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Politics : View from the Center and Left -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: TimF who wrote (10478)	2/1/2006 12:02:56 PM
From: TigerPaw	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 541477

another type of service The government subsidises the food supply. Farm payments reduce the retail price of much foodstuff by 50% or more. Is that socialism? The farms are still privately run. TP

To: TimF who wrote (10478)	2/1/2006 12:27:56 PM
From: Lane3	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 541477

This is a service but is it not a socialist system? It isn't the norm now, but it could become the norm in the future. Government-provided utilities are pretty much the norm, now. Seems to me that wireless broadband is easly considered a utility. It also has something in common with street sweeping and street lighting, provided to make the street more habitable. The initiatives that I have seen have been in commercial areas, like Old Town Alexandria, where they want to attract people. Not just goods, but also services. If the government ran shoe-shining facilities, or massage parlors all over the place would they not be part of a socialist system? There is one important distinction between goods and services, I think, which is that it is easier to be totalitarian about goods given that the average person cannot build a refrigerator so the government has a monopoly. Monopolies on services are harder to achieve. Most anyone can cut hair or shine shoes so even if the government provides those services, there's no monopoly, just as there is no monopoly on schools. I think that's relevant.