Be Social!

I am. A democratic socialist.







Now that we're over that, I'm going to draft a short essay about that particular system of political belief.

Don't worry folks. I'm always that bored.

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Socialists and communists seem to be necessarily thought of among the general American population as being oppressive, authoritarian, and/or generally bad along with their ideaologies. That is not true. Not all social-/communists follow Stalin, Mao, or Jong-Il. These people were not even communists, only assholes who used communism to seize power for their own ends.
In an topic on the Dream of a Ridiculous Dictator forums, ATLANTIS stated that "socialists/communists are fascists". Of course I realise that he was mostly discussing economic policy, but by stating that he attatches more than that to his generalisation. I am not vehemently nationalistic and I do not believe in nationalism nor its enforcement. In fact, if there could be one thing for me that would be patriotic, it would be, for lack of a better term, dissent. I do not believe in shutting people up and in fact I do believe that everyone has the right to voice their opinion. I do not think I am evil, though you may prove me otherwise; as well, I would like to point out that your comparison of fascist and socialist economics is faulty, as there is no complete definition of a "fascist economy"; it is true Mussolini, the original fascist, vied for a controlled economy, but Hitler, who was also recognised as "fascist", did not delve much into economic policy and mostly left enterprise to fend for itself.
But I digress. I am talking about democratic socialism, not fascism.
Generally, socialist economics involves the regulation of private enterprise. This does not, indeed, mean "squash them", but rather requires that they stay up to standard, at least in more mild forms of socialism. Small businesses are fine - ever been to a small-business store or restaurant in San Francisco? They do things the way they were meant to be done. (They sell great food too.) :) Big-ass conglomerates like McDonald's and Wal-Mart sell you cheap shit not because they enjoy doing it, but because they want your money. They dump millions of tons of pollution into the air and water to prove it every day, that they don't care, they just want to make big bucks.
I don't believe that business should be wiped from existence, but I do think that it ought to be kept small and ought to "follow the rules", such as health codes, safety regulations, etc, and that no company or corporation is above the law.
Most socialists/communists generally uphold civil and political rights and toleration; systems such as democratic socialism must uphold the simple right to freedom of speech because any democracy, following a socialist doctrine or not, thrives on the voicing of opinions. If the people cannot do that, then the state ceases to be a democracy and becomes a directorship. Toleration derives from this principle, as if every person's opinion is of equal value then the same must be said for their civil rights, or otherwise the society is not truly free.
And that is what constitutes my political belief: democratic socialism. I hope that I have been clear in my explanation of it, or at least my form of it.