i'm not sure most americans know what socialism is. no offence. i don't think your country is heading that way though. what i don't understand is why some of you don't want a proper health care system, and that that equates obama with being a nazi/socialist. that logic really is just astounding.

no offense taken here :) the reasons i hear that some don't want the healthcare system Obama is proposing because 1) apparently it advocates abortion (although i STILL haven't found any evidence of this whatsoever)

and 2) people don't think its right that person A should have to pay for person B's healthcare.

1. The health care has nothing specifically to do with abortion.
2. Person A already has to pay for Person B's healthcare if Person B is on Medicaid. Plus, Person A pays for Person C's welfare and food stamps. This is not a new concept.

AND Person A pays for Person B's healthcare if they have policies with the same health insurance company!

i don't understand how they can't see it as "i'm paying for my own health care should something ever happen to me" rather than not wanting to pay some stranger's health bill. in australia we have both private and public health care. works pretty well.

(1) The health care plan has absolutely nothing to do with abortion. People think that if healthcare is nationalized then if someone wants an abortion then that means that it will be covered. But so would other things like plastic surgery which none of those people seem to be opposed to. They think that people should only be allowed to make decisions regarding their body in certain circumstances. It reminds me of how people say abortion is murder so they shoot the abortion doctor.

(2) Both person A and person B would be covered and have to pay for it - if "nationalized" health care is part of the plan, but they keep taking that out of the plan because half of the people don't want it. And they don't want it because they already have coverage somewhere else. If they didn't have coverage, they would be all for it though. Maybe when they lose their job, they'll change their minds since that COBRA payment is going to be more than their mortgage.

Of course, Person A already pays for Person B's education through grade 12, among other things which are funded through tax dollars. Of course, by God, that person should have a free high school education but not a free pap smear, because - God forbid - they should die from cervical cancer without a high school diploma!! [/sarcasm] Don't get me wrong - Education IS important and everyone should know how to read, write, etc, but health care is important too and people have a right not to die from preventable illnesses.

Regardless of Obama's actions, the country has been headed away from capitalist and toward socialist economic policy for the past seventy years. From the increase in labor union power, to political pandering to said unions, to nonsensical increases in the minimum wage, price floors, and public opinion of punishing financial success (look at how many people hate Goldman Sachs, despite them doing ~nothing~ wrong), America has fallen from the founding fathers' ideals of an unlimited capitalist society. That is not to say regulation isn't necessary, but the degree and means of which the bumbling American government does so is idiotic. Add in the court allowing nonsensical lawsuits against companies acting in good faith, and whaddayaknow?

As for social policy, there should be none, other than enforcement and passing of laws which protect the individual and his or her property from others.

This site explains the various systems very well.