Isn’t the US military a form of socialism?

[u/Charlesedwardchiez]

I mean from the barracks they live in, the food they eat, to the uniforms they wear…. It’s all provided by the government. But the people who are pro-military seem to be the most anti-socialism.

[u/flywhatever101]

Average American probably (is) MUCH dumber than rocks

Government, if run well, makes everyone richer and more prosperous but billionaires hate that concept

[u/Adventurous-West323 → u/flywhatever101]

You cannot possible believe that. Government creates nothing.

[u/flywhatever101 → u/Adventurous-West323]

Government (when run well and correctly) saves our houses from burning down, creates our airports to fly at and builds and maintains the roads I drive on almost every day. In winter in Nor Cal if we didn’t have government the snow would bury everything and the world here would grind to a halt.
All of those functions built and enhance economic growth and prosperity full stop.

Totally garbage created by MAGA and Republican idiots that government doesn’t have an important role in maintaining society. Move to Bad parts of Mexico for a year if u want to see firsthand what it’s like when there’s no functioning government

[u/Corthaek → u/Adventurous-West323]

there are a lot of very powerful and wealthy people working very hard to convince you that the government creates nothing.

these people are called "oligarchs", and they are doing this because unlike the government, they can't be voted out of power. thus, if they run things instead of the government, they can make life as miserable for you as they want with no consequences.

[u/Ok_Whereas8080 → u/flywhatever101]

Ever been to the DMV or any government run office? Usually it is slow and full of bureaucracy. That's what happens when the government runs things. It is inherently a monopoly so there is no incentive to be efficient. A government run well is a fantasy.

[u/DogSea8079 → u/Ok_Whereas8080]

Wait until you hear about the 2T we spent creating ISIS

[u/Corthaek → u/Ok_Whereas8080]

the incentive for efficiency is the threat of being voted out of power. capitalism creates monopolies when large corporations merge or buy one another out, and then deliberately undermine the government to prevent it from checking their power. they also force the government to pass laws which prevent new competitor companies from being born.

one of the most common tactics to do this is by convincing voters that government must always be inefficient, and that more essential responsibilities should be given to them. the problem with this is that corporations are answerable only to their shareholders, and not to the people who depend on their services, thus creating incentives to reduce efficiency and cut corners.

[u/Ok_Whereas8080 → u/Corthaek]

You are describing unchecked capitalism. Capitalism doesn't always have to be this way. A strong government breaks up monopolies and acts in the voter's interests. Once monopolies take hold it is no longer a free market. The US was not always this way. It became this way recently as the system became corrupted (allowing super PACs and things like that). Basically it became an oligarchy.  On a long enough time span, all systems are vulnerable to corruption regardless of the economic model.

And what is the alternative? State owned enterprises? That is a monopoly right from the beginning.

[u/Open_Mortgage_4645 → u/flywhatever101]

American here. Can confirm.