this post was submitted on 06 Jun 2026
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Well okay, but:
Universal healthcare is a socialist policy. The systems with it would be mixed economies.
Mixed systems are the best systems. Any government would collapse under any PURE ideology. We're supposed to be a Representative Democracy, but the best things in our society are the Socialist things - Public schools, parks, libraries, roads, highways, bridges, military, fire departments, etc. I'd add police departments, but I don't think they belong under the best Socialist things in our society.
The best system is one that combines the best ideas from other systems, and avoids the worst ideas. It can get messy around the edges, but overall, "Keep the best, reject the rest," is good government policy.
What exactly is the worst idea here? Redistribution of wealth?
Socialism refers to collective ownership of the means of production. Social democracy refers to a capitalist market economy supplemented by welfare programs, labor protections, and public services. The two terms are not interchangeable despite frequent misuse on the internet. You are describing and advocating for social democracy not socialism.
https://youtube.com/shorts/zMmjKRettxA
Socialism refers to public (and unfortunately sometimes government) ownership of a service. In this case, health insurance. Government health insurance is socialist because it is owned by the government (which represents the public according to some socialists) instead of the capitalists.
By your own definition, health insurance is the "product" being "produced".
Once again, socialism is the public ownership of the means of production. Universal healthcare, subsidized healthcare, government-assisted healthcare, whatever name you want to give it, has nothing to do with whether a government is socialist. Public healthcare can be offered by virtually any type of government.
Like many people on this platform, you're confusing the words social and socialist. They are not the same thing. As defined above, a social democrat is not a socialist. Government programs that provide assistance to the population are not inherently socialist programs; they are welfare programs.
You are not advocating for public ownership of the means of production. You are advocating for welfare programs that benefit the population under a democratic government. I genuinely do not understand why so many people on this platform have such a difficult time grasping this distinction.
So I will simply leave you with the below quote.
Public healthcare cannot be offered by a fully capitalist government. I would argue welfare itself could be deemed socialist. Production also benefits the population btw.
Also, jesus christ man. what is that quote?
Most developed and developing countries on Earth have public healthcare systems and are still fully capitalist. Nearly all European countries are examples of this. Even the United States has forms of public healthcare. People often forget that America already provides government-funded healthcare through programs such as Medicare and Medicaid; one simply has to qualify, and tens of millions of Americans do.
Once again, please listen to what I'm saying: welfare programs are not socialism. The words "social" and "socialism" have two entirely different meanings. A country can be capitalist, communist, a dictatorship, or a monarchy and still offer social programs, more accurately described as welfare programs. The existence of those programs does not determine the underlying economic system.
The quote is from Billy Madison, which kind of gives you away. You're probably too young to even be having this discussion, let alone offering an opinion on the matter.
No country on Earth is fully capitalist. Also, I don't think a country can be communist. Kinda goes against the definition.
Dawg, "Billy Madison" is 30 years old. You gotta be atleast twice the voting age to have watched it when it released.
Much like gdp vs gdp per capita, a much more interesting statistic here would be the percentage of countries that have universal health care. Still kind of reductive, but it has the benefit of not being misleading, which I can't say of your statistic. Think before you speak.
Please draw the rest of the owl? You just made a gigantic leap. I don't see the relation at all. Are you implying that billionaires are concerned about efficiency or something? I'd argue they're more concerned about paying their workers as little as possible. And one way to make this much, much easier is by skewing the negotiations in your favor by having their literal health and well-being tied to working for you, which universal healthcare really ruins. Think before you speak.