Incentives are what changes things, not decent or moral behaviour. This is true in every other field - Cheaper solar panels and windmills are what it takes to get off fossil fuel for example - not combined friendly thinking.
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You must be from the UK. Such good humor in the vid. Unfortunately, for now, you are right. Incentives are just that: motivation to change.
I am from Denmark, but most Brits who live here says the humour, and the weather is very much the same.
Denmark...the land of the happy socialists. At least that's how most in the US see you folks. I'm composing a post today on what I call Cooperative Abundance... a concept that may, one day, effectively replace socialism, at least in part.
Many blessings. Hope to see you around.
We are not socialists, but a combination of Libertarians and social democrats (which is what you can call social conservatives). There never was a revolution here and we have private property.
We pay high income adjusted taxes to have a free health system, free education etc. That might be the reason for the confusion.
Blessings to you too. I am around most days :)
Interesting. Perhaps you are not aware but frequently when "progressives" here in the States want to promote socialism they point to Denmark as a good example.
Peace.
Socialism is a bit of a rubber-concept. You could use socialism in a broad general sense meaning a system that takes care of its poor, but almost all western societies except the US has a public health care system for example. If that is what the progressives mean, we Scandinavians are socialists, but so are the Brits, the French, the Canadians etc.
And then it can be a system where you have collective ownership of the means of production. Like communism. We are not that kind of system. We are still a capitalist system.
I think that the US discussion has been a little off when it come to what socialism actually is since McCarthy or maybe even before that.
The progressive left here in the States would like not only a State sponsored health care system, but like you free higher education, much more "social justice and income justice", much more government involvement in housing...well it's a pretty long list. So it is not socialism by the actual definition, but more of a hybrid like what the Scandinavians have. Unfortunately the US is 20 Trillion dollars in debt with over 100 Trillion dollars of unfunded liabilities such as government pensions, Social Security, medical care for the aged, etc. To this point we've been able to sell our debt to China, the EU and other countries but the well is running dry. So... kind of between a rock and a hard place. We're broke. But there always seems to be money for the military and expansion of the Empire around the world. Oh my... sure hope Steemit works quick before the Titanic goes down.
...and if we took away the $5.4 trillion in subsidies to petroleum industry, that would de-incentivize using petroleum...
There is that too.