Socialism has a bad reputation, but this proud socialist wants all the things you do to.
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Even before the Cold War and the so-called “McCarthy Period” (named after Wisconsin Senator, Joseph McCarthy), individuals and groups on the political and theocratic Right have flung the term “Socialist” from their metaphoric sling shots into the faces of their political opponents to discredit their characters and dismiss their political ideas and policies, and to sway the electorate toward a conservative agenda. This continues to this very day as evidenced by the Tea Party’s representations of President Obama and of various progressive politicians.
As destructive and as freedom-killing as the Right would have us believe, Socialism involves
“a theory or system of social organization that advocates the vesting of the ownership and control of the means of production and distribution, of capital, land, etc., in the community as a whole,”
where each of us has a stake and advances in the success of our collective economy.
No country in the world today stands as a fully Socialist state, but rather, some of the most successful economies combine elements of Capitalism with Socialism to create greater degrees of equity and lesser disparities between the rich, the poor, and those on the continuum in between.
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I, therefore, would say to those who thrust the term “Socialist” as an epithet, if a Socialist is one who advocates for a government sponsored single-payer quality universal health care system, which includes medical procedures and safe and reasonably-priced prescription and over-the-counter drug therapies, including contraception devises of one’s choice, then I am a proud Socialist!
If a Socialist is one who demands that our country protects and enhances our Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid safety nets, and school lunch and other assistance programs, then I am a proud Socialist!
If a Socialist is one who advocates for the further nationalization of our parks, forests, mountains, rivers, streams, shores, and off-shore waters, rather than allocating increased corporate mining, drilling, and timber rights, then I am a proud Socialist!
If a Socialist is one who advocates for free and quality education, not only through grade 12, but throughout higher education, and after, for everyone who desires and works to achieve their fullest potential, then I am a proud Socialist!
If a Socialist is one who advocates for a government-sponsored program that guarantees our seniors a retirement system that ensures a high quality of life free from economic burdens, then I am a proud Socialist!
If a Socialist is one who advocates for the rights of workers to organize and to collectively bargain for better wages and working conditions, and guarantees equal pay for equal work, then I am a proud Socialist!
If a Socialist is one who battles to eliminate workplace and larger societal inequalities based on race, nationality, linguistic background, citizenship status, age, marriage status, sex, sexual identity, gender identity and expression, disability, socioeconomic standing, religion, and other social identities, then I am a proud Socialist!
If a Socialist is one who works to ensure that everyone is guaranteed a comfortable and secure place to live, one who guards against a banking system that forecloses people’s homes through scurrilous business practices, and one who tightens regulations on Wall Street and banks to limit the risks of future meltdowns, then I am a proud Socialist!
If a Socialist is one who supports effective governmental regulations on food producers to safeguard our food supply and protect against the maltreatment of animals, then I am a proud Socialist!
If a Socialist is one who places reasonable regulations on corporations, companies, and individuals to defend our environment, supports development and distribution of clean and renewable energy sources, and spends the funds necessary to enhance and maintain the nation’s infrastructure, then I am a proud Socialist!
If a Socialist is one who supports reasonable and fair restrictions on the political process to prevent mammoth contributions by individuals and corporations to buy and own politicians to influence public policy, while locking out individuals and groups unable to amass large political funds, then I am a proud Socialist!
If a Socialist is one who challenges a military industrial complex that marches to the beat of industry, and a prison industrial complex that perpetuates the racial and socioeconomic class inequities pervasive throughout the society, then I am a proud Socialist!
If a Socialist is one who guarantees quality and timely health care and other programs for our military veterans, then I am a proud Socialist!
If a Socialist is one who contests and advocates for effective restrictions on the so-called “free market” economic system that enables the creation and enhancement of mega monopolies, outsourcing of jobs, manufacture of defective products, and exploitation of destructive fossil fuels, then I am a proud Socialist!
If a Socialist is one who places common sense regulations on the ownership of all fire arms to protect the population from assault, injury, and death, then I am a proud Socialist!
If a Socialist is one who supports an end and reverse of all current and past attempts at voter suppression of minoritized groups, young people, elders, working class voters, and guarantees equal access to the voting booths, then I am a proud Socialist!
If a Socialist is one who promotes and enacts compassionate and fair immigration, naturalization, and refugee shelters laws, and works with other nations to protect its residents from gang violence and from stifling poverty, which when unabated makes it necessary for people to flee in order to survive, then I am a proud Socialist!
If a Socialist is one who considers corporations AS corporations rather than “as people my friend,” and compels these businesses to follow the laws of incorporated ventures and not as religious institutions, then I am a proud Socialist!
If a Socialist is one who constructs and maintains a “strict wall of separation” between religion and government, then I am a proud Socialist!
If a Socialist is one who demands a true progressive tax structure where everyone pays their fair share, one that inhibits massive inequities in the overwhelming accumulation of wealth by the top one-ten percent of the nation as is currently the case in the United States, then I am a VERY proud Socialist! And the list goes on….
