What did your parents think of the Democrats while growing up?

[choxorn]

I, personally, would define the difference between a Social Democrat and a Democratic Socialist is that a DemSoc has a commitment for building socialism/communism and a Social Democrat doesn't, they just want social programs + capitalism.



I would not personally consider anti-tax to make sense as a Social Democratic position as you need taxes to pay for social programs.

I will not go into further detail on this as I have been asked to stop.

All of this I would agree with

And this is also why I am once again asking CG to explain what he means when he calls himself a "Social Democrat." What center-left policy positions do you hold that lead you to identify that way, and also, what exactly do you think a "Social Democrat" is?

 

[GenMarshall]

And this is also why I am once again asking CG to explain what he means when he calls himself a "Social Democrat." What center-left policy positions do you hold that lead you to identify that way, and also, what exactly do you think a "Social Democrat" is?

Off the top of my head; pro-unionization, decent social programs and safety nets, and regulations to reign in capitalism and monopolies. I should be clear when I mention “low taxes” I’m referring to the tax bracket that I am in (and below me), I have no qualms on having the rich pay more in taxes. I’m not touching the social issues since I’m not well informed about them without accidentally making a faux pas that would end up getting me dog piled on (I know @Gorbles made an offer to help me better understand those issues and are going to stay in the PMs between Gorbles and I until I feel comfident).

What I think a Social Democrat is? Typically I view it as a position who’d advocated social programs and social safety nets (Universal Healthcare, UBI), reforming capitalism, and clamping down on monopolies.

 

[Farm Boy]

I don't remember serious anti monopoly energy since ma bell in 1984. I don't think the social Democrat wing aligns against monopoly. I think it's been encouraged as good for the customer. Like medical industry centralization is playing out the same. Gotta scrape those margins.

 

[EgonSpengler]

Yeah, medicine is something that just shouldn't be left to the free market (probably at every level, because they're all intertwined). I was just listening to a podcast this morning about gun violence in Chicago, specifically about the complete lack of Level 1 trauma centers across the entire South Side until, I think they said, 2017*. Why did the South Side, where gunshot injuries are more common (compared to the North Side, which had four Level 1 trauma centers)? Money. More specifically, the lack of enough people with good health insurance to cover the costs of people without good health insurance (they cited an industry term for this, having a good ratio of patients with insurance against patients without, but I've forgotten what it was). Why does it matter? Because of "the Golden Hour." The survival rates of trauma victims treated within an hour of being injured. The sooner, the better of course, and a lot depends on where the injury is and how quickly paramedics reach the patient initially, as well as how quickly the patient is transported to a trauma center - and we might speculate that response times of ambulances are longer on the South Side, too, because so many ambulance services are for-profit companies.


* Why 2017? They didn't say, but I bet it correlated with the rollout of the Affordable Care Act, aka 'Obamacare.'

 

[QarQing]

I don't know, I've never thought about but I have voted the last option.