Lately in American political discourse, there’s been an increasing tendency to use the word “Socialist” as a bogey-man threat around policies people don’t like, or even as a slur against people.
This rampant fear-mongering would be bad enough, but using the word “Socialist” as if it were the worst thing you could ever call a person makes me even more annoyed.
My late grandfather, Harold Luxemburg, was a Socialist. In fact, one of the earliest mentions of his name in the New York Times was June 2, 1934, when he and some of his fellow Socialists got arrested for forming a picket line in front of a Brooklyn bakery they were trying to unionize.
Scary stuff, right? Um, no.
Grandpa worked all his life for the rights of people who didn’t have many. He could have had an easier time of it had he chosen some less contentious profession, but instead he saw poverty and discrimination and unfairness all around him and decided to do something about it. He worked to improve the lives of milkmen and restaurant workers and janitors, and he always rooted for the underdog.
In his private life he was a kind, intelligent, and caring man with a strong work ethic who valued education and cultural literacy extremely highly, and loved spending time with his family. And sadly, he left us in 1990. To this day I miss him and am proud of him.
So to the Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh loving troglodytes who think that “Socialist” and “Socialism” are a slur and gleefully hurl those words around as if they actually had the power to hurt (if any of you should happen to find your way to this little corner of the Internet) — with all due respect I say, you don’t have a clue. My grandfather the Socialist was a better man than any of you.
Whenever some eighty d-bag callsme a socialist, I take it as a compliment. 🙂
Interesting post. I had a great uncle who was a Socialist as well. Growing up he was ostracized by family and watch by the govt. As a kid I only think I heard about him were side comments like “commie” etc.
He passed away recently and at a memorial held for him I got to really learn and understand what he was about, Like your grandfather my great uncle too fought for the working man, protested against discrimination and segregation. I learned he was a man who stood behind his beliefs, despite the consequences, including being disowned by some of his children. At that memorial I gained so much respect for a man, I wished I had gotten to know him better.
Put down your Upton Sinclair Book and pay attention to what is REALLY going on! Socialism fundamentally takes away from those who produce and redistributes to those who don’t/won’t/can’t. It is very easy for you to publish an opinion about something you have not had to ever deal with!
If you take money away from me for the benefit of someone else – what is their obligation to me?! Should they stop doing drugs, smoking, drinking, having promiscuous sex, etc., etc. etc. If they are contributing to society and not just drawing from it we can talk, if not – don’t waste the producer’s time.
This country (assuming you are in the USA) was founded on freedom and a deep desire to get away from tyranny. Tyranny is returning with a vengeance by economic collapse, government experiments in socialist policy (Barney Frank and Chris Dodd) of muscling banks into giving loans to people that were NOT qualified to receive or even capable of paying back the funds they borrowed, and the printing machines are devaluing our currency faster than ever – then using our tax money to cover up their mistakes. This is not a Bush Issue, or a Clinton issue – it is a Democratic issue coupled with a Community Agitator called “Obama” – aka – the Golden Calf! They are deliberately trying to destroy this country, and you hold up a completely un-educated opinion of what you think sounds and feels good (helping others, do-gooder, save the planet, etc.)
I suspect that you earn enough money to help your fellow man/woman directly either by service or cash. It is amazing how efficient and effective a basic Church program can be with direct involvement from the local community vs a damn government program or a mob of thugs who are focused on locking down class structures in the interest of ‘the little guy’.
You should listen to Beck and Limbaugh more before you cast such uninformed positions on this subject. (seriously!) I would also recommend, Laura Ingram, Sean Hannity, Mark Levin, Tom Sullivan, and especially read Ann Coulter’s books. Don’t forget the Politically Correct Guide to – those are excellent!
Someone take Phillips prozac off him. And that video camera.
You almost had me believing you were serious until that last paragraph, Philip. No one who follows all of those people is capable of putting together two coherent sentences, much less use proper spelling. Or vote responsibly. Or think for themselves. Or walk upright without scraping their knuckles on the ground. Or remembering to breathe.