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Last year, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development conducted its “Better Life Index” to determine the “happiest countries in the world,” according to its residents. Based on an 11-measure survey assessing quality of life, including housing, income, jobs, community, education, the environment, health, work-life balance, and life satisfaction, all the Scandinavian countries, plus The Netherlands and Austria, and only one North American country, plus Australia and Israel reached the top 10 countries.
Included in descending order are number one, Denmark, followed by Canada (which provides a single-payer health care system unlike its North American neighbor, the United States,) Norway, Australia, The Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, Finland, Israel, and Austria. I am saddened, but definitely not surprised, that the United States did not make the cut. Therefore, we might do well to look to these countries for some of their “Socialist” policies that sustain high levels of quality of life issues for their residents.
So, I will always challenge those who wish to continue the economic and social status quo when using the term “Socialist” as a means of intimidation flung as an epithet, but, rather, I welcome and embrace the term as a declaration of empowerment, pride, and hope for a better social structure in a better tomorrow.
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I’m a libertarian who supports a ‘free society’. In a free society there are only two main values 1. Freedom from the use of force/violence or the threat of force/violence. 2. Respect of property rights. Socialism disrespects both of these. 1. Socialism requires either tax or work, with an individuals choice not to either of those there rights to food/shelter/healthcare are denied. Force is used to provide obedience to the state. In countries like the US which run on a high level of socialism even force men to sign up for the selective service else they be dinied certain priveleges… Read more »
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-meritocracy-myth-stephen-j-mcnamee/1116755093?ean=9781442219823
http://www.ncsociology.org/sociationtoday/v21/merit.htm
mr.blumenfeld, many americans and others around the world have a right to question and even oppose socialism and many aspects of collectivism given its abysmal history in the twentieth century. One is not the stereotypical dumb American ,as you paint the hundreds of millions citizens, to notice every and various societies from the USSR, Nazi Germany which was totalitarian and socialist, Mao’s China, and the numerous Peoples’ Republics and workers’ paradises. To notice their horrific treatment as a rule of their citizenry and their incompetent, disastrous, and often actively malignant economic schemes and ideologies. as Governments, despite their equalitarian rhetoric,… Read more »
http://www.mega.nu/ampp/murray_income_iq.pdf
Pg 8
Dear Silke: The major problem causing many U.S.-Americans not to be able to open their minds to other economic systems beside the one they have is the fact that we are taught the LIE from the time we are born that we live in a truly meritocratic country where one’s intelligence, merit, and drive coupled with the foundational notion of rugged individualism will take the individual as far as they can go, even to the Oval Office. This gives us the “understanding” that we live in a truly “exceptional” country, a country that is far better than any other country… Read more »
I’m willing to bet My family and I spend more time and money helping the less fortunate than pretty much anyone here than Tom B.
Tambien, puedo hablar dos lenguas y mis ninos estan estudiando Espanol y Mandarin.
Thirdly income and IQ are positively correlated which is evidence of meritocracy.
You know nothing about people like me and my family. Just a few more things you’re woefully incorrect about.
“Thirdly income and IQ are positively correlated which is evidence of meritocracy.” Show me the empirical research! This is another lie. And besides, why do you enter this discussion anonymously?
Should have been under my usual name. Have some crow http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/03/120329142035.htm
Many more servings of crow are available if you decide that one isn’t to your liking.
CW: Your article looks at people who are given a certain job, and how those people with higher intelligence are more successful in a given position. Yes, this seems very logical and I would agree. BUT, I am talking about how socioeconomic class background is a major determinant over whether a person gets that job to begin with. You might want to read about the concept of The Myth of Meritocracy in the following sites. Socioeconomic class background is a leading determinant of where ones goes to school, where one lives, and the degree and chances of one’s ultimate life… Read more »
Hi CW Do you really think people in countries organized differently from the US do not know how to take care of them selves? Weird! And Ayn Rand ended up dependent on welfare….. Why not travel and live abroad for some years? Societies can be organized in so many different ways. I have lived in USA . Have you lived in any of the countries mentioned above? I do not understand your remark about immigration. Do mean we do not have immigration into the Nordic countries? It is as high as the immigration was into US when it was the… Read more »
Not the least bit angry. I’m not upset at you for your happiness; I would just prefer liberty to safety and free exercise of will to a governmental nanny. I wish you would open your immigration policies up to allow all those who wish to be cared for by the govt to join you. Don’t get me wrong, I believe there should be a safety net but for the majority of users it should be temporary and not a comfortable place to rest.
I wonder how long your Nordic models would last without your culturally homogenous populations though.
