The gap between the rich and poor is greater in socialist countries. Furthermore the standard of living among the poor in a capitalistic society is far greater than that of a socialist nation. The poor in the US suffer from obesity and have cable tv. The poor in most socialist nations suffer from starvation.

There is always a tension in European countries between the political left and right wings and it tends to be quite cyclical. I can’t imagine any European country completely abandoning its welfare state – in the UK (not a very socialist country on the whole) certain aspects are sacrosanct even amongst the right wing.

For a wealthy country, there is a large disparity between rich and poor in the States so its no wonder that you still have poverty. Oh, and IMHO government is representative of society, not somehow separate. I want my society to be compassionate.

It is my understanding that Scandinavia is moving way from socialism and more toward a capitalistic type society. Furthermore, does Scandinavia have less of a problem with poverty, drug abuse and homelessness than the US or UK?

I live in what is often termed the “wealthiest nation on the earth”, yet we still have poverty and homelessness. I think that it lend strength to the prophecy made by Christ when he said: “For you always have the poor with you”.

I am certainly not against charity and compassion. I just do not think that those areas are the proper role of government.

I think I feel another post coming. . .

In other cases, I think that a civilised country doesn’t have people living on the street, or people suffering because they are too poor to get medical care. I don’t live in a civilised country yet, but we are getting there.

Countries that have strong wefare systems (think Scandinavia) are some of the happiest in the world, and I’d rather be happy than rich.

Finally, in the UK at least the people most likely to get government help are those who have the lowest income, they are simultaneously least likely to vote. I don’t think that its the end of democracy (if that’s how you’d describe either of our political systems).

In rebuttal to Alexander Tyler – I’m not sure he’d ever even witnessed democracy so why is he likely to be right. I see neither the USA nor the UK, (nor any other major industrialised democratic nation) becoming dictatorships anytime soon.