Thank you.
FDR said: "The problem I have is that the socialists think I eat caviar for breakfast, while the capitalists think I eat beans for breakfast. In truth, I eat steak and eggs for breakfast just like average Americans do." He also said: "I believe in a system of free enterprise, where a man can go as far as his God given talents can take him. But not to the extent of making fodder out of large segments of the population." FDR was a centrist, who saved capitalism from itself and used government spending to pull the country out of a deep depression.
ua-cam.com/video/OK0KOimnZu0/v-deo.htmlsi=VzLx8W_1BSyJX097 No, he wasn't a centrist. He was actually Left of Bernie Sanders even. The centrist tag is more appropriate for Joe Biden. The real story behind what saved us after the Great Depression is highlighted in this video clip I provide, and the key groups behind him.
The White House cook during the Roosevelt administration was Henrietta Nesbitt, a friend of Eleanor's that she hired because she really needed a job. Trust me, no one was eating caviar under Mrs. Nesbitt. Her meals were "economical", which is a nice way of saying cheap and terrible. If someone sent a request to the kitchen and she didn't like it, she ignored it.
@PBFoote-mo2zr Unfortunately he caved in to Stalin. My country was enslaved by Stalin's hordes for >40 years thanks in part by Roosevelt agreeing to every demand by Stalin.
@@pawelzielinski1398 I think you are as goofy as an outhouse rat. NOTHING like that ever happened and you should know it.
damn, if i could afford steak and eggs every brealfast...
If people don't get to peel the banana, they are gonna peel the rich.
Uncle Bob doesn't realize he's making it easier for the rich to benefit from socialism. He's not actually against socialism, he's against the very notion of helping others.
Wow, what a completely stupid statement. Paid in ruan or cheap liquor?
If you want to help others, you can.
Don't force the rest of us to support you.
@@youtubesucks1499 Actually, society will support all its members, and you _will_ be forced to contribute if you wish to draw any benefit from it at all 👍
@@chompythebeast No, I won't. I build houses. I will fake an injury and you get to support me. Lol. Enjoy working for crap pay. I will be fishing. You know my doctor said it's good for my health.
You can't force me to do shit.
@@chompythebeast ps. I own 3 construction companies and employ 127 people.
While I am fishing, I will shut down my businesses, put 127 people out of work and enjoy the outdoors while you are working for the betterment of society.
Lol. You can't do shit. You think I will be the only one? Lmaoo. Plumbers, electricians, builders, concrete workers, and every other trades person over 40 will get ",hurt". Lol.
Why would we work for the betterment of society? We are all going to be sucking of the government.
You can support us. Have fun, hope the power doesn't go out. Oh, that's right.... you can negotiate with who is left to build your schools, hospitals, housing, and other structures. Lmao.
Have fun.
Love the way you portrait Uncle Bob 😆 I'm from Norway btw and even though taxes are discussed here, we all know that without it our society would not be as good as today. And we do help people who looses their job, but it will always pay more to get another job. So saying that this just creates lazy people is not true. Benefits rarely gives you a good life. For that you need to work. Help is thus only temporarily.
I have been following your discussions re. "The Common Good." I get to spend 1 to 2 months in Europe (usually Central Europe of places once associated with the Hapsburg Empire ). We, in the US, are regressive and resistant to change. From the most rich to the most poor, we all seem to accept the arguments that work against our own self interests and the "common good."
Look at the DEBT CLOCK and see how much is already owed by each taxpayer - isn't it over $200,000? We're drowning in debt - and the rich are not that many. Watch "Eat the Rich" and see how few wealthy there are in comparison to the massive amounts of poor.
And how little their money could fund the massive government - quit pretending your theory would work.
Don't forget all the absolute BUNCHES of bananas distributed to prevent Wall Street from failing ...
If the minimum wage had kept pace with inflation since the 60s, it would be three times what it is now - so no, a livable minimum wage and UBI wouldn't cause runaway inflation.
A 200% increase in income is more than enough to cover a 5% tax hike.
55% of the world's food production is for industry, and a third of what's left gets bleached or left to rot, meaning less than a third gets eaten, while one in ten people goes hungry. If the world's food production were cut in half, there would still be more than enough food to end world hunger by giving it away for free.
There are 27 unoccupied homes for every homeless person in the US - not for every homeless _family,_ for every homeless _person._ They could also be given away for free without a second thought - and unoccupied residences are expensive to maintain!
There are four job openings for every three job seekers. Not everyone who doesn't have a job is actively seeking a job.
Means testing does not prevent welfare fraud. If the same welfare benefits were freely available to everyone, there would be no method to defraud the system. Also it's means testing, not welfare, that creates dependency, since the cutoff threshold is less than a livable wage.
Everything a right-wing politician has ever told you about economics is provably - and _obviously_ - not only false, but patently absurd. Capitalism is a mountain of lies.
