They should embrace that. Yes, it is socialism. Socialism is how you get these good things for the community. Stop treating the word Socialism like it’s scary and own it.
Is the fire department socialism? Everyone pays for a service/insurance that 99.9% people might never use, but want to have in case some shit went down. Why does nobody think this is socialism is beyond me.
There are some dumbass libertarians who advocate for privatizing fire fighting because of that
A lot of firefighting company actually used to be private, owned and operated by insurance companies
Socialism is the collective ownership of the means of production
I must say, this Mamdani fellow seems to be having a lot of success very quickly. One has to wonder why nobody ever tried any of this before. Can it really be that the switch to using Ranked Choice Voting in NY primaries made THAT much of a difference in the type of candidate that made it through?
Why do you think republicans are trying to make it illegal?
Tbh it’s likely.
I think, for the longest time, the mayors have just been in on the racket. If you don’t ruffle feathers, the rich keep schmoozing you. Just keep your head down.
I think it’s always been that “easy”; they just didn’t care to do it.
There’s a certain type of person who sees politics as a route to personal enrichment. That type is present in both major parties in the US, and probably the minor ones as well.
But liquor is a vice and the old school Christians wanted to crack down on that.
We should ban alcohol nation wide! That’ll show them! /s
There is nothing wrong with regulating vices, but not because they are offensive to God, that’s just stupid superstition.
The reason to regulate vices is because they tend to be addicting and destructive, and there are many immoral people who will deliberately addict as many people as possible, just to shake the Almighty Profits out of their pockets.
I don’t care about that when it’s voluntary - nobody is addicted to buying a new car, or a new couch, that’s a personal choice. But when they have been enticed into becoming ADDICTED by marketing and advertising, the choice is no longer theirs, and they are spending money they don’t really want to because a corporation got them literally addicted through shrewd and effective advertising.
I have noticed that Matthew Broderick is now doing commercials for a new gambling app that uses Candy Crush type games to gamble instead sports or cards, and they are aiming it at middle aged women. Worse, they are aiming it at UNSATISFIED women. The ads show women with adult children who have moved back in, with husbands, or children, who won’t pay attention to them, etc. They are aiming at older women who feel unfulfilled in life, and encouraging them to feel better by playing a video game that is barely disguised gambling.
It’s not enough that they are addicting young men to sports gambling, now they’ve identified a new demographic - unhappy middle-aged women, many of whom control the household finances. It’s only a matter of time before we hear about families losing their home because mom gambled away the mortgage.
Vices need to be regulated to keep the Corporate Predatory Parasites under control, or they will eventually enslave ALL of us.
That’s the logical argument, but that’s not why we have liquor laws. Think way back when, it started with religious anti-drinking. Think prohibition, that was all rooted in religion. But when prohibition failed they had to settle on strict control.
Funny thing now is that as the right loses its “real” religion and becomes “gubment bad” they want looser liquor laws, and now its the left that wants the logical liquor control. But the current laws still came around from way back when.
The reason for gambling laws was to keep the money out of gangs.
and now its the left that wants the logical liquor control.
Who and why, exactly? Outside of drinks hirting others I couldn’t give two shits.
I’m much more concerned with how easily it is to get a gun over a drink.
Asks why. Lists why. …
I mean, that’s cool and all, but I don’t give a shit about people drinking.
Being a smug shit is cool, too.
Well yeah, it is far enough south to be as hot and humid as Satan’s taint for large swaths of time, covered in insects like mosquitoes, and it is filled to the brim with corrupt, hypocritical politicians, and the ignorant masses that keep voting for them.
Don’t lots of states operate liquor stores? I know Canada does.
Ohio has very strict liquor licensing for sale.
I knew there had to be more than just one
Canada has a mix.
Alberta is fully private, BC is mixed, Ontario is mainly government with carve out private owned store for breweries, Quebec is mixed.
Fair enough. I’m not Canadian. I was going by Trailer Park Boys, which takes place in Nova Scotia.
Incredible show
Still sad to know Bubbles’ actor is a total POS though. I can’t lie though…I still watch the show.
It came out yearrrsss before this where he either sexually assaulted a girlfriend or beat her up. I forget which. I also know he is the reason Lucy left , and some theorize J to the R O C left for the same reason.
Honestly, just Google a picture of Mike Smith not dressed as Bubbles. You can see the pure scum radiating off of him. I always felt something was really off/dark about him ever since the very first time I saw him out of costume. Some people it just… I dont know. Its like you can smell their depravity just by looking at a picture.
One of my favorites.
PA also has state run liquor stores. I always thought Ohio was the only other state.
Anywhoots, yea I think that is a good thing. And not just because it eases people into seeing how socialism is a good thing.
NC too. At least for a bit longer.
Utah and Idaho are both state run liquor stores.
Wooo! Someone mentioned my state!
So many more than I thought. Dayum.
