OVM,
The idea that medicare/medicaid, welfare, unemployment, social security are socialist programs is not far off. There are a lot more programs that are not mentioned.
The difference is that here in the states we don't have blanket coverage of these programs as one may think, meaning that there is a qualifier needed to enter these programs when compared to other countries. In the truest sense, some of these programs were intended to be a stop gap measure or security net but not intended to be a life long endeavor as some have made it to be.
Medicare and Mediciad are the two most costly programs we have and there are so many things that the government twists to make it look like they are successfuly solvent which they are not and they have yet to get a grip on the corruption and fraud plaguing the system.
Social Security is not and never was an entitlement program and was intended from its conception in 1905 to be a supplemental income for the elderly only. There were no provisions for the disabled or infirmed.
Most of these programs were created at a time when the country was in bad shape and a liberal (old style that is) was in power. The expansion of the entire social welfare program took place in the 1960’s when the government had windfall revenue through the tax cuts proposed by JFK. Thanks to Johnson, we created an entire class of people who became dependent on the system and push the family unit to the point it broke apart.
Now if you want me to tell you how these all compare to the great social changes of UK in 1946 which triggered the Canadian changes, I could but you most likely know all that.
On the subject of liberal v conservative, here is a quick answer;
“In the US, liberalism is usually understood to refer to modern liberalism, as contrasted with conservatism. American liberals endorse regulation for business, a limited social welfare state, and support broad racial, ethnic, sexual and religious tolerance, and thus more readily embrace pluralism, and affirmative action.
In Europe, on the other hand, liberalism is not only contrasted with conservatism and Christian Democracy, but also with socialism and social democracy. “ from the wiki
But truthfully, the above definition is skewed a lot. It should read; American liberals strongly believe that the individual can not be successful unless the government is involved with their lives through endorsing regulation for business, taxation of the individual, a social welfare state and entitlements to the masses, with strong support of broad racial, ethnic, sexual and religious intolerance, and thus more readily embrace pluralism on socialist terms, and affirmative action for the end result of shaping society.
A conservative in the truest sense is the opposite of the above definition and a true conservative believe in the individual’s ability to make it on their own (simplified version). There is a lot of cross over between conservative values and libertarian values.
The funny thing is that the liberals in Canada are being blamed for the involvement of Canada in Iraq.