Inflation is caused by one thing. Governments printing money.
The problem with minimum wage isn't inflation. It is that it creates unemployment among the most vulnerable. In the US - the min wage is so low that it has no effect. If you want to see what happens when it is too high - see South Africa.
Your food production analogy is nonsense. Food has a shelf life, and transportation costs.
There are loads of empty homes available, and they are also available for sale at negligible cost, for example around Detroit. Nobody wants to live in them, and the typical homeless person does not have much 'get-up-and-go'.
The problem with your assertions (and those on the left, generally) is that they are part of the utopian vision. i.e. the vision of the anointed. They describe a better, future world. However they do tend to ignore what happens when those visions are put into practise.
It is important to try new things - we would be nowhere if we didn't. But it is easier to simply copy the good ideas from other countries, and avoid the bad ones.
@@tonycatman Your profit-maximizing supply-and-demand based model supplies exponentially more than could ever be distributed while going out of its way to deprive people of what they need to survive - which is why you have to blame the people you're murdering for you forcing them into starvation. I say this as someone who used to believe the lies.
If the only reason people go hungry despite so much food being produced is an inability to distribute it before it spoils, explain the massive underground warehouse full of non-perishable surplus cheese, and the fact that surplus food gets bleached to prevent people from eating it.
Where's the maximized profit in all that surplus going to waste?
@@notoriouswhitemoth"My" model doesn't go out of its way to deprive people, although I'm not sure you know what "my" model is.
Empirical evidence is your friend. Please tell me how many people have starved to death under each system. You have the entirety of history, and 200 countries to choose from.
And now I am murdering people ? You can probably understand why you are a risible figure - throwing accusations of that type around.
BU BU BUT that's not helpful to the people who never get sick, are never unemployed, never experience a crisis, and do everything perfectly in life without any luck! We must put their need to not pay taxes first!!!
This is the part that so many people miss: paying higher taxes is great as long as you get more back than you paid. Say that we created a universal health care system and your taxes went up $200/month -- that's great, because you no longer have to pay the $300/month insurance premium to your health care company. Likewise, if your taxes are slightly higher but you don't have to pay for college for your kids, that can still bring you out ahead. Higher taxes are not necessarily bad.
True unless you live in California, and pay a lot and get misery.
@@TheJohnbjunior better than not paying insurance and getting fucked with no cover
it's worse in texas, most red states because they fuck over people for ''pre-existing conditions'' that only fly in their states and have no drive to provide quality care for anyone save the pathetically filthy rich, lobbyists and corpo rats
The more you make the more loopholes for "saving" taxes open up.
Your kids, you take responsibility for them. Sorry, Im old school and self reliant.
Lol yes that great. Esp once the government takes over healthcare and there's no more competition...... then everyone regardless of how hard you work gets the same shitty care
And please believe once big daddy government runs out of evil rich people/businesses to tax, those taxes will increase.
Socialist scream eat the rich BUT once their government is done eating the rich it turns on and eats you
As a diabetic.., it’s great to live in a nation with universal healthcare.., the peace of knowing that everyone in our community.. can get 24/7 emergency healthcare…, and I can still pay for $40 US a month private insurance… if I want ..
Look at the DEBT CLOCK and see how much is already owed by each taxpayer - isn't it over $200,000? We're drowning in debt - and the rich are not that many. Watch "Eat the Rich" and see how few wealthy there are in comparison to the massive amounts of poor.
And how little their money could fund the massive government - quit pretending your theory would work.
That's what I hate most as a medical provider in the US is that insurance dictates medical treatment. If insurance won't pay for the procedure, doctors won't do it even if it would greatly benefit the pt. And what's worse is that many of the US doctors are incredibly complacent with this.
@@raider523-s9d
Our system isn’t perfect.. far from it…, but absorbs most all the basic medical stuff the drags on a population/ nation…, Offers good power buying as well..👍
@@raider523-s9ddocs have little choice, as insurances run healthcare…. And docs cannot unionize, and deal collectively with insurance!
@@raider523-s9d
I feel for Americans…, well until you give them the/ an answer… to health issues/ extreme capitalism… they don’t want it
Government accountability, taxing the corporations, the rich and churches.
I'm for free education and free healthcare for all Americans. It should become a law because this is necessary for betterment of all people.
You are probably the same kind of person who also thinks teens and young adults still jumping inside a bounce house sometimes is okay too
Thank you, Mr. Reich, for supporting banananing for us all.
Look at the DEBT CLOCK and see how much is already owed by each taxpayer - isn't it over $200,000? We're drowning in debt - and the rich are not that many. Watch "Eat the Rich" and see how few wealthy there are in comparison to the massive amounts of poor.
And how little their money could fund the massive government - quit pretending your theory would work.
