Wednesday, September 29, 2010

A Primer on Socialism and Related Terms

Among the milder criticisms leveled at Pres. Obama is that he is a socialist. His healthcare reform program has been reviled by neocons on this basis. One defining characteristic of socialism is that all members of a society provide support for a program, usually financially, and to the extent to which they are able. Then all members of that society are entitled to certain defined benefits without respect to their ability to pay. I hope
that everyone realizes that our public school system, K-12, is the largest example of socialism in our society. There are many, many others including Social Security, Medicare, all publicly-funded police and fire depts, and even volunteer fire depts. What is the alternative? Simple: all schools would be private, and if you could not  afford it you would receive no education(like the slaves). Most civilized societies rejected the idea that education is only for the privileged, several centuries ago. Obama has essentially attempted to extend our approach to public education to the healthcare system. The U.S. is the only industrialized democracy which does not have universal healthcare.
Obama has also been labeled a communist by T-baggers. Communism has several additional precepts which extend well beyond socialism. Most notably, that the state owns all real property(land and buildings) and controls the means of production(factories,farms, etc.) The USSR was the most notable example, and it collapsed after 73 yrs.
To label Obama a Nazi, as some T-baggers have done, shows total ignorance of the way National Socialism was practiced in Germany at the time of WW2. It was a totalitarian state Where the Nazi party controlled every aspect of German life. No dissent was permitted. If a person protested about any aspect of Nazi policy, they would be taken in for questioning by the federal police(the Gestapo), and they would never be seen again. Anyone inquiring about the person would be told to shut up, or they would also disappear. People quickly learned to keep their mouth's shut. The fact that Fox news is still on the air, shows that Obama is not a Nazi.

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