There is socialism already in America, it's called the United States Military

[AZ Progressive]

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/04/21/troops-of-the-uniform-unite-the-military-is-a-socialist-paradise.html

The U.S. Military Is a Socialist Paradise

It may come as an unwelcome surprise to conservatives, but America’s military has one of the only working models of collective living and social welfare the country has ever known.

Every day before dawn, brave men and women of different races and backgrounds rise as one, united by a common cause. They march together in formation, kept in step by their voices joined in song. These workers leave their communal housing arrangements and go toil together “in the field.” While they are out doing their day’s labor, their young are cared for in subsidized childcare programs. If they hurt themselves on the job, they can count on universal health care. Right under your nose, on the fenced-in bases you drive past on your way to work or see on the TV news, a successful experiment in collectivization has been going on for years.

Millions of people on military bases live in communal arrangements. They participate in centrally run programs that govern the most basic and fundamental aspects of their lives, from their housing and children’s educations to where and how they shop for food.

Service members and their families live for free on base. People living off base are given a stipend to cover their housing costs. They shop in commissaries and post exchanges where prices for food and basic goods are considerably lower than at civilian stores. Troops and their families count on high-quality education and responsive universal health care. They expect to be safe at home, as bases, on average, have less violence than American cities of comparable size. And residents enjoy a wide range of amenities—not just restaurants and movie theaters but fishing ponds, camp sites, and golf courses built for their use.

Any American still afraid of Bernie Sanders being a socialist should read this (although Bernie is really more of a Social Democrat.)

[Downwinder]

1. There is also Congress where you are

paid to not do anything.

[Ilsa]

2. A friend worked 18 years in the military and gets a pension +

Other benefits. I don't mind because the military made that deal with her. But it's a sweetheart deal, and socialistic is to boot. But she can't see that so many of her benefits are socialistic in nature. So she rails against people like Bernie.
We aren't friends any more, btw.

[newfie11]

4. My husband was in the military in Viet Nam

He gets 100%medical ( of course they are in the process of shutting his va hospital.

I also get ChampVA as well as Medicare.

I have no complaints on that.
Just had a total hip replacement and 100% paid for between both of them.
Regular hospital and non VA surgeon.
Socialism is not all bad.

[Ilsa]

5. I'm not saying it's bad at all. It was just her denial

that she was benefitting from a socialistic system. She says she is all about free trade and minimizing govt benefits, but she used the VA whenever it suited her, draws her $2,000+/mo pension, and at one time tried to get disability because a CO harassed her at work. But when others try to claim benefits for disabilities in the MHMR-type, Autism, etc, she was against that.

I think the govt should honor its deals with military and vets, just like I think corporations should honor their deals with pensions, etc. But some people like my ex friend are in denial that they benefit from socialistic systems, while they scream about others getting $160/mo in SNAP benefits.

[TheBlackAdder]

10. Unlike military pensions, private pensions can get cancelled or renegotiated after retirement. nt

[Ilsa]

15. Yep, they sure can. nt

[brooklynite]

3. I see...you want the Government to make your work, food and housing choices?

[SammyWinstonJack]

6. *woosh*

[pinebox]

8. LOL What!

Wow dude you need to brush up bad.

[brooklynite]

12. ...and what does this have to do with the Military?

I have never objected to a social safety net (other than to call it "socialism&quot ; but thats not what the OP is talking about. The analogy fails because the military system tells you where you'll work; what you'll do; what your housing will be; and when you'll eat.

[pinebox]

14. True

Fair enough point.

[JaneyVee]

7. And it's gobbling up all of our cash.

If your example of socialism in America is an endless money pit we keep spending more and more on. Ok.

[KingCharlemagne]

9. Technical Note: the U.S. military is not 'socialist' in the strictest meaning of

the term. Were it truly Socialist, the enlisted ranks would be in charge (in a dictatorship of the proletariat). The U.S. military is not even a 'Social Democracy,' unless something has changed and decisions are made democratically on the base.

More to the point, capitalist and even feudal societies have had militaries that were 'socialist' along the terms this article extract proposes. But those militaries (including the U.S.) have always served the needs of the economic system in which they are situated.

[Vote2016]

11. There is socialism already in America, it's called the Catholic Church (I like this game!)

[HereSince1628]

13. I've always found the military as a model of socialism and indictment of socialism

No one would want to live civil life under military authority. The greatest fears put forward by red-baiters are that communist countries are so organized. Those fears work because people truly reject militarism as a model for civil life.

[stone space]

17. You and me, both! (nt)

[stone space]

16. I wasn't afraid of socialism until I read here about how militaristic it is.

Now, I'm scared!