Yes, one program our country does have that is pure socialism is our federal welfare programs. These are socialism because our government takes money, forcibly, from those who work and pay taxes to give to those who refuse to work and pay taxes. Today, this has gone way beyond the usual socialism in thst our government forces its citizens who pay taxes to pay for the support of tens of millions of foreign noncitizens through welfare, free education for their children, free medical care through our hospitals/clinics, etc. Now, that may be socialism, but I call it stealing from citizens to give to foreigner noncitizens.

Is it really socialism when the citizens of a community meet abd decide together to pool their money and establish a fire department to help and protect everyone's property? Same thing when the citizens themselves v**e to establish a police department for the benefit of everyone? Same thing wgen the citizens together decide the main street in their town should be paved and put in the money to do that? Or when the citizens decide their town should have a library for the public and decide to allocate fees on themselves to finance It? Is all this, benefits for citizens decided upon by citizens agreeing to pay for their mutual benefit?

Might be a good thing to mention that about 70 percent of America's firefighters are volunteers, and 85 percent of the nation's fire departments are all or mostly volunteer. The smallest communities — those with fewer than 10,000 residents — are almost always served by volunteer departments. I was a volunteer firefighter in a small community--1300 pop--before I moved to a city and was hired as a pro.

When I was with the city dept, volunteer departments in the area helped out on some of the big fires we fought.

You got it, Gman, no government--local, county, state or federal--manufactures or produces any products or services for profit. Governments do not generate an income. They only function on contributions (taxes) from the citizens.

The Navy does not build its own ships, the Air Force doesn't manufacture its own planes, the Army doesn't make its own weapons, the government doesn't build the highways and bridges.

"The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money."
Margaret Thatcher

You have a distorted sense of socialism. I have paid into Social Security since I was 16. Medicare since it was introduced What I receive is not Socialism it is monthly payments from insurance programs. If the crooks on both sides of the aisle didn't steal all the money, it would still be self supporting. Police, highways etc are functions of government required by civilized societies. People have paid taxes since the dawn of civilization. That is not socialism. The government owning everything and giving everyone a portion of the money it makes is socialism. The biggest problem this creates is the loss of incentive to do anything more than the minimum required. I have worked as an Engineer at an electric utility. The union guys have no incentive to work because every electrician makes the same salary. There are union guys who do put forth extra effort but they are bullied by the rank and file. Socialism removes 100% of the drive to do more and requires everyone to do the minimum. That is not a healthy society.

Semper Fi

Thinking is a h**e crime, isn't it? You'd be a felon if you actually thought about what you are saying.

During my career as a firefighter, our wages were paid with tax revenues, our fire fighting equipment and fire houses were paid for with tax revenues. Same with the police. However, we provided emergency services for any and everyone in the community, we did not respond to the needs a particular class or group of people. Rich, poor, white, black, brown, man, woman or child, when they needed us, we responded.

When someone in distress called, our fire and police dispatchers did not ask them if they were insured; the dispatchers didn't ask the caller to identify his or her race, religion, economic status or political affiliation.

And, surprisingly, the people we helped truly appreciated all that we did for them.

Do you really think that the examples of "socialism" you allude to compare in any way to the extremely destructive socialist policies now being proposed by the hard core Marxist progressives?

The stats you posted are ambiguous, they do not take into account where the most violent crime is concentrated within the states--which is of course in metropolitan areas--and the stats do not account for the overall population of the state.

In Nevada, for example, (one of the least populated states) the overwhelming majority of crimes occur in Las Vegas with Reno a distant second. In Vegas, the crimes are even further concentrated in North Las Vegas where the majority of the population is minorities, including a fair share of i******s. Both of those cities are governed by democrats.

So, here are the 25 most violent cities in America:

1. St. Louis, Missouri
2. Detroit, Michigan
3. Baltimore, Maryland
4. Memphis, Tennessee
5. Kansas City, Missouri
6. Little Rock, Arkansas
7. Milwaukee, Wisconsin
8. Rockford, Illinois
9. Cleveland, Ohio
10. Stockton, California
11. Albuquerque, New Mexico
12. Springfield, Missouri
13. Indianapolis, Indiana
14. Oakland, California
15. San Bernardino, California
16. Anchorage, Alaska
17. Nashville, Tennessee
18. Lansing, Michigan
19. New Orleans, Louisiana
20. Minneapolis, Minnesota
21. Chicago, Illinois
22. Houston, Texas
23. Hartford, Connecticut
24. Chattanooga, Tennessee
25. Beaumont, Texas

Without the specific details, the map here shows where the highest crime rates are concentrated (BLUE), and where the crime rates are low (RED).

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