Posted by
Top on Friday, December 05, 2008 1:05:05 PM
It seems that many people believe that tossing the word SOCIALIST around is bad and it makes the conservatives look bad. So, I'm going to let the left explain it with their own words.
Let's begin with the Red Letter Press:
Socialism 101
What is Socialism?
Socialism is an economic system characterized by public ownership and centralized planning of all major industries (manufacturing, services, and energy), banks and insurance companies, agribusiness, transportation, the media, and medical facilities. Under capitalism, these giant enterprises dominate the economy but are privately owned and operated for the purpose of generating wealth for their owners by extracting it from working people who are paid only a small fraction of what their labor produces. Socialism turns this around so that the class that produces the wealth can collectively decide how it will be used for the benefit of all.
As African American poet and communist Langston Hughes wrote in "Good Morning, Revolution":
...Together,
We can take everything:
Factories, arsenals, houses, ships,
Railroads, forests, fields, orchards...
And turn 'em over to people who work.
Rule 'em and run 'em for us people who work.
Real socialism is, by definition, democratic. It is economical as well as political democracy. Many capitalist countries boast of their democratic institutions, but this is an illusion because all the political power is in the hands of those who hold the wealth. Socialism prioritizes human needs and eliminates the profit motive that drives war, ecological destruction, and inequalities based on gender, race, nationality, and sexuality.
Like capitalism, socialism must be international so that global resources can be shared. No country can be truly independent of the global economy because until capitalism is defeated internationally it will continue to sabotage efforts to build socialism. Achieving socialism in the United States, the wealthiest and most powerful country in the world, is necessary to any country being able to determine its own destiny.
We are citizens of the world, right?!
In an article written by Gordon Shultz called
What is Socialism, he explains why capitalism is bad and touches on many Democratic Party platform planks. I encourage you to read the article in its entirety; it is a real jaw dropper. This guy is a socialist, of course, but you'll see there is little difference between his ideas and the POTUS-elect. Yep, there are some RINOs out there that fit this bill too. Here are a couple of quotes from that article:
In the United States, there is a need for massive construction of schools, hospitals, child-care centers, and recreation centers. There is also a great need to repair the nation's deteriorating infrastructure, including its roads, bridges, mass transit, and water systems. The capital, raw materials, and labor for such development exists, but the corporate rich do not invest in such projects because they correctly judge that it would not be profitable for them to do so.
A socialist government could raise the minimum wage to union levels, cut the work week with no cut in weekly pay, and spread around the newly available work to the unemployed. A public works program, such as the one mentioned earlier, could be launched to provide yet more jobs and offer more sorely needed social services. The government could provide free health care from cradle to grave, and free education, from nursery to graduate school.
Are you kidding? Is this not Obama's plan? Some 2,500,000 jobs to rebuild the infrastructure of America? You have got to take the time to read this whole article.
Just two web sites out of millions on socialism. I do not believe that everyone that voted for Obama is a socialist. I do believe that most were, and are yet, uninformed. I want to believe that when presented with the truth they will slap themselves on the fore-head and start looking into things on their own, and become informed. I'm not sure I'm being realistic there, though. That is what prompted this post for me. In reading news articles, blogs, editorials, and comments, I had to make sure I was thinking right, that I wasn't wrong in my beliefs. It is a lot like double checking your ammo count between fire-fights, always a good idea.
So, is it rhetoric or reality?