You actually put stock into what Beck or Limbaugh say? Hah, maybe you are the fool 😛
Phillip,
Let me tell you a story about the the world that we live in today.
Both my Fiance and I are hard-working Americans, she works at a local bike-shop and I work as a telecommunications manager at the local University. Both of us work full-time, and pay our taxes.
Earlier this year, she broke her arm, at no fault of her own. She is no longer offered insurance at her work, and since we have not yet had our wedding, she was not eligable to be under mine. For her to purchase insurance by her-self would liquidate almost a third of her paycheck. Insurance was no longer made available to her as a “cost-savings” measure. She had no option but to accept it.
The experience of going through the ordeal of needing health-care was eye-opening when I was helping somebody who didn’t have insurance. For a simple break, and taking the least expensive options provided to us, she was out about $4,000 dollars between office visits, meds, x-rays and the casting. The doctor was very disappointed that she didn’t elect to do a CAT scan, with a price-tag of about $2,200. We were both blessed that I had some money stashed away for some (necessary) home improvements that I was planning to do this summer, along with her selling some of her things to pay the bills.
We aren’t asking for hand-outs. We don’t need a government bail-out. But there should be no reason for her to potentially go onto the streets, or live the rest of her life in severe pain because she got hurt while playing by the rules. A public health-care option (one the people who are hard-working, but are not offered anything else are eligable for) needs to be an option, and shouldn’t be viewed as anything bad. Down the road of socialism? I see it as down the road of sanity.
Why is it that my car insurance is only $60/month? My home-owners insurance is $30/month, yet my employer pays over $330/month for all of my health insurance.
As an ex-Brit who is now a passport-carrying – and VOTING – American citizen, it really scares me how ignorant and fearful many people are about the big, bad “Socialist” agenda that they say Obama has. That parents are considering keeping their children home from school rather than allow them to listen to the President of the United States speaks to what a warped sense of priorities these people have. Has America swung so far to the extreme right wing that decency and care for your fellow man has gone by the wayside? Are Limbaugh and Hannity and Coulter really considered the voices of reason? God preserve us from such hateful, crazy, right-wing, selfish bigots! Modern America was created as a reaction to oppression (by Britain) and yet these people would undo everything on which the country was founded in order to push their perverted sense of “right”. We’ve spent eight years under the yoke of Republican tyranny, stripping away our rights, our privacy and making America a laughing stock on the global stage while the Democrats were muzzled, blocked and taunted. Now the shoe’s on the other foot, those same Republicans cry foul and somehow think that the democratic process that this great country stands for should be overturned rather than allow the voice of the people to carry any weight. Disgraceful.
Why are you an ex-Brit?! Did you get tired of standing in lines? Canada has the same problem – the USA is the best in the world, not just for Medicine, but in every opportunity you can imagine – THAT is why people come here!!!
You can not compare the cost of health insurance to the cost of car insurance or to the cost of home-owner’s insurance. Not of the others have anything to do with your quality of life, or require 6-16 years of training to be there when YOU need it. If you have a kidney stone, you want service IMMEDIATELY, and from the BEST available resources. You don’t want to wait in line, or go to someone who has a ‘general’ certification, you want a ‘specialist’ and in 5-min (if not sooner).
The problem is that some people ALWAYS see the glass 1/2 empty EVEN IF the glass is 8/9 FULL! We call them Liberals/Progressives/Communists/Fascists/etc. We don’t define ourselves as ‘Republican’ – they have made a mess of this also, I identify myself as a ‘Regan Conservative Independent’ more than ever. They are basically all the same, they all have perceive that ‘something’ is wrong, some major injustice that needs to be fixed, or even worse fabricating problems to make themselves feel better.
I guess I should not be surprised that a group of people visiting a person’s blog that is promoting ‘socialism’ would be open to alternative views. After all, it is easier to say ‘no’ than to open your minds, do a little research, and consider another view…
Funny how no one can put forth a single example of where in the world it is ‘done’ better than the USA. There is always something that is taken away from those who produce to pay for those who do not – and it is always held up as a success for the little guy.
