OK, having lived in Sweden, one of the most soialist countries in the world, I'm going to have to set a few things straight.
People are not all paid the same wages across the board in a socialist country. That'd be a communist country. Then again, there would be no wages in communist society at all, given that wage labor is one of the many capitalist evils for communist thinkers... But I digress. The point is though, that you're afraid of something that is blatantly untrue about a socialist society. There are upper echelon jobs, and lower echelon jobs. The same type of idea that if you work hard, you will go far that you find in America, still applies to most Western nations, even though they may be more socialist that the USA. Just look at France, the national identity is one of ruthless competition and elitism, within a societal framework where everyone gets due human treatment.
The point that drew is making, and that I also see in this country, is that this supposed idea of the "American Dream" of rags to riches, though obviously having taken place in particular, uncommon events, is not the actual dynamic of this country. Not just anyone can go from working by the hour to making their own fortune here, or go from absolute poverty to financial security, with mere motivation and resolve alone. Ever since the USA was founded, "we the people" did not encapsulate everyone; it did not mean slaves, women or Native Americans. This isn't a gripe on the USA in particular, this was a general Western ting to not exactly included everyone in their universal freedoms.
As we have moved forward and away from this segregationist past, there are still relics of this racist, sexist, elitist past. Though general perception of difference seems to be slowly changing towards the acceptance of all people within the new liberal mentality, the institutionalized oppression and vicious cycles of the past are still around.
I do not doubt that your dad has worked hard to get where he is. However, unless you correct me, I doubt that he grew up in the projects, on an indian reservation, or went to the community college down the road, or had to drop out of school to work to help feed his family, or who had a mother working 2 obs just to put food on the table...
You, and I, and pretty much anyone who can afford the luxury to sit down and converse with strangers through computers, are living a life of privilege. I was born into it, as were you. We never had to deal with the struggles that children born into the lower echelons of society have had to deal with. Though you may be right in some cases that people, through hard work and determination, could better their lives from where they are, it is easy to dismiss people who come from the have-nots as lazy and go on working and studying via the wealth we have of not having to worry about survival, or being born into a situation where one is not provided the means to be even begin to change their situation.
Because the amount of work that you are doing, you do not out of necessity, but out of possibility. What about the person who wishes they could work, all they want to do is work to make money for their family, but they are branded as illegal immigrants, and have to work menial, backbreaking jobs for no money for you and me, but more than what their home country can provide? What of the family that cannot afford college and the medication needed to keep their wage gainer alive?
In Sweden, and France, taxes are higher than here in the USA, yes. But the wealth is redistributed, so that hopefully all children can have quality education, education being the only means to improve your situation. Universities in France, and Sweden, are extremely cheap. Like, 500 bucks a year in tuition cheap. And they're nothing to scoff at. And there is still a hierarchy of schools. Only the most motivated will get into the Sorbonne or Stockholms Universitetet.
Also, everyone has affordable healthcare provided for them s that they know that tomorrow, they will be taken care of if an emergency came around that would cripple the family.
If the USA spent only a fraction of its defense budget on societal improvement, we wouldn't even necessarily need to raise taxes at all to get a base level of human quality of living.
Do you wish everyone could enjoy the same privileges as you and I? The choice of clothing they wear, their choice of university, the same ability to see a doctor, have access to orthodontia and have education paid for and provided for them, so that everyone can succeed from the same base level?
We hold these truths to be self evident, but we don't seem willing to provide a structure for them to be so. I think that Obama, through his socialist policies, could do the USA good in helping alleviate societal tensions across the board issued from a lack of human quality of living. I hope he takes a look at Europe when doing it too.
