Does socialism allow for dissent?
Socialism refers to the governmental control of the economy, allowing for the ruling administration to oversee ownership and management of the national economy and its characteristics. Nations that exhibit a socialist economy are, by definition, socialist governments. Looking at past and current socialist governments, dissent is “allowed” in the sense that people may dissent against the government. However, has anyone noticed that dissenters seem to vanish in those countries faster than the Statue of Liberty in a David Copperfield special? In all truth, dissent is not wanted and highly discouraged by the government and enforced by the authorities. The most recent case involves the mayor of a Venezuelan city who disappeared shortly after publicly disagreeing with Chavez. Many liberals in this country forget that they have the right to dissent and the right to complain about their government. It would be ironic if the liberals who complained about government got what they wanted, then di
Sure, socialism has little to do with citizen choices and behavior. Socialism the basic ECONOMIC system of ownership of the means of production, i.e. large industries and business – communication, utilities etc. I think you are asking about form of government which may be democratic, authoritarian or dictatorial. A number of countries -Sweden, Norway, Denmark as examples of Democratic Socialism which their citizens seem to very happy about. Others such as China practice Totalitarian Socialism – better known as Communism. The U.S. practices some forms of Socialism such as the Post Office and other public needs such as highways and others. But the basic Political Structure is Representative Democracy. Practicing pure Democracy is impossible in very large countries, the pure form requires that ALL citizens vote on everything. It works in very small communities where gathering of all members is practical.