Taxpayer money goes to nonsensical things like hundreds of billions of dollars in Medicaid and Medicare FRAUD every year! Our country is filled with criminals in large cities trying to bill for things like expensive wheelchairs and getting millions back.
Even Eric Holder admitted that.
Please READ MORE.
Peace and love to all my banana comrades!
@@fullmetal1119 I worked for Medicaid and we had 3-4 bomb threats a month to our large building. Because you are working with ex-cons - not necessarily sweet little ladies.
You are working with drug addicts who try to coerce doctors into prescribing "pain meds" when the doc knows they are dealing with an ex-con and that he isn't in pain according to their knowledge of him.
Would you please give honesty a break? Both this man Robert the Ache and Bernie never worked taking complaints for Medicaid (medical for the poor) and most people have NO IDEA what that agency does or how dangerous it is even to work there.
The receptionist on our floor was hard to talk to. She kept looking at the elevator door - that was her job as our protector. No signs in the elevators, no one allowed on upper floors without an appointment and someone to accompany them up to the offices. No one allowed to sit on the first floor for fear they woud be shot - that was the decision of management.
It was like working in a prison.
Social mandate is the defined purpose OF the government as defined by the Constitution and the bill of rights. The Declaration of Independence states that Social Mandate was the intent of the government from the begining
People still confuse banana ing with communism and refuse to accept the difference.
if you don't think the democRAT party is authoritarian with totalitarian yearnings ,than you're bananas !
People still confuse communism with stalinism and refuse to accept the difference
I live in the "socialist" (compared to the U.S.) country of Australia. It's just awful having unemployment benefits, free healthcare, etc. :P
I would like to push Social Security to the top of the list to start with. Using percentages to in lighten workers. What percentage of your pay is taken for Social Security. Then keep showing the percentage different super rich people pay. If I am paying 10% how is it possible that so and so can't afford .000001%?
Mr. Reich, you are so right! I’m always asking myself and others, why so many people are selfish,mean and soulless, but at the same time they pretend, they believe in God. Not willing to see your neighbor at least feed and having a place to live it is mean. People don’t care about other people and most of the time, about themselves in a dare situation. Many think that if they have a piece of bread today, they will always have it. Life is not like this and in our society we have no insurance for tomorrow. A society that guarantees your wellbeing is a society that respects you. And that is definitely something we need.
Thank you, Robert Reich for your wonderful explanations & clever ways of showing them!
Canada has socialized medicine but won't take anyone even as a tourist is they have a DUI on their record. They recently CLOSED THE BORDER. Also, they have a very small nation of about 40 million compared to the US with 340 MILLION or more.
I grew up in a Democratic Socialist family, as a grandson of one of the Socialist mayors of Milwaukee, WI, so I know up close what real Socialists (not the fascists who drape themselves in the highfalutin' name, like the "national" variety) are like. At their finest, DS electees are a beacon of pragmatism and honest government. At their worst, they are pie-in-the-sky idealists. Frankly, we can all happily live with either, especially compared to what we have now. Bernie was a bit more of the latter, but he's a great influence; however, pragmatism drove me to vote for HRC back then, and will for Harris now.
What's in a name? The uglier an organization or initiative is, the prettier the name they choose to cover it. The Peoples Democratic Republic of Korea (aka North Korea) is _none of the above._ Same for the oh-so-innocuous Project 2025. The "party of small government" is clearly seeking the smallest possible government: A dictatorship. A horrid truth hidden by a simple verbal trick.
Strange how "socialism" seems to be the scariest word some Americans can think of, while at the same time fascism and authoritarianism is rising from the very right wing politics they espouse.
Taxpayer money goes to nonsensical things like hundreds of billions of dollars in Medicaid and Medicare FRAUD every year! Our country is filled with criminals in large cities trying to bill for things like expensive wheelchairs and getting millions back.
Even Eric Holder admitted that. Please remember this man is trying to make money off you! Robert is like Bernie - never worked for welfare and admits it. But claims to be an expert.
Why don't you try working for WELFARE. The first week of training is all about the FRAUD - and that was in a BLUE STATE. Bernie also loves massive welfare but his staff admits he never worked for Medicare or Medicaid and never took one complaint - those thousands and thousands of complaints are mostly taken by WOMEN.
@@tracesprite6078 If they like the parties that promote "caring capitalism" in those countries, they need to vote for the parties that are called socialists. The "socialists" that are so feared in the USA don't really exist in most places.
@@tracesprite6078 Caring about others has another name: Christianity. DUH.
@@SipLeila HI SipLeila, Christianity is one of several religions that encourage people to care for one another. The Muslim, Buddhist and Hindu religions also encourage responsibility and love. In addition, many non-religious people also believe that caring is an important activity. Caring can enrich capitalism and make it more human.
