Comment by inphovore | Hacker News Reader

Comment by inphovore | Hacker News Reader

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It is a bit unintuitive for civilians to consider, yet the military is much more like a socialist organization than many are comfortable admitting.

Housing and ration allowances

Free health care for you and your family

Better schools with newer, well maintained equipment

Employees are actually indentured (contractual terms which essentially make these government “property”)

Note I am both pro (lawful) military and NOT a socialist (I call myself a liberty minded conservationist hard-liner).

I was however raised a military dependent (grew up traveling and living throughout the world!)

I do recommend military service to those who aren’t quite sure their place in the world (airforce is a good branch for raising a family!) However I’m also a born and raised technology nerd and make ridiculously more income as a civilian.

The military actually needs technologists. They’re desperate.

That sounds communist, not socialist, due to the housing and food rations, command structure, and depending on your enlistment agreement, inability to separate at will from the org.

Socialism: a political and economic theory of social organization which advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole.

If the military were socialist, it would be controlled by the workers, but instead it’s very authoritarian where the front line employees have no say. This seems to confuse welfare and benefits with socialism.

Which is an example of socialism where workers actually control anything?

While my example may not be entirely text book accurate, I only hear of socialists speaking as you say (advocating fairness as a principle.)

Impressions of working socialism are of a committee deciding who gets what (and what is in everyone’s best interests).

The example might very well be an authoritarian form of socialism, though not really trying to mince words, only to reveal that sometimes working systems we are familiar with actually work outside of the conventions we expect.

There are quite a few socialists who I respect (altruistic intellectuals), though few (0) working examples.

The many worker co-operatives existing in the world today are working examples of socialism.

Good for instance!

Co-ops are a great thing!

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