Did you happen to notice that over the years, the definition of ‘poor’ has transformed from the amount of money someone makes to the ‘size’ of one’s flat-screen TV?!?!
And you wonder why we shake our heads in disgust when you cite personal experiences of how a grandparent or uncle was a ‘socialist’ and he seemed to be ‘ok’. OMG!!! How pathetic is that?! It is like saying ‘my grandfather was a hitler youth, he seemed to enjoy it – so we should think about re-introducing that to our public schools’… (uninformed, un-educated, and just wrong).
P.S. YES – I was serious, you all need to listen to Beck, Limbaugh, and everyone else I mentioned perviously. If you did, you could at least argue without emotion.
P.S.S. – If I were to run for office, a component of the platform would be to enable a high-speed exit from our country (first class one-way tickets) for those who just never seem to be satisfied with the opportunities they have, or feel the need to take from others to give to those who think they need help.
Phillip,
Again, being a US citizen, along with a health-care user in multiple countries, I will have to say that I’ve waited longer here in the USA for a specialist than in any other country.
In the USA, I got something in my eye, and required somebody to remove it. I had insurance, and went to the ER. Since it was the weekend, they booked me with the on-call specialist. But first, I needed approvial from my insurance-back GP. So, I had to wait until the following Monday, they approved the specailist. The next available time for the specialist was a week later, so I had to wait WITH A PATCH OVER MY EYE for a week!
While on vacation visiting my family in Germany, I gained a hair-line fracture on my right elbow. Because of the arrangements that were made by the urgent care, I was able to get EVERYTHING done (casting, x-rays, etc.) in a few days; mostly waiting for the swelling to go down. In all the people I talked to, there was never a time that a health decision that was made because of money (like it was in my story above), and there was never a case where people had to wait around with an injury. I have seen both cases in the USA.
Sure, Europeans pay a bit more for their taxes, but in all honesty, when I compare people’s taxes there compared to the same services here, I pay more. My uncle pays about 40% tax, but he gets (a) health insurance (b) free education (c) dental/vision/etc coverage (d) less taxes elsewhere (no sales tax, etc). Here in the USA, I pay 29% tax, and i still have to pay for (a) school (b) all insurance (c) sales tax (d) city tax (e) state tax (f) …….
How about you talk to people who’s systems you are berating, instead of listening to those who just spew stuff off on the radio, where they are safe from the rest of the world.
That was a HUGE assumption that I have NEVER been in another country and had to deal with their health care system. In fact I have!!! I could not wait to get back to the USA to see my own people! I have experienced the delays and had many friends that came to the USA to seek treatment when their own systems were not capable of supporting them in a timely manner (can you wait for 6 months for an appointment to treat a stomach problem that you can’t get diagnosed fast enough to know if you were stricken with cancer, a gaul bladder, ulcer, or something else?). Are you actually comparing the need to have an eye-specialist (of which by definition there are FEW of) to something that can be taken care of via immediate care facility? Seriously?!? Not even in the same ball-park.
The only reason you are here is because of the following: Opportunity and Freedom of Choice!
Overseas you are nailed whether you like it or not, either by straight-up taxation or by embedded taxes like VAT. Either way, you are forced into a socialist system that is presented as FREE to everyone, but you are paying for it (through the nose). The governments over there have to feed the beast they have created, and satisfy the expectations of the people which they have established. Governments that play class warfare and identity politics for the purposes of keeping it’s own people enslaved need to be feared. The Obama administration is doing exactly this!
You think your income will scale with Inflation? You think your property value, investments, or job will also??? (for those of you who do not know what that it is: Inflation occurs when the value of your money goes down, and the price of things go up to maintain a base line value. The value goes down faster by printing too much of it, which Obama triggered at the beginning of this year to support his spending spree on social programs. China is scared-to-death that the US Government will just print more money to pay their debts – and they have a right to be scared! Just as you should be afraid of the coming Tax increases that will accompany the coming Inflation, and the continued devaluation of everything you own!)