Hi CW I am glad you are not angry. We simply grew up in different cultures that is all. But give me some examples of areas, issues where I am not free while you are? I do understand you maybe pay less taxes than me but give me examples of things in my daily life that is forbidden for me, because Iam not free ? Yes we have rules and regulations for construction of houses, too many rules and regulations. But I think you mean something else when you see yourself as more free , having more freedom than me… Read more »
I wonder how well the Nordic system would work if the Nordics had to defend themselves after WWII from Stalin another collectivist, since all of them didn’t do a good job against Hitler’s Germany. Either being conquered or being neutral ,which often meant passively assisting the Nazis. After one totalitarian expansionist was defeated, some country’s military had to stop the next and more deadly one, and that country was the United States of America. It is easy to use much wealth for a welfare state when you don’t pay for your own defense. and have oil in the North Atlantic… Read more »
Hi D.smith
Yes.
And we are thankful for that.
My boyfriend cried his heart out when we visited the places in Europe where the soldiers( your) died and lies buried.
And yes ,historians tells us a lot of ugly facts about what happens during WWII.
But the Russians will tell you that they stopped the nazis…as far as know they will tell you that.
But today there is no consensus about how to best bring peace in this world, not everybody agrees on the American strategy . But that is another debate.
Hi CW Maybe freedom for you is paying as little taxes as possible and self decide what causes and intuitions in your society you want to support with the money you earn, For me freedom is to feel safe where ever I go, in the city,forest,mountains. For me freedom is the possibility to go on vacations instead of staying at home watching the house. For me freedom is free education up to university level for all. For me freedom is to have my mother in a good nursing home without having to use my savings to pay for her. For… Read more »
Great. Stay there and open up your immigration policies. I don’t mind paying my own way and taking care of myself.
It is extremely difficult to have a productive, grownup conversation about this topic because in America we’re essentially taught that Socialism = Communism = Satanism.
Anyone can write cheap, dime store rhetoric. The internet is full of it, and GMP is no exception. What is an exception is a thoughtful examination of one’s intellectual proposition, with a particular emphasis on honestly addressing (rather than flippantly dismissing) real objections to one’s position. In this case, the objection is that implementation of the socialist agenda as defined by Warren would require way too much in the way of governmental control and erosion of personal liberty. That’s a non-trivial objection, worthy of a serious response which Warren does not even attempt to provide. Dime store rhetoric, followed by… Read more »
I think Michael’s point is that your vision requires significantly more governmental coercion than he is comfortable with. I’d concur.
Perhaps explaining how coercion will be implemented in your plan would clarify how you differ from the likes of Stalin. What do Vladamir Lenin, John Smith and the Bible have in common? A phrase, ‘He who does not work, neither shall he eat’ — II Thessalonians 3:10 Socialism was first tried in America, established in Jamestown. “If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat” John Smith According to Lenin, “He who does not work shall not eat” is a necessary principle under socialism. In Jamestown, nobody owned property for the first four years, all work was communal,… Read more »
Michael: You are confusing and conflating totalitarian communism with democratic socialism, two very different political philosophies. You might want to read your political theory.
Do you wish to replace our representative republic with a new form of government? Should we emulate the Venezuelan model? (The happiest country in Latin America 2011-13 was Venezuela.)
Do you support advancing the cause of socialist democracy by way of force?
that should say “as” rather than “with”
any disagreement with my analysis? “Socialism” as Dr. Blumenfeld describes it is just as corrosive to Liberty as the agenda of Social Conservatives. If the US is pluralistic society that values individual Liberty neither goal is consistent with who we are.
Yup, I think my point just got made.
I let Dr Blumenfeld handle the definition. If your conclusions are the same as his the hat fits you as well.
Dear Remittance Girl: Yes, CW gives an excellent example of the doublespeak of “freedom” and “liberty,” a form of ruthless individualism that benefits ONLY the super rich. CW has bought into this ethic (which is actually unethical) at the expense of the many to benefit the very few.
Throw a few more buzz words into that statement and maybe you’ll get BINGO. Otherwise all you get is an eyeroll and poor marks for reading comprehension.
You consistently prove my point whenever you post these articles. If the USA is a pluralistic society that values individual liberty then your goals are as inconsistent with Pat Robertson’s. I’ll oppose both of you.
Whenever I get accused by an American of being a socialist, I have to stop and remind myself that it’s an insult there. I ask them what they think socialism is, and the answer I get back always revolves around them having their personal freedom taken away. Socialism is, for many Americans, another word for Stalinism. Even when they know something about me, they never stop to wonder why a reasonably intelligent human being would advocate or support a totalitarian system of government and perhaps adjust their definitions. I can see that you’re trying to reappropriate the word, and I… Read more »
Surely you can see the incredible erosion of individual freedoms that would be required for Dr. Blumenfeld’s utopia. The rub is this- they are other people’s freedoms and monies that he is more than happy to spend to secure it. That, in my opinion, is the biggest pitfall of progressive politics- in essence they are identical to the social conservatives in that they want to limit others to benefit themselves. 2 sides of the same coin. Examples: Social conservatives want to limit the rights of homosexuals to forward a vision of society that fits their idea of a utopia. American… Read more »