Why do people keep saying that socialism takes away freedom?

Question

Just to clarify for the ignorant Republican-voting masses, Socialism is an economic policy, and has nothing to do with the taking away or giving of freedoms. It is purely a fiscal policy, and if you want to look at who will really be taking away your freedoms, you may want to look at the party that has introduced The Patriot Act, illegal detention and espionage towards American citizens, and the reduction of rights for women and homosexuals. That is the loss of freedom.

Please point out the facts that back your idea that socialism takes away freedom, without including Stalinism, Maoism, Leninism, etc. (which are all dictatorial corruptions of Communism, which isn't Socialism either) (look up the difference, if you don't understand, before answering, so as to look smarter)

I'm guessing nobody will though, as that takes analysis, logic, and knowledge of politics.

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

Peter they all brainwashed in the US about socialism. OMG I'm Danish will I be allowed on Yahoo lmao. Can I travel? have freedom of expression? will Queen Margrethe be allowed to remain Queen of Denmark? And the very people who say all of Europe is socialist have one: never been to Europe: two are brainwashed just like the McCarthy era in the 50's. Americans tell the difference between "socialism
Snowball you talk pure rubbish

You're basic your fact on what you read in wikipedia?
Now you wouldn't  perhap be like Sarah Palin? just got a passport in 2006? and can see Russia from your front door lmao. Does this sound like socialism snowball?

