The "in" word of this past week seemed to be socialism. The Conservatives and Conservative Media have been using this word to describe President Obama's agenda, particularly his economic agenda. I ask: what is so wrong with socialism anyway?Wikipedia defines the term as, "Socialism refers to a broad set of economic theories of social organization advocating public or state ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods, and a society characterized by equal opportunities for all individuals....Socialists mainly share the belief that capitalism unfairly concentrates power and wealth among a small segment of society that controls capital, creates an unequal society, and does not provide equal opportunities for everyone in society."
Socialism has its beginnings many times throughout history during revolutions. The People get tired of being left with nothing and being treated with inequality, and revolution brings about change. Did the American people begin a revolution with the election of Barack Obama? Did the people in this country finally get so sick of the wealth being distributed unevenly amongst the rich, that they said, "Enough is enough!" Isn't it said that 1% of the US population has 95% of the wealth?
I ask again, "What is so wrong with Socialism?"
2 comments:
Because most equate socialism with communism. Heaven forbid any of them read up on the matter ... also, socialism, I would imagine, could keep the rich from becoming richer.
Once more I point to the simplistic reason for the economic crisis: greed. Boil it all down, and that's what it comes to . If the US of A suddenly became a truly socialistic country, it would be much more difficult for certain sectors of this society to amass money from the working class.
Meanwhile, the uneducated think that socialism is all about the dreaded government telling them what to do. That's why they fear it. They spend all day listening to Rush and the others and are convinced that if socialism were the norm, they'd have to give up their guns and go work on a commune.
I think Pax is right. The rich want to keep getting richer. I happen to think that they are not worth the huge sums they pay themselves out of our pockets. In my (limited) mind, that's what broke our free enterprise system.
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