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.

A Test of Recent Historical Events

A number of people don't score well on questions regarding ancient history(defined as 10 yrs ago, or more). A number of Republicans, and assorted T-baggers, don't even do well on events which occurred in the last 2 yrs. Try the following questions.
1. Which administration initiated the "Bank Bailout" program?(Troubled Asset Relief Program or TARP)
2. Who was the Secretary of the Treasury then, and who appointed him?
3. Who was the President who pushed this program through Congress?
4. Is the economy in better shape now(Sept,2010) than it was 2 yrs ago(Sept,2008)?
Two yrs ago Lehman Bros., and several other major Wall St. financial institutions failed. They declared bankruptcy, thus did not have to pay off their creditors. This created the possibility of a domino effect where financial institutions and banks couldn't pay their creditors because they were unable to collect from their debtors. This is what happened at the start of the the Great Depression, continuing down to the level of your hometown bank. When you went to your bank to withdraw your deposits, you typically received an I.O.U., which was worthless. Eventually the F.D.I.C. was created(how many anti-government types would like to eliminate this gov't agency"). The TARP, despite some missteps, appears to have prevented a catastrophic financial collapse from occurring.
Answers to questions:1. The George W. Bush administration. 2. Henry(Hank) Paulson, appointed by George W. Bush. 3. George W. Bush. 4. Two yrs ago the economy was on the verge of a total collapse.
Many people found that their 401K's, and similar plans, had declined by 50%. Only a few wingnut economists would now claim that there is any immediate danger of such a collapse. Most retirement plans have recovered 75-80% of the value they lost. Regardless of your employment status, the economy is in much better shape than it was 2 yrs ago.

Back in Business

After a month or so of R&R, from having my main engine overhauled, I am ready to re-enter the blogosphere. If you need an immediate poetry fix, go to my website(thecompletepoet.yolasite.com).
There are 44 poems languishing there.