| madskillz said: As a mod on a newspaper site, it amazes me how folks are so quick to toss around the words and say Obama is both. Maybe I am not seeing it, but can someone explain to me how is Obama a commie and a socialist? Discuss. |
Using the definitions, I think we can deduce the following things:
Communism, and by proxy, Socialism seek to enforce the idea that the government can, and should, own large swaths of private industry in practice. In the former, a pure communist country has everything in common. In the later, only parts of industry are state controlled.
In various countries, we can see various examples of socalistic practices:
- Government ownership of the press (France, China)
- Government control of healthcare (UK, Canada)
- Government control of poverty/philantrophy (many Western countries embrace this, as well as Eastern, in various shades via welfare, unemployment benefits, ect)
- Government control of the economy, via a planned or command economy (USSR, China, Saudi Arabia)
- Government control of retirement
- Government control of schools
- And so on
In all cases, they are socialistic - government/national control and monopolization of parts of a nation's industry. The question is how much is enough, or too much, and to what end does a politician want to see socialism effected in their country.
In President Obama's case, we've seen that he desires to enforce policies to create a national healtcare system, reduce & redact school vouchers/school choice, more progressive taxes against the wealthy (wealth redistribution), and so on.
Is Obama a socialist? I guess that's a question that can be graded in very many ways. By definition, every politician is a socialist of some kind. If they are for the government controlling industry, they are, by praxis, socialist. The bigger question is: Does President Obama seek more government control of private industry? The answer to that, I believe, is a resounding 'yes'.
As a senator, he has the following ratings from various groups that have socialistic ties:
- Citizens for Tax Justice: 100%. CfTJ is a SI group that advocates progressive taxes.
- National Education Association: A rating. The NEA is a pro-government education association (as we all know)
- AFL-CIO: 100%. The AFL-CIO is one of the largest American trade unions. Research socialism and trade unions
- Americans for Democratic Action: 100%. As described on their website, they seek to promote socialistic practices founded by FDR.
Of course, to each his own. Some use it as a catchphrase with negative connotations. I guess it's entirely up to the individual to ask what parts of socialism work, and which parts do not work. I'm of the opinion that reducing the individual's choice thanks to a government monopoly is just as bad as it is to legislate a corporation to have a monopoly: it rarely works as we hope it would.
Back from the dead, I'm afraid.