It is complete irony that when you are taxed 40-50+% of your wages overseas, you view everything as FREE (I guess that it dulls the pain of what you are living within). BUT, when you come to the USA and pay ONLY 25-30% of your wages in tax, you bitch about the FREEDOMs you have to actually CHOOSE what your quality of education, health care and even where you want to live (lower local/city/state/sales taxes).
THERE IS NO FREE LUNCH!
Everything COSTS something…
The question is do YOU even realize it? Or is that feel-good Skinny-Mocha-Chai-Macchiato-Espresso with 1/2 Splenda and a recycled drinking cup your sanctuary from the difficulty of thinking about the real issues.
Healthcare, a broken system. Where there are good people that aren’t approved because of situations that they can’t control… like cancer. I have a friend of mine with cerebral palsy that can’t show an income of over 20k a year or he will be dropped from his insurance. Sadly, now that means he can’t get married because their combined income will make it so that they are over. What happens if they go over? His current health insurance provider will drop him, no one else will pick him up, and his weekly treatments that cost a million dollars a year will stop and he will die very quickly. I know that there are people screaming about death camps, but it sounds to me that the current system already there.
It is sad that most Americans are one serious healthcare emergency away from bankruptcy, a phenomenon unheard of in much lesser countries.
That is all I will say about Healthcare.
Philip,
I can’t believe that you are citing people like Beck, Limbaugh, and Ann Crazyface. Add Bll O’Reily and you have the the 4 people in the news that have all been taken to court for outright lies on the air. You know how they got around these cases? Their defense was “my client is SUCH a pathological liar that they can’t be held responsible for their comments”. Is this where you get your news? Their rhetoric is downright ridiculous and yes, I find it fascinating to watch them and can’t fathom how people can take what they say seriously.
“There is no free lunch”, rhetoric as heard on Fox News.
Seriously, the rhetoric of both sides of the aisle is crazy, but on the right I have to say it is much more inflammatory and much further from the truth. Yes, there is spin on both sides, but the right is currently throwing every lie they can against the fridge that is America and “seeing what sticks”. I believe 50 years back after healthcare is worked out we will look back and see this as the dark ages of modern politics.
Thanks Rachel for posting your take on things.
It’s interesting to me every single time I see these conversations take place. Honestly, it’s one of the reasons we’re in the tough spot that we’re in. Everyone starts shouting so loud from their side of the fence that nothing turns out quite right because everyone is distracted by the noise.
There is, indeed a middle ground that we need to (and hopefully will) get to. It is possible to have improved health care without significantly increased government intervention. So, saying that someone that wants improved options is a socialist or someone that doesn’t want more taxes/government intervention doesn’t care about the poor is odd to me. Personally, I’m in both camps (I don’t like big government but do seriously consider every opportunity of positive ways to lighten someone else’s hardships) and hope the bills on health care (and many other topics) can get to a place that truly benefit all.
I’d encourage everyone to take a step back and look at collaboration instead of name calling.
Like the voice of reason Brian, keep it up.
I feel sorry for you, Phillip. Truly I do.
In your heart of hearts you feel the world is changing and you wanti it to stop. You feel scared and angry — the world you though this was going to be isn’t the world you’re actually living in. You don’t know how or why things changed, but you feel cheated and are looking for something or someone to blame.
So going onto random blogs, calling people names and screaming about Nazis and Socialism makes you feel a bit better for a little while. Unfortunately it isn’t going to bring forth the idealized America of your dreams.
Wake up, smell the coffee, and start coming to terms with reality like an adult.
And please remember that this is my living room and that you’re only allowed to be here at my pleasure. Insulting the host isn’t polite.
Healthcare in the USA is perfect. There are no queues. there is no unnecessary expense. No one ever dies for lack of appropriate care.
The 45 million uninsured don’t count as real Americans. They can die or go bankrupt – stuff em. Serves them right for not being smart enough to get executive jobs with golden healthcare.
The 100 million (or more) partially insured who are terrified of being sick for fear of losing their savings, and going bankrupt, can go take a running jump. They are just losers anyway.