Just looked it up. States with ABC stores:
- Alabama
- Idaho
- Iowa
- Maine
- Michigan
- Mississippi
- Montana
- New Hampshire
- North Carolina
- Ohio
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Utah
- Vermont
- Virginia
- West Virginia
- Wyoming
Though there are several asterisks.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcoholic_beverage_control_state
Wow fuck. When i went thro training they literally told me ohio was only other one, maybe its a licensing vs operating thing?
I do recall being in NC and their stores being called abc. Thats not a PA thing tho, we have plcb. (Commercial name FWGS, fine wine and good spirits).
I aint doubting yous, just surprised.
I meant to link the wiki page, oops. Added it.
Wyoming may have state run stores. The majority are not, but it’s up to the city and county to decide how they sell them. In one county I can go into Walmart and purchase liquor. In another it’s only liquor stores, in another the gas station sells liquor based slushies.
I don’t drink but holy hell I gotta try a slushie now
Slushice with vodka is great! Can recommend.
Every time I drive through Evanston always have to stop at the Maverik that has them. It’s the only one that I’ve ever seen that has it and it’s fantastic.
One of the few things I agree with the Christian right on except I think all vices, including all drugs / gambling, should be sold by state run stores. The profit motive and addiction don’t mix well
Wut?
The reason Alabama has state run liquor stores is that Christians clutched their pearls at the idea of people making profits off of the vice of alcohol. This individual agrees that vices and profits don’t mix from a moral perspective. Where this individual and the “alleged” inbreds split, and I’m assuming, is that they would like the state to supply all vices in a profit free environment. A novel idea that would surely not go down in a favorable way in a state that never finds itsself at the absolute bottom of any quality of life list, solely because of the existence of Mississippi.
This is dumb, because there is still a profit, it’s just the state collecting it instead of a private individual. If there was no profit, the product would be significantly cheaper, but it’s not. There’s a profit being made, it’s just going to “the people.”
The problem is that the government is going to operate the retail operation so inefficiently, that the profit will be eaten by bureaucratic costs.
That’s the real value of profit - it drives efficiency. Without a profit motive, there is no reason to value and implement efficiency, so money gets wasted.
Speaking of dumb:
Without a profit motive, there is no reason to value and implement efficiency
I work for a non profit organization. An enormous amount of effort goes into ensuring efficiency so that we can maximize the success of our mission.
Excellent point. Obviously, there is a lot more nuance involved that can’t be contained in a single sentence.
The problem is that the government is going to operate the retail operation so inefficiently, that the profit will be eaten by bureaucratic costs.
Citation needed. You’re just repeating right wing talking points that holds that government can’t be efficient, and that profit is the only source of efficiency.
Profit drives selling things for more profit, not efficiency. Sometimes efficiency is the driving force for more profit, but not always by a long shot.
The value of regulated pricing for vices is that it prevents the profit drive to lower prices, increase addiction, and then raise prices.
The goal isn’t cheap vices. It’s stable prices, controlled quality and predictable supply.
You also make excellent points.
I understand that it could sound like Right-wing talking points, but RW talking points often have a kernel of truth, that gets distorted. We have all seen government agencies that are hopelessly bureaucratic, but that doesn’t mean ALL government agencies are that useless. I’ve been to terrible DMVs in past locations I’ve lived, but the DMV in the area I live now is amazing. I’m never there longer than a half hour. Government doesn’t have to be inefficient, MAGAs just like to make it that way, so they can invent excuses to cut programs.
The goal is lack of a profit motive, means they are less likely to exploit the human weakness. They’ll sell you your vice but not try to push more
Do you want efficiency in selling vices?
IMO you want just enough efficiency to prevent a black market, otherwise add as much friction as possible.
But but FREEDOM!
The next time they call you ‘Socialist’ ask them to explain how the Homestead Act wasn’t Socialism.
I’m not from the US and hadn’t heard of this. But are we arguing it WAS socialism?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homestead_Acts
From my very cursory reading of the above, seems like imperialism handing out indigenous land to settlers, no?
In conclusion, I’m saying this definitely does not look like socialism to me. Socialism is democratic control over society by the workers, and the Homestead Acts (from my cursoru understanding) don’t seem to be that. Just maybe the tiniest bit better than having massive slave operated holdings by oligarchs.
I think that they’re implying that people likely to argue that state-controlled stores are socialist are also likely to conflate any service or good offered by the state is socialism.
In the US, “socialism” is both demonized and the actual definition is obfuscated by right-wing (read: most) media in the same way other terms are, such as “woke”. This alienates the average person in the US from movements, policies, organizations, etc that would benefit them, from free school lunch programs to socialist representatives running on taxing the wealthy.
Putting aside whether it’s socialism or not, state-run grocery stores isn’t a great policy. Grocery stores are already a low margin business.
I thought part of the reason was to operate near people who dont have other options. Maybe I need to look into that.
The point isn’t to make money for the state. It’s to make sure people have access to affordable food.
