Are tax-funded fire stations, as a service for Americans, considered socialism?
Well, at least all Americans can get help if a fire threatens their lives.
Yep, if you’re going to be consistent, tax-funded fire stations, the police, ems services, and water and sewer services are all socialist programs, since they are not privately owned, do not have free market competition, and are owned by government entities. But these are acceptable to many of the folks answering this question, because "that’s the way it’s always been". They say these are legitimate public services, but health care is not. This is not consistent, as a matter of fact, it’s kind of crazy. Who are they to tell the rest of us what is a public service, and what is socialism, that’s what I don’t get.
Yes, they sure are.
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No, it’s considered public safety. Free health care and free education would be considered socialism.
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No, because such services are considered to be a proper role of the government.
Socialism is the control of the means of production by the government. Emergency services would not be considered production.
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Yes fire stations should be privatized and before they come put out a fire in your house, you need to give them a cc #.
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They are social services, so I guess that’s a ‘yes’. The terrible truth about absolutist ideologies is that they don’t make a lot of practical sense, and there are some things it just doesn’t make sense to privatize: the military, the police, fire departments and so on are all good examples.
When the Government goes too far and does things like Nixon did with price controls, however, that is the beginning of gravitating toward excessive and stiffling social control.
Practical people accept there is a role for Government, that no system is ever perfect, that every policy has unintended consequences, and they are willing to learn from history and experience.
Ideologues cannot do this, and they consistently filter reality through their ideology filter so that every experience conforms to their preconceived notions, and so they never learn from their mistakes, and they are constantly attributing successes that have nothing to do with their ideology to their ideology.
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No they are not although many socialists often use them as an example of such.
They are public services. Public services tend to be those considered so essential to modern life that for moral reasons their universal provision should be guaranteed, and they may be associated with fundamental human rights (such as the right to water). An example of a service which is not generally considered an essential public service is hairdressing.
Public services cannot resonably be provided in a free-market system, however you are not as a citizen "required" to pay for them like you would be in a socialist system. Fire, police, public schools etc are funded by property taxes and sales taxes all voted for by the citizens. If you don’t own property or buy items that sales tax is collected on you do not fund the fire dept. If you only purchase food and rent then you do not fund the fire dept and thus it is not a compulsory tax. Socialism envolves compulsory taxes and government control of all services.
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Your kidding right? I hope so. Things like fire, police and road repair & defense are all exceptable ways to spend the peoples money.
Socailism is when the goverment runs all things that would be considered a service, like gas,healthcare food rations etc.
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fire depts. are funded by the state , county or cities not the federal government. so as such i have no problem at all with them.
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Yep, if you’re going to be consistent, tax-funded fire stations, the police, ems services, and water and sewer services are all socialist programs, since they are not privately owned, do not have free market competition, and are owned by government entities. But these are acceptable to many of the folks answering this question, because "that’s the way it’s always been". They say these are legitimate public services, but health care is not. This is not consistent, as a matter of fact, it’s kind of crazy. Who are they to tell the rest of us what is a public service, and what is socialism, that’s what I don’t get.
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