I support "regulated Marxism"

[Green Xenon]

Hi:

 

I believe every1 should get all their basic needs met regardless of how much money they have.

 

Here are my basic needs:

 

1. Live as long as my genes program me to

2. Live with the least amount of discomfort [be it physical, psychological, tactile, olfactory, or gustatory]

 

I'll give you an example of this "regulated Marxism":

 

If a myopic patient needs eyeglasses, he/she get everything in the process free of charge [including the eye exam]. However, if the patient wants laser-eye surgery, he/she should have to pay for it with his/her own money. Why? Because a myopic patient can see properly if provided with eyeglasses. Laser-eye surgery is not necessary to restore normal vision. My regulated-Marxism cater -- without charge -- to *needs* but ignores *wants*. *Wants* must be paid for if they are to be provided.

 

In my hypothetical system of regulated-Marxism, you are entitled to be free of discomfort at the expense of society. However, if you want luxury and pleasure, you must pay with your own money for it.

 

Also -- if you are born into a richer family, a higher-percentage of your income goes to taxes than if you were born into a poorer family.

 

In this system, the rich will not get richer unless they work harder AND the poor will not get poorer unless they are lazy and give into costly pleasures [such as alcohol, tobacco, and gambling].

 

 

Regards,

 

GX

[LS George]

This would work in theory, and I completely agree with it. Probably won't happen in countries such as the UK or USA as it isn't in their best interests.

 

One problem would be getting the funding for this. Taxes would be obvious, however in the UK we are trying to sort out our budget deficit. Borrowing won't sort this, and will only make the problem worse. What we need is more economic activity so that we can have more people in jobs. That way we can get more people paying income tax, which helps deal with the deficit. If more people are in decent paid jobs then that means they will have more disposable income. Buy products with VAT, more money to the government! Also the trading between businesses from other countries will probably incur some sort of tax.

 

So really we need some more taxes for this to work properly.

[ralfy]

This type of regulation is inevitable given debt-ridden economies coupled with the threat of a resource crunch.

[Severian]

In what sense is this Marxism? This is already how most of the European democracies function. (Except for the last sentence which seems to have no link to the rest of the post.)

Edited July 22, 2012 by Severian

[Joatmon]

Hi:

 

I believe every1 should get all their basic needs met regardless of how much money they have.

 

Here are my basic needs:

 

1. Live as long as my genes program me to

.........................................

 

 

Regards,

 

GX

 

I'd like you to change this to live as long as medical science can provide me with a decent quality of life. I say this as I have a decent quality of life supported by a stent in one of my heart's arteries and quite a collection of drugs to be taken every 12 hours! I believe my genes programmed me to die several years ago.

Edited July 22, 2012 by Joatmon