Socialism gets its start in a nation when the government begins taking care of the people. We are already racing down this path. There is nothing coming out of the Obama White House that upholds freedom. It all drips of socialism.
According to Karl Marx, the father of socialism, once a socialist society had been ushered in, the state would begin to “wither away”,[25] and humanity would be in control of its own destiny for the first time. Has this ever happened? No!
Contrast that with America, where we already have the control of our destiny by having a government “of the people, by the people.”
The first Americans (farmers, businessmen, preachers) successfully fought off the most powerful empire at the time and passed on a tradition of self-sufficiency.
They passed this spirit on to their progeny, people like :
• Lewis and Clark, who opened up the west to exploration
• Texas revolutionaries, who fought the military might of Mexico and won
• Black slaves, who dared to escape to freedom through the underground railroad
• Average pioneer families who crossed impossible rivers, mountains, deserts and plains to settle the west
• Alexander Graham Bell, who invented long-distance communication
• Henry Ford, the inventor of the Model T
• The Wright Brothers, who never gave up on human flight
The list is endless, but my point is this: Socialism quickly leads to communism, and communist countries don’t produce things like the light bulb, the artificial heart, the computer, or the internet. Communist countries don’t send missionaries around the world, advance science, or send armies around the world to keep the peace.
A nation of welfare recipients will not strive to be better. They will not work harder for a little more pay. They will not work tirelessly on an invention that will better mankind. They are servants to the government, and in America, that’s just backwards.
Did you know that your kids can get braces on Medicaid? That you can get a cell phone on Medicaid? If the things that many people save up for are now government entitlements, what makes people feel the need to achieve?
When we take away the people’s desire to achieve great things, we will no longer achieve great things. We will weaken our nation and lose the ability to govern ourselves. When everything we receive is free, we lose our will to work. When we lose that, we’ve lost our freedom.
Freedom wasn’t a handout for the American colonists. It hard work, and great sacrifice.
Listen to what’s going on in our country and ask yourself this: “Is what I see upholding freedom or ushering in socialism?” If the answer is socialism, do your part to stop it, because socialism leads to communism, and I can betcha that you can’t name one successful communist nation.
Socialism gets its start in a nation when the working class begins a revolution and starts taking economic and political power. That has yet to happen in the US. The task of Obama and the rest of those politicians who take money from corporations and businesses is to uphold the system of capitalism. Has Obama advocated at anytime that the working class should begin forcefully taking over businesses and political institutions?
Marx wasn't the father of socialism. There were socialists long before Marx was born. Robert Owen, Saint-Simon, and Fourier to name a few. What Marx did was scientifically analyze capitalism and history and deduce that history is the history of class struggle. That throughout history there have been socio-economic systems where there was a minority ruling class and an exploited majority class that was ruled and exploited. Marx showed that capitalism was a class society like other previous socio-economic systems. Just as Feudalism produced the merchants and guild members who eventually became the capitalists and overthrew feudalism, so capitalism has created the working class which could someday unite and overthrow the capitalist class which lives off their labor.
There have been many attempts at socialist revolution. All of them have ended in failure due to the still powerful capitalist class crushing and destroying the revolutions.
Do you really believe that the US government is of the people, by the people? Do you think regular people have the same clout, the same say and influence on politicians and the political process as corporate lobbyists? Is it us who discuss and decide and make decisions for ourselves or is it other people, rich people whom we elect and are paid millions of dollars?
Communist countries don’t produce anything because they don't exist. There isn't a country on Earth currently that is ruled by the working masses of that nation. All the countries that call themselves communist are ruled by a ruling class that oppresses and exploits the people. Just like in capitalist countries. They are socialist/communist in name only.
Does the US send armies around the world to keep the peace? Or is it to begin and wage wars of conquest for empire and oil, which they cover by using the excuses of fighting to "keep the peace", "spread freedom and democracy", or "fight terrorism", or "find weapons of mass destruction"?
The real real welfare recipients are the rich. They live off of us. They get us to do all the work and pay the most in taxes. Workers are the ones who work tirelessly for little pay. Who make society run. Without the workers, nothing would happen. Society and the world would grind to a standstill.
Did you know that politicians of both parties and their families have free health care paid for by our taxdollars? That they feel entitled to have us pay their way? Then they turn around and have the nerve to preach thrift and austerity to us. That is truly backwards.
People do have the desire to achieve great things. But they can't do it because they are materially constrained. They work their entire lives for other people who already have tons of money. They know they can't get anywhere in this system unless they are already rich. They know deep down that the government does not work for them. That they have no freedom. Freedom only exists for those with the wealth. The Golden Rule: whoever has the gold makes the rules.
The government is cutting social programs right and left during this financial crisis. Meanwhile the government has given Wall Street and banks over $13 trillion. How can anyone honestly argue that the government is taking over anything? And call a government socialist that is run by the rich who bail themselves out with forced handouts with other peoples (our) money?
Contrary to what the political pundits on Fox News say, socialism isn't government control. Socialism is working class control of society. Is the rich ruling class of America ushering in a period of socialism? Are they wanting to give up their power and wealth to working class people? Or are the rich wanting to keep their power and wealth? Government is a tool of whichever social class is in control of it. It remains in the hands of the rich. Even under Obama.
Annonymous: I agree with some of your points, but not all. First of all, there is opportunity for everyone in this country. My own grandfather is a 'boot-straps' success, because he worked hard and didn't give up. He didn't start rich. There are numerous stories like this. I guess I'm just an optimist, but I don't think I'm alone.
I believe that the US was SET UP to be a government of the people, by the people, and that it has gotten far beyond that. I also believe we can take it back, but it would mean electing some very courageous representatives in Congress who would be willing to say NO to lobbyists and instead vote with their constituents.
