Good morning! It’s a lot easier to say that now than it was before the 3rd of November.
That’s also the reason I’ve delayed this, the contentious “Socialist!” call, because socialism is so misunderstood, could have given fire to our competitors.
Competitors, not enemies, we’re all Americans and I need to remember that.
I can write and report on exactly one Socialist state, Germany, because I live here and have, off and on, mainly on, since 2000.
How do I start? I suppose with employment, the need to be in it, what happens when you aren’t in it and how that affects a person.
Okay, here we go. In a socialist state, such as Germany, work is seen as you doing your part. If you can feed and clothe yourself, then you need to do that, if you cannot, then the social state kicks in. In a capitalist state, work is seen as what you have to do to survive with the possible benefit of the individual enriching themselves through their work. The socialist state doesn’t put any roadblocks in the way of the individual enriching himself except the taxes, levied on everyone who has an income, that turn around and support the social state. The capitalist state, if you cannot work, doesn’t kick in at all unless it is to kick you down. The idea of self enrichment is also a trend setter among socialists, it is possible to achieve. The social state says only- you aren’t going to forget the less fortunate on your way up and since charity is too whimsical and undignified for those receiving it, the state takes care of all of it.
After Hitler, modern states that wanted to avoid that scenario happening again took a real look at the discontent that fueled his rise. Why were the people unhappy? Hunger, a lack of places to live, unemployment and a lack of chances to change your lot had everything to do with it.
If you can keep that discontent down by enabling the people so that they can have a decent life AND still go about their daily lives largely untouched by government, perhaps there’d be no more Hitlers or Stalins?
After WWII, Europe lived through horrors that no American has ever lived through on our shores, the people had absolutely nothing. I have seen pictures of Bremen, leveled, there is nothing to see but masonry and bricks for miles and miles and Bremen wasn’t hit all that hard compared to Dresden or some others. After that war, the Allies, meaning us, helped the new German state to develop their Constitution. In that document is a sentence that actually demands the social state.
“(1) Human dignity shall be inviolable. To respect and protect it shall be the duty of all state authority.”
How to do that? How to guarantee dignity to everybody equally? Why, take charge and mandate everything. Germans are extremely pragmatic and the idea of the churches and ten or twenty rich guys waking up every day and saying to themselves “Oh, I bet the less fortunate are hungry, I’m going to send them enough money so they can all eat! Today.” isn’t reliable enough for them.
What about the other twenty nine days, what about the rest of the year? The German government, at least the folks who set it up in it’s current iteration, decided that abrogation of government responsibility in this and other areas wasn’t the way to go, no one would get fed, no one would prosper save a few. Mainly profiteers, of whom they were sick and tired by the time they started forming their system.
This is such a huge subject, I misdoubt my ability to show it to you competently but I’ll keep trying.
Employment.
Germany currently has a federal minimum wage, and that took forever to get because business kept screaming that “Wages are already set by the Unions!” which was true, but, not every union is as good at pay negotiations as they should be and the little guy was getting screwed. If the little guy gets screwed on wages, that means he or she pays less taxes and needs more help- which then screws everybody else because the State needs what it needs and it will get it from somewhere.
If you go to work, there are things you as an employee are guaranteed by law. A minimum wage. All protective clothing and tools needed for the job MUST be provided by the employer. You are guaranteed, through law, 24 days of paid vacation in the first year but almost no one gives that little. (Side note, I work part time as a security guard and I get 28 paid days on year one. It won’t ever go up, it won’t ever go down. Anything over those 24 days is a benefit to try and get good people.) Employment funds my retirement, bringing it up from the mandated “Bottom” under which no one can live in Germany. It also funds my part of my medical insurance.
In Germany, the law states that “Medical insurance must be paid” by someone. The second I become unemployed, the unemployment office (Budgetary entity) pays my medical and retirement premiums until I can work again. If I’m sick, the medical portion is paid by social services (Another budgetary entity). It’s all automatic. The one caveat is that I MUST apprise them of my unemployment status immediately, or earlier if I know it’s coming or I risk sanctions for up to 90 days. The social state NEEDS you to do your part.
Unemployed? It happens, so what do I get? If I have worked long enough, one year is the minimum, I will receive sixty percent of my highest net pay over the last 12 months for one year if under fifty years of age, up to 48 months if over fifty and depending on how long I worked before that. If children are still at home, it’a bumped up to 67 percent.
While unemployed, I am required to look for work unless a medical condition is affecting that. If I’m out sick, employed or not at the time, I’m not carried as unemployed, my insurance company will pay me 60 percent of my wages until I am no longer sick, the day I am not sick, my unemployment begins again.
It’s a social state.
The unemployment office will reimburse you for paper, stamps and envelopes you’ve bought so you could apply, although, with the internet, that’s kind of going out the window. The point there is, you aren’t left alone. Job training and retraining is HUGE here, because things change and the career you picked at 16 may not even exist any more at thirty and the focus is on keeping you working. That sounds like a greedy state but it is also about you- a person feels better if they can work. If a job is too far away, they will pay for your bus ticket or train fare- for awhile, not forever, until you can carry your own weight. I’ve seen them give people loans for a vehicle so they can accept a job. They will pay for your driver’s license (That costs around 2000 Euro, typically) if an employer will say you need it for the job.
In this social state, work should not cost you money. Sure, a car costs gasoline, however, in most places there are buses, some people take bicycles- if you choose the more expensive variant, well, that is why it isn’t communism, people have that choice. You can later claim that gas money on your tax refund, and yes, people get tax refunds here too.
The social state is HUNGRY for money, just as the capitalist state is, the difference is where that money goes and what the priority is. Here, the first priority is the people.
Here, everyone has a right to a place to live, and whether you can afford one on your own is irrelevant. If you find a place, and yes, it must fit if you’re asking for help, it’s paid for and the government also engages in active price controls so that working people can afford the apartments and houses that are getting ever harder to find. They’re struggling with this because there are too many people, not enough housing and they also have a duty to not mistreat those people who own that housing. It’s a Social Market, controlled capitalism and they try to be fair to every lobby.
A place to live, food, clothing, schooling, school outings, no child should be left out because mom or dad earn less than the kid next door. That is social. Yes, there is still charity. Yes, rich people and others are offered tax incentives to donate and they do.
No, not everything is given to you.
That old propaganda canard about socialism funding laziness is exactly what I called it, propaganda propagated by people who don’t EVER want you to believe there is a more dignified way. The one thing that capitalists hate the most about socialism, no matter what they claim, is that they get less chance to take money from you. The other one I hear the most from people emigrating to places like America is this one. “At least there I only pay for myself, my money stays mine!” What they won’t tell you is that some of them also benefited from that very same social state, and other people giving up a little so all of us can live a little better.
What can you say, there are people like that everywhere.
That is employment, we haven’t even started- sheesh, I have Kindergeld to get through (Money every family gets because, kids are expensive) and education, the medical system- there ARE no uninsured in this country- and a whole lot more so this is going to be at least a trilogy.
I plan on looking in in case there are questions.
Have a great day!
Kell
P.s. I grew up in Rockford Il. and this is so far, far away from what I grew up with as a poor child of poor parents that I just have to write this. K.