 Richest people in Europe
Karl & Theo Albrecht Germany Supermarkets £18,400,000,000
Ingvar Kamprad Sweden Retail (Ikea) £16,000,000,000
Lakshmi Mittal UK Steel £14,900,000,000
Bernard Arnault France Luxury goods £12,300,000,000
Johanna Quandt Germany Cars (BMW) £11,900,000,000
Roman Abramovich UK Oil, Investments £10,800,000,000
Liliane Bettencourt France Cosmetics £9,100,000,000
Amancio Ortega Spain Fashion £8,500,000,000
The Herz family Germany Coffee £7,400,000,000
The Brenninkmeyer family Holland Retail £7,100,000,000
Stefan Persson Sweden Retail £7,000,000,000
The Mulliez family France Retail £6,900,000,000
The Oeri/Hoffmann family Switzerland Pharmaceuticals £6,800,000,000
Adolf Merckle Germany Pharmaceuticals £6,600,000,000
Duke of Westminster UK Property £6,600,000,000
Silvio Berlusconi Italy Media £6,300,000,000
Vagit Alekperov Russia Oil £6,300,000,000
Vladimir Lisin Russia Steel £6,100,000,000
Michael Otto Germany Mail order £5,900,000,000
Luciano Benetton Italy Fashion £5,800,000,000
Leonardo Del Vecchio Italy Eyewear £5,700,000,000
Michele Ferrero Italy Chocolates £5,700,000,000
Viktor Vekselberg Russia Oil and metals £5,700,000,000
Mikhail Fridman Russia Oil, banking £5,500,000,000
Spiro Latsis Greece Shipping £5,200,000,000
Birgit Rausing Switzerland and UK Industry £4,900,000,000
Hans Rausing UK Packaging £4,900,000,000
Philip & Tina Green UK Retail (BHS Arcadia) £4,900,000,000
Serge Dassault France Aerospace £4,900,000,000
Hilary Weston Canada/RoI Food £4,800,000,000
Leonard Blavatnik Russia and UK Finance £4,700,000,000
Fentener Van Vlissingen family Holland Energy, retail £4,600,000,000
Rudolf Oetker Germany Food, shipping £4,600,000,000
Oleg Deripaska Russia Industry £4,500,000,000
Hansjorg Wyss Switzerland Medical technology £4,400,000,000
Alain & Gerard Wertheimer France Fashion Chanel £4,300,000,000
Alexei Mordashov Russia Industry £4,300,000,000
Reinhold Würth Germany Industry £4,300,000,000
Vladimir Yevtushenkov Russia Telecoms £4,200,000,000
Andreas and Thomas Strungmann Germany Pharmaceuticals £4,100,000,000
Ernesto Bertarelli Switzerland Biotechnology £4,100,000,000
Suleiman Kerimov Russia Finance £4,100,000,000
August von Finck Germany Investments £4,000,000,000
Francois Pinault France Luxury goods £4,000,000,000
Maria-Elizabeth & Georg Schaeffler Germany Ball bearings £3,900,000,000
Mikhail Prokhorov Russia Metals £3,900,000,000
Hasso Plattner Germany Software £3,700,000,000
Maersk McKinney Moller Denmark Shipping £3,700,000,000
Rafael del Pino Spain Construction £3,700,000,000
The Landolt family Switzerland Pharmaceuticals £3,700,000,000
Vladimir Potanin Russia Metals £3,700,000,000
Walter Haefner Switzerland Software £3,700,000,000
Curt Englehorn Germany Pharmaceuticals £3,500,000,000
Friedrich Flick Germany Investments £3,500,000,000
German Khan Russia Oil, gas £3,500,000,000
David and Simon Reuben UK Property £3,300,000,000
Prince Hans-Adam Liechtenstein Investments & art £3,100,000,000
Sir Richard Branson UK Transport (Virgin) £3,100,000,000
Nikolai Tsvetkov Russia Oil, banking £3,000,000,000
John Fredriksen UK Shipping £2,900,000,000
Karl-Heinz Kipp Germany Real Estate £2,900,000,000
Alexander Abramov Russia Steel, mining £2,800,000,000
Alicia & Esther Koplowitz Spain Construction £2,800,000,000
Erivan Haub Germany Retailing £2,800,000,000
Alexei Kuzmichov Russia Oil, banking £2,700,000,000
Sabanci Family Turkey Banking £2,700,000,000
Charlene and Michel de Carvalho UK Inheritance, brewing and banking £2,600,000,000
Iskander Makhmudov Russia Mining, metals £2,600,000,000
Reinhard Mohn Germany Media £2,500,000,000
Thomas Schmidheiny Switzerland Cement £2,500,000,000
Antonia Johnson Sweden Food, energy, telecoms £2,400,000,000
Giorgio Armani Italy Fashion £2,400,000,000
Jean-Claude Decaux France Media £2,400,000,000
Klaus-Michael Kuhne Germany Shipping £2,400,000,000
Peugeot family France Cars £2,400,000,000
Vladimir Bogdanov Russia Oil and gas £2,400,000,000
Bernie & Slavica Ecclestone UK Motor Racing £2,300,000,000
Leonid Fedun Russia Oil and Gas £2,300,000,000
Madeleine Schickedanz Germany Retailing £2,300,000,000
Athina Onassis Switzerland Shipping £2,200,000,000
Gianluigi Aponte Switzerland Shipping £2,200,000,000
Heniz Baus Switzerland Retailing £2,200,000,000
Mahdi al-Tajir UK Oil, Investments & Water £2,200,000,000
Boris Ivanishvili Russia Mining £2,100,000,000
Earl Cadogan UK Property £2,100,000,000
Joseph Lewis UK Finance £2,100,000,000
Russell De Leon and Ruth Parasol £2,016,000,000
Gerard Louis-Dreyfus France Commodities £2,000,000,000
Nadhmi Auchi UK Finance £2,000,000,000
Poju Zabludowicz UK Property & hotels £2,000,000,000
Russell De Leon & Ruth Parasol UK Internet gambling £2,000,000,000
Sean Quinn Ireland Quarries, hotels & insurance £2,000,000,000
Simon Halabi UK Property £2,000,000,000
Victor Rashnikov Russia Iron and Steel £2,000,000,000
Poju Zabludowicz £2,000,000,000
Eddie & Malcolm Healey UK Property, kitchens £1,900,000,000
Klaus Tschira Germany Software £1,900,000,000
Otto Beisheim Germany Retailing £1,900,000,000
Rainer & Michael Schmidt-Ruthenbeck Germany Retailing £1,900,000,000
Richard Desmond UK Media £1,900,000,000
Martin Bouygues France Construction, media £1,800,000,000
Sir David & Sir Frederick Barclay UK Media, retailing & property £1,800,000,000
Anurag Dikshit £1,704,000,000
Vladimir Kim £1,437,000,000
Eduard Shifrin £920,000,000
Yong Keu Cha £800,000,000
Naresh Goyal and family £780,000,000
John Christodoulou £750,000,000
Lev Chernoi £604,000,000
Vikrant Bhargava £592,000,000
Victor Chandler £500,000,000
Dieter Bock £445,000,000
Marlon Abela £400,000,000
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Michael Gooch £275,000,000
Ayman Asfari £260,000,000
Elena Ambrosiadou £200,000,000
Niklas Zennstrom £200,000,000
Ralph Oppenheimer and family £200,000,000
Dr Nick Dhandsa and family £160,000,000
Ephraim Shahmoon and family £160,000,000
Roger Ames £160,000,000
Nasser Ahmed £151,000,000
Sir Keith Mills £150,000,000
David Harding £145,000,000
Anthony Lyons £140,000,000
Scott Kapnick £140,000,000
Maroun Semaan £130,000,000
Peter and Denise Coates £126,000,000
Richard Hunting and family £114,000,000
Albert Fuss £110,000,000
Anwar and Yakub Patel £110,000,000
Glenn Earle £110,000,000
Jonathan Klein £110,000,000
David Wieland £106,000,000
Tony Khalastchi and family £105,000,000
Richard Koch £103,000,000
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Shaf Rasul £102,000,000
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Nick Corfield £100,000,000
Paul Ruddock £100,000,000
Peter Weinberg £100,000,000
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Paul Stoddart £97,000,000
Anthony Cann and family £95,000,000
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Stephen Daubney £92,000,000
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Peter Wheeler £90,000,000
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Harold Sher £85,000,000
Stephen Conway £85,000,000
Sushil Wadhwani £85,000,000
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Bryan and Ba

