The Australian Economic Disaster Unfolding, page-99

It really depends on how you define socialism. Aus socialism has done our nation no harm and similarly with UK... but look at the damage that Abbott did to Aus and Thatcher did to the UK.

Cuba is a model of socialism working well... all its ills came from US sanctions and offered from the USSR to assist with US sanctions. Get rid of foreign interference and its worked brilliantly.

Now there reference to harm that you may be referring to are the examples of USSR, particularly under the dictator Stalin who wrought the most extreme damage to the people across half the planet once his ambitious nation chomping expansion had finished... and even Krushchev too invaded a few more nations. The imprisonment of people (dissidents) continued until Gorbachev ended the reign of the KGB in the 80s.

The collectivisation practices in USSR and China both caused massive famine and impoverishment... Mao clearly had no idea what he was doing to the people of his country. Yet China over the last 20 years has transformed from an attempt at communism to a nominal communism which is really one of the least regulated free-market economies.

The intermix of CCP owned businesses with free market business appears to have been quite a success story which has benefitted many millions of Chinese people. Of course there are downsides but aren't there downsides in every economy? You certainly can't call the US a raging success as all the money is going to the top while many millions have been deeper into hardship and poverty across several generations. The US is a very rich nation with extreme poverty raging throughout.

In every economy there needs to be balance. Social values and needs cannot be ignored while economic values need to support the society in order that the whole nation is enriched. Aus is a pretty good example of this balance, with the notable aberration mentioned above.

Howard/Costello did a pretty good job and so did Hawke/Keating... the 80s and 90s recessions were the result of international influences as well as Keating's "over-heating" of the economy - he did too well and the bubble burst.

Socialism is nothing to be afraid of... its the dictatorial leadership that forces one extreme or the other which has damaged economies. any extreme is dangerous and damaging because it neglects either the social or the economic sides of the economy.

Scott.