kalm wrote: ↑Mon Jul 13, 2026 7:14 am
Baldy wrote: ↑Sun Jul 12, 2026 11:44 am
Still waiting...
True democratic socialist countries do not exist. The term is adjacent to if not interchanged with social democracies. The theoretical difference is using regulated capitalism to fund a social programs in a state vs. an ultimate goal of rejecting capitalism in the evolution from socialism to communism. This also has never occurred.
The important takeaway (which I’ve said for years on here) is that all economically prosperous countries have a mixed economy. Including the U.S. at its economic peak.
The people who think social democracies and democratic socialists are adjacent or even interchangeable are the people who have no clue what either are. While both have broad, generalized goals that are similar, the two couldn't be more different from a functional standpoint.
When Bernie made his infamous statement on that Univision debate in 2016 saying that when he talks about democratic socialism, he's talking about the type of socialism in Denmark and Sweden and not the type of socialism in Venezuela and Cuba. It took the Danish PM about 20 seconds to go on TV to give Bernie a body check and say that Denmark isn't a socialist country; democratic socialist or otherwise.
The overarching goal of democratic socialists is to eradicate capitalism. Social democracies have highly functioning market driven economies and are only able to exist and function because of capitalism. There isn't anything adjacent or interchangeable about that whatsoever.
It's as simple as...Democratic socialists are vehemently anti-capitalism. Social democracies only exist because of capitalism.