————————-
Of couse, unlike Phillp, I’m not serious. But I am totally stunned at this dipshit, head-in-the-sand attitude. This right-wing sorry-excuse-for-humanity attitude that is getting all the airtime – the one that thinks “every man for himself” is the right and proper way – is just plain scary.
It’s the same brainless attitude that apparently is offended by the possibility that the President is going to speak to school children and somehow indoctrinate them. Indoctrination carves closed minds. Who is doing the indoctrination?
Sheesh.
Sorry to have to pile on, but things are getting down right rediculous in this country and I sincerely hope that the devisiveness of the far right is curbed soon before people start running around with flaming assult rifles and pitch grenades.
What Obama is proposing isn’t in any way related to socialism. How the two were allowed to be connected by a lazy media is beyond me. People are talking about a Mixed Economy, which the US is ALREADY. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mixed_economy
I am all for tough questions and demanding real results however the bull shit spouted off as fact by many right wing nut jobs is now so clearly beyond the crap spouted off by left wing nut jobs it makes the mind boggle. Why the hell isn’t our 4th estate calling crap for what it is and holding accountable those that are clearly lying for ratings sake?
Semi Related – It is time to rid ourselves from the terms democrat and republican. They are simply business machines which hype to build emotions that feed more money to their organizations coffers. Time instead for electing people based on their honest and uninfluenced opinions. Say no to political parties and yes to responsible adults.
Lux – You brought up the Socialism thing. I am simply responding to it, indicating that you are woefully un-informed on this subject to recommend it. It is a shame you have nothing to understand it beyond your grand-pa as a baseline on this subject.
To everyone else – you all can find/cite some terrible statistical outlier of pain and suffering that tugs at the hearts and becomes the poster child of the need for ‘change’ – Obama worshipers unite! But you all never seem to want to put up YOUR OWN money to do so. This is what is really sad about this process. Recommending one thing, but never doing – or doing only to the extent that you ‘feel better’, ‘cast the impression of doing something’, or ‘helping’ – when in fact you are not helping at all. For those of you who do: Do you issue a press release, hold up your accomplishment and contribution for others to see? Does “A white washed Tomb with unspeakable filth on the inside” ring any bells?!?
Socialism is flat out EVIL, it takes away incentive to better one’s self and/or improve the quality of life by the virtue of opportunity and freedom of choice. It’s sole purpose is ‘control’ and to lock down ‘classes’ of individuals – to create a dependency on others who take from others in the name of the unfortunate. It is nothing more than class-warfare. Plain and simple.
Has anyone ever noticed that Socialism is the ultimate answer to all things – Beyond Unions, Beyond Political Parties, it is ALWAYS held as the ‘ultimate’ panacea for all of the worlds pains and frustrations. No mention of ‘how’ it will be accomplished, or the ‘class structure’ that MUST be put in place to ensure the management and CONTROL of society. Which class are you going to be a part of? The one that manages (the social and political elite) or the people with their hands out (those with less than a 42″ plasma in their house) or those stuck in the middle who are trying to follow their dreams of home ownership, freedom of choice for education and health care, where to live, what to do in life, etc. etc. etc…?
Will you be happy to put down your keyboard and pickup a shovel in Arizona to put down blacktop if that is what your Socialist government says is needed?! Or, if that job is too beneath you, will you go work in a slaughter house, or perform work against your own religious beliefs? You will have to do something to ‘contribute’ besides cast an un-educated vote for the demise of our country because it ‘feels good’ and you are ‘part of something’ or whatever…
Would you be happy to be sterilized, or euthanized, due to the burden you or your children may be costing the system? How many other ‘socialist’ countries have done this in the past (ah hem – CHINA!). You think that Socialism and Progressives and Eugenics believers (I know they are a blur at times), don’t view the ‘cost’ of people in their management of society?!?!
There is so much that you all never seem to think about. The ‘feel-good’ solution is not always the right one. Accountability ‘hurts’ – what is why success is painful at times – Nothing comes to you on a silver platter, never will. When political decisions start to trample on basic human rights (and health care is NOT one of them) – you have to educate yourselves and pay attention to the bigger pieces moving on the board.
