Florent Lefortier answered
Socialism might sound great in theory, but in practice, it's actually quite tricky to maintain!
Quite a few countries are governed using elements of Socialism, but there aren't many fully-Socialist countries left.
Characteristics of a Socialist State
Quite a few countries are governed using elements of Socialism, but there aren't many fully-Socialist countries left.
Characteristics of a Socialist State
- Collective ownership of businesses and services – a bit like a giant version of the Co-op
- Citizens have democratic control over economic and political matters
- Power to the masses
- Nobody has anything, but everyone owns everything
- Not particularly stable, due to lack of economic incentives to work harder. However, this probably makes it a lot less stressful for the people, as they’re not all clambering over one another to get ahead.
- Everyone is provided for, regardless of their contributions. This can be a positive or a negative, depending on how you look at it.
- Cuba – Cuba has a state-run economy; universal, government-paid education; no stock-market; and healthcare for everyone.
- Vietnam – a substantial part of the economy is run by the state.
- China – they don’t have universal healthcare anymore, but a significant amount of the economy is still state-run.
- Laos – the economy is mostly state-run, and the government has a lot of ties with other Socialist nations.
