• @[email protected]
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    162 years ago

    At best European nations are social liberal democracies. No European country is a socialist nation.

    • lazyraccoon
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      12 years ago

      Is there a non-liberal democracy that isn’t, by definition, flawed?

      • @[email protected]
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        32 years ago

        Humanity is flawed, so any of our constructions will be. But democracy is better than any alternative.

        • lazyraccoon
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          12 years ago

          I’m not 100% sure about that, but I was more interested in the intrinsic correlation between democracy and Liberalism.

          I just can’t imagine a democracy that isn’t liberal, because all the basic elements of a democracy crumble soon after. Unless, well, you consider ancient Athens’ Democracy to be an actual democracy.

          • @[email protected]
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            12 years ago

            I mean I guess you could have a socialist or feudal democracy, but the problem begins with those when you think about what happens with political dissidents

        • lazyraccoon
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          12 years ago

          What are the minimal requirements of a nation to uphold in order to be considered socialist?

          • @[email protected]
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            42 years ago

            A good faith attempt to end the capitalist mode of production and move to the socialist mode as envisioned by Marx. Elimination of the role of capital in the ownership of industry or production, that’s your chief characteristic

            • lazyraccoon
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              12 years ago

              Oh by that measure I wholeheartedly agree, there is not a single socialist nation in Europe.

              How would you describe the European legislation to protect their citizens from the effects of the market and capital? (Welfare, worker rights, pensions, limited work hours, paid leave etc.)

              I’m not looking for dialectical nitpicking (maybe Socratic questioning), I’m asking out of curiosity and a want to understand the differences.