RWLake · Answer

Well let's take a look:
What happens when the Government takes over health care? Who determines what kind of coverage you may obtain, who dictates the price, who dictates which doctors you see. Lets don't forget what facilities you may use, and don't forget who pays for it. Seems like I should be the determining factor in all these questions, not someone sitting in a Government office looking at the masses vs the individual.

Lets talk about education. Who will determine what grades a person needs to get into a Government run College. Who choses what courses may or may not be taught? Who determines the pay for the administrators? 

Lets talk about retirement. Who will determine when you can retire, what age, what income, what your benefits will be.

Look at the banking sector of the economy. Who would be determining what policies the bank Must follow. Who will determine their pay scale?

You can go to the auto segment of the economy. Who determines what choices we have.

This goes on and on. I believe the issue you and others fail to see is due to our having the freedom to make our own choices, many take it for granted and think it will always be the same. That's not Socialism. When you have the Government taking over more and more of the daily options you begin to let them make the choices for you and you will live with their directives. This is why our founding fathers wanted our system to have government play a small riole in the everyday lives of its citizens. With the current financial mess we are heading 180 degrees from how this coiuntry was established. The original plan must have been very good as the US became the envy of the world.

Last thought. I have been fortunate to have traveled through out much of Europe. According to most financial advisors those countries are headed toward financial disaster as their social programs are heading them toward financial chaos. Why do you think the president of France is trying to rescind some of the government hand outs. They know they can't sustain their economy. The gentlemen who recently retired from head of the GAO has gone on record stating that with in 30 yrs, due to our existing entitlement programs this country has no way of raising enough taxes to pay for the programs. As a result major overhaul of these programs with in the US most be inacted. So when you hear all of the programs politicians are proposing just be aware these are campaign tactics that haven't a chance in the world to be reality. Remenber ( maybe you are to young) when Bill Clinton campaigned during his first run for president, he promised to cut taxes? Soon after taking office he passed one of the largest tax increases as of that time. Try not to believe everything you currently hear and see the reality of politics and finances.