If you believe that socialism is where the people rule, you're uninformed. And if you think commuinism doesn't exist, you're probably very far left and see Nortk Korea and Venezuela as utopian societies where everything is free and equal.
So, as educated as you appear to be, you're sadly swayed by a bias toward the rich. Rich people are not evil, but as long as you believe they are, you will never see the beauty of capitalism and you will probabloy never dream dreams that the average American does.
The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution are very clear, and leave no doubt about the freedom and equality of humans. Now, humans are imperfect, so they will take a great system and turn it into a flawed system. But that doesn't mean that the system isn't a good one, nor that it shouldn't be upheld. Wherever there are humans, there is corruption, hence the problems in congress.
Elections are the way to fix this. Smaller government is the way to fix this. And you're right, not bailing out large companies and giving free healthcare and enourmous life-salaries to politicians is another change we need.
Thanks for replying.
Regarding opportunity in the US: does a poor inner city kid have just as much opportunity to achieve as a rich trust fund kid who is born into wealth? Does the inner city kid have the same resources available to them? It is certainly possible for people like your grandfather to pull themselves up by their bootstraps. But thats not possible for everyone. There are many people in our society who do not even have the bootstraps. Most of those who are very wealthy now are people like Warren Buffet and Bill Gates. People who came from wealthy families to begin with. Who had a very big advantage on getting ahead in life. They had their college paid for, didn't have to worry about paying back crushing student loan debt. They were guaranteed loans to help them get started. They didn't have to worry about paying rent or working multiple jobs to make ends meet. They were born with silver spoons in their mouths. Not everyone can win the race. The race highly favors those who have a head start.
I am very far left. And I know that the true definition of socialism is a society run by the working class themselves. Thats the original definition of socialism. Now when people think of socialism they misconceive of it as just big government running things. A totalitarian police state that throws people into gulags. An undeserved reputation thanks to dictators like Joseph Stalin, Mao, and Kim Jong Il. Who called/call themselves socialist but then turned around and oppressed and killed the workers of their countries. North Korea I would describe as a state capitalist society. Same with China, Vietnam, Cuba etc. Workers are not in control of society. A tyrannical wealthy ruling elite runs the country and makes the workers work for them for a pittance of a wage. Same wage labor work as in western capitalist countries. The form of capitalism is different, the state instead of a small section of large capitalist corporations owns the means of production. And the state is owned by that bureacratic ruling class. But the essence is the same. Workers still have no control in those socieites and are oppressed and exploited by a minority ruling class. Things certainly aren't free and equal in those places.
I think the jury is still out on Venezuela. Chavez has done some positive things for the poor people there, although things are far from perfect. He is democratically elected by the people, despite the US attempting to overthrow him at least twice. But he could turn out to be a wannabe dictator seeking power and just using socialist rhetoric to acheive that and to cement himself in power. If that is the case then the workers of Venezuela should overthrow him.
I am indeed against the rich. Because I've seen what they've done over the centuries. They will start wars that result in the deaths of millions of people in order to make money. They have no regard for human life. They are unscrupluous. They will do any dirty deed to get ahead. Even stabbing each other in the back and killing each other. Remember what Christ said of the rich. That it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom.
I've seen what capitalism does. I've seen people thrown out of work, lose their houses, and starve on the streets. Meanwhile there are tons of food on the store shelves just sitting there ready to be used. Houses empty ready for families to move into them. But they can't because they don't have the money. Because some capitalist can't make a profit off of it. And because the rich who own the means of production, the factories and stores, and most of the property, houses and apartments, because of this they deny it to those who need it because they can't make money off of them. People die of preventable diseases because they didn't have access to health care. Because they didn't have insurance. Not because they thought they were invincible and could do without it, but because they couldn't afford it. I don't think theres any beauty in any of this. I think its dispicable and evil. We have abundance. We have the means to clothe, feed, shelter, and take care of everyone on the planet with the resources and technology we have. But we don't. Because some rich person wouldn't make a profit off of it. That's criminal and inexcusable.
We do need political reform with the current system. Term limits are needed. Benefits and salaries for elected officials should be slashed. The salary for an elected official should be limited to the average earnings of a working class person. We need regular working class people, not rich career politicians to be elected into government to represent us. Lobbying should be completely banned. As for elections, the 2 big corporate parties have passed horribly restrictive laws making it very hard if not impossible currently to fix the system through elections. These laws make it nearly impossible to get anyone but candidates of the 2 major parties on the ballot. These laws need to be overturned and 3rd parties should be able to compete on an equal footing with both the Republicans and Democrats. Due to the gigantic financial cost of running an election, 3rd parties are virtually shut out of the political process. A senatorial campaign costs millions of dollars. A presidential race costs hundreds of millions of dollars. More than $1 billion was spent on the 2008 presidential race.Theres no way any regular person can compete with that. In order to get any funding you would have to bow down and accept money from lobbyist groups, let them buy you, then do their bidding when and if you got elected to office. I think these things would help but ultimately they are bandaids. It will still be the same system. And the wealthy multinational corporations will still be the ones with all the money and influence.
I agree with your 2nd paragraph. However, I still disagree that the rich are the evil ones. There are food banks, churches, charities and just plain generous people all over America who help the poor, and might I remind you, the Federal Government and the States have so many welfare programs that no one really needs to go hungry.
Profits are not evil. The people who make them are not evil. It is the successful companies, big and small, who employ the rest of us. You could also be a business owner. Are you telling me you would not want to make a profit?
I used to own a store, and we needed to make a profit in order to pay all of our overhead, inventory, and still make a living for ourselves.
Take a business course and get back to me.