Again – the argument which can’t be beat:
If you are going to take away from me that what I have worked for, to give to someone else who is not willing to work/produce — What is their obligation to me?! What are they wiling to give up to relieve my burden of higher taxes for my own success!?
Put yourselves in those shoes – chances are you have a comfortable life, why would you be happy with being forcibly taxed to pay for people who are not willing to work, or make decisions based on behavior that force a burden on you personally/financially.
I feel sorry for all of you. Amazing that you watch one or two channels, read the NYT and consider yourselves educated on these subjects… Amazing…
The problem here is that it’s impossible to have a rational discussion with anyone that paints everything as black or white, good or evil. Comparing anything to Hitler and the Nazis – unless it’s another totalitarian regime bent on world domination via war and genocide – is an instant argument forfeit. People who watch one or two channels and read the NY Times are already more educated than the mouth breathers that only watch Fox News and believe everything they’re told, with a trickle of drool running down the corner of their mouths.
Oh, and Philip? The next time someone invites you over to their house for a conversation, you might want to reconsider your strategy of taking a shit on the coffee table.
By the way, Philip, did Health Care Systems, Inc. of Indiana send you to harass random blogs like they do with town hall meetings, or are you freelancing?
Phillip just because you are easily swayed by people spouting fear doesn’t mean it is accurate or that you are informed. Again, what is proposed isn’t Socialism. No matter how loud you shout it. It is very similar to much of what we already do here in the grand old USA.
Clearly you don’t condone the use of public library, medicare, public schools, public roads, fire department, police department, post office, etc.
There are tons of great people in the world that they want better life and better conditions for them self and their children. The suggested ways may vary but some of them can observe the “lies” in the being “free”, “open” or just realizes that the problem is not only their problem, this is a system issue. So, the solution should be more radical instead of looking for personal short term resolutions and somebody should change the system which causes problem in our life.
This is a preference in our life. We either select being alone and finding an escape only for us, or making the solutions more global and organizing a global solution for all others.
We just need to decide our position on this question. Either I don’t care for others and I can find a way for myself, or I am a modern human brain and I care for whole humanity in the world.
I do not care whatever the names are as socialist, communist etc. I just care my position about this main question and I prefer being a responsible citizen who cares about everything in the world.
Yes, in this case, I am a socialist!
Ok, Ok, Ok…
I admit I am bias on a few aspects of life…
I will agree to read more Paul Krugman, if you all agree to watch a bit more FoxNews. 🙂
Peace Out. Nice blog’n with you all.
I always love to see these stats:
http://thinkprogress.org/2007/04/16/daily-show-fox-knowledge/
http://thinkprogress.org/2009/08/19/fox-news-viewers-misinformed/
Fair and Balanced… and misinformed.
The reason I do not watch Fox “news” is because every time I have it on for more than 10 seconds I have to hammer a maple tree syrup tap into my skull to let the stupid drain out.
As if we needed proof of the quality of information floating around.
@Philip – China = Communist.
Contrary to what Fox News et all will have you beliefe, Socialism is not Communism. The sooner the Right learsns the difference, the sooner we have a chance at turning the hatred into debate.
Just for grins – Nazis and Communists are on opposite sides. If you believe the extreme right perceptiosns, you are agreeing with Nazis.
Sigh. Just checking how the conversation progressed during the day and it doesn’t inspire much. More of the same – finger pointing (for the most part).
So, I don’t know the difference between Socialism & Communism because I have right-leaning views? That doesn’t seem like a much stronger argument than the folks who overreact (like Phillip did – although I do appreciate the mellowing comment at the end 🙂 ) to what’s going on in the first place.
It’s my belief that it’s our inability for one side to seriously put a foot toward the other when it makes sense that gets us all wrapped up around all these issues.
I want health care that works (I personally don’t believe the current proposals or the current situation are sufficient), a government that helps but knows where to draw the line and most of all for individuals and families to stand up and take personal responsibility to strengthen their communities and those around them (through education, morale obligations, etc.).