DALE M · Answer

If you think that Socialism is just an economic policies then go to Cuba, Russia, Red China, or any country that is ran by a Socialist and say some thing about their leader and find out what happens. You will either be put in prison or shot for making disparaging remarks. Here you have the right to say anything that you want to about the government and how they run  things. You can go out and buy what ever you want, what ever bran you want and the government can't say a thing about it. And that all thanks to our founding fathers. Not one person runs the government and not just one party unless the people allow it to happen. Elect Obama and the top is what you will get.

Anonymous · Answer

Freedom Guy is right.  Have you heard of the concept of Equality of Results?   That's ensuring everyone comes out on top, no matter how much harder and more diligently someone may have worked for their success.
I love Equal Opportunity.  But Equality of Results and socialism (Obama's plan) is taking away the freedom of successful people to enjoy what they've worked for by forcing them to give of their wealth to others.  Why not leave that decision up to them?  Let them decide how much they want to give and to whom?  

Socialism basically destroys the entire concept of freedom by limiting how much a person can make and how far they can go in life.   You make more than 250,000 bucks a year?  Well, I'm gonna take some of that for those people that didn't really bother to work as hard as you.  

Socialists want everybody to make about the same paycheck in the end, regardless of what kind of job you work, for how long, for how hard, no matter what extra pains you may have taken to get where you are - such as addtional schooling, putting in overtime for the last 10 years, sacrificing time with family, etc.  

It's government ownership of economic enterprise -  personally, I don't want the government hovering over everything I'm involved in, but that's what you get with socialism.
That all classes should exist on the same level, forbidding, essentially, anyone from being able to rise if they so desire.  
That, I think, limits freedom a great deal.

Johnny Sokko · Answer

No, it just takes a knowledge of history.
Socialism is a classical example of an idea that works only on paper.
It eventually oppresses the very class that it attempts to liberate and historically they have devolved into dictatorships.

EDIT: You've been given plenty of good reasons to abandon your childish fantasies about a Utopian socialist society.  Take the useful advise and do your own homework.

kopf · Answer

Patricia Kluge Wiki

Freedom Guy · Answer

Socialism takes money from someone that earned it and gives it to someone that did not earn it. Financial freedom to excel is lost.

With socialism, the government controls the means of production, not the people. Freedom is lost to produce based on raw market demand.

Socialism forces public services such as health care on the population. Freedom to choose is lost.

Socialism limits your ability to achieve the American Dream, by forcing you to pay for someone else's house or credit card or school loans.

Socialism destroys the middle class... the result? a ruling class and a large number of socialist slaves. Where will you end up?

Socialism is pure force.. your maybe holding a bag of money, but the government gun is pointed at your head. Theft.

Anonymous · Answer

i think our coutry is socialist. people just try todeny it. Just remember who do u call for help (cops, firefighters, ambulance) or who pays for a free education. there are many more examples. I believe U.S health care shoul be socialize for the benefit of the middle class and poor.

Eric R · Answer

PAY ATTENTION EVERYBODY!

Peter has absolutely no idea of what he is talking about.  He simply spews forth ideas and words he gets from Liberal Blogs.

Please do not pay attention to anything this person says and everything will be fine.

EDIT:  Glad to see I got you so riled up.  I stand by what I say earlier after looking at your other questions and answers.  You are not very informed at all

I am Eric R. and I approve this message

Anonymous · Answer

Socialism, as defined by Karl Marx, doesn't take away any rights. But heavens forbid people do some research on the topic of Socialism. It's much easier to think Socialism = Communism = Soviet Union.

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Why do people keep saying that socialism takes away freedom?

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