Are the United States socialist?

[Cashcow]

The United States are heavily socialist.  Progressive income tax, social security, medicare, etc.

Come on. HEAVILY socialist? I agree we have some socialist policies, but look at the basic meaning of the word itself:

so·cial·ism   Audio pronunciation of "socialism" ( P )  Pronunciation Key  (ssh-lzm)
n.

   1. Any of various theories or systems of social organization in which the means of producing and distributing goods is owned collectively or by a centralized government that often plans and controls the economy.
   2. The stage in Marxist-Leninist theory intermediate between capitalism and communism, in which collective ownership of the economy under the dictatorship of the proletariat has not yet been successfully achieved.

I suppose we're quite socialist compared to your dreamy paradise of economic anarchy. Why don't you just move to Somalia already?

[Bono]

Portugal: 33%

I had no idea our percentage wa sso low.
Oh wait, tax evasion.

[Richard]

I suppose we're quite socialist compared to your dreamy paradise of economic anarchy. Why don't you just move to Somalia already?

Huh?  Somalia?  What does Somalia have to do with a capitalistic, responsible society with a strong, fair judicial system?

[Cashcow]

ECONOMIC FREEDOM!

I bet they allow abortions, though. It wouldn't work for you.

[??????????]

22% and our taxes are still to high. We should be proud to try to hit rock bottom on this list.

[David S]

I think the 22% figure does not include State and Local taxes. When you figure that in the total is more like 28%. Also GDP includes government spending. If you want to find how much the government takes out of the private sector you should use National Income instead of GDP. That makes the percentage higher.

[stry_cat]

We are socalist.  Just because other countries are even further along doesn't mean we aren't socalist.  Off hand I can't think of a country in the world that isn't socalist. 

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

We are socalist.  Just because other countries are even further along doesn't mean we aren't socalist.  Off hand I can't think of a country in the world that isn't socalist. 

Somalia?

[Gustaf]

Nope. And the number is wrong, dead wrong. Sweden has teh highest taxes in the world, and we're just above 50%. The EU average is 43%. The US is way below that. The numbers posted by Reignman are roughly correct.

[Huckleberry Finn]

USA is not socialist. What a mad idea! If USA would be socialist so was George W. Bush who is a big spender. Also war on Iraq is a socialist program. You are going to rebuild whole country. Damn socialist you are!

Seriously. USA IS NOT SOCIALIST nor are Western European countries. We all are market economics with some socialist elements. Can you say that Cuba is capitalist country because there is some commercial exchange? 

[Serenity Now]

You've hit the nail on the head!

It's good to hear some sanity at last

[minionofmidas]

Traditional US ideology had a VERY strong egalitarian streak that you might want to call socialist.

[David S]

“The American people will never knowingly adopt socialism. But, under
the name of 'liberalism,' they will adopt every fragment of the
socialist program, until one day America will be a socialist nation,
without knowing how it happened." Norman Thomas, former U.S. Socialist
Presidential Candidate   

Seems to me like this is happening now among many Democrats and some Republicans. They are adopting socialist programs without thinking of it a socialism.

In one sense we are becomming less socialist in that our top tax rates are much lower than they were in the FDR era. But on the other hand our socialist programs are expanding. Medicare, medicaid, and social security, are consumming a larger share of our GDP. Most recently the addition of prescription drug benefits has expanded Medicare.