Hi! I’d agree that well-intentioned people can call themselves “socialists”.
But that shouldn’t prevent others from observing the actual historical effects of political structures trying to enact socialist policies, right?
iow, I heard you saying “I know a nice person who ‘was a socialist'”. But that doesn’t directly counter “High-achieving people historically try to avoid ‘socialist’ types of societies, which usually promote their own types of sorrowful inequalities, and which inevitably implode from their absence of meaningful market signals.”
Or, more briefly, your grandfather may not have hurt people, but socialists definitely have, and this topic should not be hidden away.
Two issues, true? Should critical speech be banned (I hope not)?
jd
PS: I don’t know whose speech annoyed you. 😉
A lot of people watch Fox News. In fact, more people than any other news network. Personally, I’m not a fan of the editorial content either (Beck, O’Reilly, etc.) but I find their news to be very fair and balanced. I used to be a card-carrying member of NPR who never missed a pledge drive. But after the start of the Iraq war their news coverage took a strong liberal slant. So I shopped around and watched MSNBC for about a year, then CNN for another. I can honestly say that I’ve watched/listened to all of these networks for large periods of time and found that Fox was always the most reliable in showing _both_ sides. That’s really what I’m after and if I can tune into one network, rather than two, thats what I’m gonna do. As a side note, I found BBC news to be the best by far, but their US news/political coverage isn’t that deep.
What I’m really trying to say is that stereotyping Fox News viewers as ignorant or misinformed is really doing a disservice to your arguments. Much like calling Bush ‘stupid’ was. It comes off as very juvenile and even throwing occasional insults towards your opponents forces them to disregard everything else you say.
Anyway.. socialism is very scary to a lot people. If someone has a phobia, rational arguments about why they shouldn’t have a phobia doesn’t usually work. So… people are afraid of Socialism. This is just a sad fact. Lets not forget that Americans are so afraid that they fought WORLD WARS to prevent it’s spread. Whether you like it or not, when the government gets directly involved in it citizen’s health, socialism alarm bells ring.
The overall goal is noble. Getting sick shouldn’t lead to bankruptcy. I don’t think anyone could disagree with that goal. The issue the country is conflicted over is the solution. I personally believe the root cause is the _cost_ of healthcare.
So rather than using taxpayer money to provide expensive healthcare, why don’t we focus on driving down the costs? or even simpler, why not just give every qualifying citizen a credit for healthcare? Why do we need to setup a government-run healthcare system? When faced with mass hunger, we didn’t create a government-run grocery store… we created a food-stamps program. Why is this so different?
I must admit, I’m a bit jaded here as I spent several years working for the federal government. Our government may be the best in the world, but they are the most incompetent organization in existence. The very _last_ organization I’d trust with my health. Sure, it sounds great when Obama is in charge, but what happens when someone you don’t agree with is in charge. Imagine if Hilary-care happened back in the 90s. That would have meant Bush was controlling your health for 8 years… scary, right?
We always tend to think things can only get better, but given our current financial crisis (9 trillion in debt), I have to think things are just going to get worse. Sorry to end on a downer, but thats what most concerns me about the current plan… it doesn’t seem fiscally possible.
@all — thanks so much for all the comments!
@Adam — reasonable people can disagree on how to solve the healthcare crisis. What irks me is the people who reflexively stomp their feet and yell “NOOOO!” and do not suggest alternatives.
I agree that cost is the root issue — but I tend to think that a big part of the problem is that we have a bunch of for-profit companies essentially running healthcare in the USA. Their incentive is to not help people get care, it’s to collect as much money as possible and pay out as little as possible. Giving people help in paying premiums doesn’t IMO solve the root issue of misaligned incentives.
@JD — bear in mind that I am a Democrat and a capitalist, I am not myself a Socialist. That said I think there are aspects of Socialism that are appealing in how it approaches some of the inequities in Capitalism. A number of governments today struggle with the issue of how to balance incentive & social support. We can learn from them.