I just want to say, your messaging and storytelling just continues to get better and better. We need more stuff like this to get people to stop and think
He’s a bit of a shill he preaches all this but literally does what’s worst for the country.
Hi Learned Moose, if you would like to know what it is like to live in a nation with caring capitalism, then I suggest you read The Nordic Theory of Everything. You can get it for free in PDF on the internet.
Thanks for what you are doing Robert.
I don’t care about paying taxes, I’m mad that it’s not being spent to benefit people and that not everyone is paying their fair share.
Another fun, but truly educational, video from Mr. R. Thanks for making this fun and easy to grasp.
Leveraging our collective market/bargaining power (representative government) to secure better goods and services (social programs and infrastructure) while charging the largest consumers as much as the market will bear (tax the rich) is actually quite capitalistic when you think about it 🤔
No, it's not. You're not thinking at all.
No, taxing the rich didn't work in France. The rich moved away. Francois Hollande was a failure and made the country poorer.
There's a tricky bit to socialism which isn't obvious if you focus on government budgets. The question is something like "When there's a conflict between what's good for business (the individual) and what's good for society who should take precedence?". In the past this might have been settled with slogan like comments such as "What's good for General Motors is good for the United States" or some such but this palpably not true. It also doesn't touch on the problem of 'capture'. Anyway, the result of trying to have it both ways is that the mass of people get a smaller and smaller piece of the pie and then expend all their energies arguing about who's got the biggest crumb.
I pay $33 USD every 3 months for doctor check up and get prescription.., then my 9 different meds including insulin & trulicity injections are a total of $8 or 12? USD a month…, I can’t even fn remember…., but somehow the US can’t afford this.. I say bollock
You should also compare the actual amounts too everybody needs to know 💜
@@diabeticnomad
As in? What/ which amounts
Seems that they don't have a problem with corporate bailouts. Didn't mention those.
Thank you to everyone at The Inequality Media team. 😎
Look at the DEBT CLOCK and see how much is already owed by each taxpayer - isn't it over $200,000? We're drowning in debt - and the rich are not that many. Watch "Eat the Rich" and see how few wealthy there are in comparison to the massive amounts of poor.
And how little their money could fund the massive government - quit pretending your theory would work.
I have not ever understood what is so "evil" about socialism anyway. After all, Sweden, ,Finland, Denmark, and many other countries all practice democratic socialism. Their standard of living for all of their citizens leaves us far behind. We are more like Mexico than Canada if you look at our stats. But people have the "socialism" argument. It's the boogey man.
When everyone does well, everyone does well.
Thanks for the explanation, Robert.
Too bad it'll be lost on way too many.
I've used this counterpoint often: "if you like using public roads and highways, you benefit from socialism. If you like that you can have your voter ballot mailed to you, you benefit from socialism. If you like having a functioning military, you benefit from socialism." Either the person starts asking intelligent questions about how that is socialism/how budgets are spent, or they shut up and look sheepish, or they go completely off the rails, red in the face and absolutely apoplectic that I'm calling them a socialist. I like the first group most, I like being able to have an intelligent conversation about prioritizing spending onto things that matter most to the country as opposed to things that benefit individuals (and indeed how often they're not at cross-purpose).
That's because Public roads and Highways are NOT Socialism... but also that Govt roads drive private roads out of business. Voter ballots mailed for most is WRONG and leads to corruption. Military is not Socialism either -- not everything Govt does is Socialism. Protecting people's right is what it is supposed to do. They get mad because you are being an insufferable ass.
Nobody will argue that we are a compassionate people. Helping others is what most of us want to do.
However, who decides who gets what and how much and who is to pay. And that is the real issue when we adopt a socialist mind frame.
In the words of Milton Friedman, “just who are these angels that decide”.
The countries that stray from free market capitalism are where you find the masses are the worst off. Their drive for equality has made everyone poor.
Not a perfect solution but with the nature of mankind, capitalism is the best way we know to raise the poor out of poverty.
Here in Milwaukee WI we elected 3 Socialist Mayor's 👍 🇺🇸
😂 you should be embarrassed about that
I've always wondered how the Reich Wing interpret the explicit purpose of our Constitution to "promote the General welfare."
Your videos just keep getting better! Keep up the great work.
Socialism is a nice theory, but unfortunately it's not the only ingredient in a political system. The combination of socialism and corruption is very common. That is what make it very ugly. Like bananas and DDT.
So glad I found your channel,
You're smart, inventive, and entertaining at the same time.
I can’t tell you how much joy this brought me. I giggled out loud repeatedly! Thank you, Dr. Reich!
Why? Robert Reich knows nothing about US Medicaid.
We need a Monarchy. "Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matthew 3:2, KJV). Even so, come, Lord Jesus! Establish the Kingdom of Peace in Jerusalem (Isaiah 9:7, KJV)!