Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Not Socialism

You've heard the accusations and the denials. Many of us say that the current administration is marching us at double-time into socialism. The government is aggressively taking over business, regulating what it hasn't yet taken, dismantling the free market and redistributing wealth from those who earn to those who don't. You know the line: walks like a duck, quacks like...

The apologists argue that the Messiah most assuredly is not a socialist. We don't understand what socialism is. We misinterpret the actions. These are things we all need being done for our own good. They certainly aren't socialist.

So, what do we make of this?

Private Wages Set Record Low, Government Payments Record High

As I sit at my computer this morning, the Dow is again descending. It is a pretty clear demonstration that the "recovery" and "stimulus" and "Wall Street to Main Street" programs are a disaster. When you put people who have never held productive, free enterprise, private sector jobs in charge of the economy, you can't expect optimism to prevail for too long. Eventually we figure out that the handouts aren't free.

The trend is not sustainable, says University of Michigan economist Donald Grimes. Reason: The federal government depends on private wages to generate income taxes to pay for its ever-more-expensive programs. Government-generated income is taxed at lower rates or not at all, he says. "This is really important," Grimes says.


Yes, this is really important.

I guess the apologists on the left are correct. It isn't socialism. It is something far more pernicious. It is something that has failed everywhere it has been tried. It is that happy meal of "from each according to his ability" that Marx sold the post-industrial Europeans. It is communism.

6 comments:

Scott McCray said...

"Nope, not socialism...nothing to see here, move along."

The slippery slope is paved with lying weasel words - and by the time the somnolent masses awaken, it is far too late. Sad.

-Scott

Crucis said...

As I once posted, you're right. It isn't socialism. Socialism is state ownership of the means of production. The government doesn't own GM, the unions now do. Ditto for Chrysler.

What we truly have is Fascism. Fascism is governmental CONTROL of the means of production. Look what has happened to the Big Two of the auto-industry and what has happened for parts of our financial industry. Pure Fascism.

Compare Obama and Mussolini and check off all the similarities.

Ed Rasimus said...

Ahhh, Crucis, you didn't notice that under the Bamster the trains DON'T run on time.

nzgarry said...

We had a leftist Government down here for 9 years, recently removed thank goodness.

The positions of power within it were filled with ex teachers/lecturers, lawyers.

It was hard to tell directly who were actively socialist as they would not declare themselves - you had to look at there backgrounds and actions.

It was clear though that dependance on the state for their incomes and careers all their working lives
for some reason gave them:

1. Anti business attitudes.
2. A command and control worldview
3. Driven by ideology, a point blank refusal to draw lessons from past experience.

The other thing is that for all their collectivist ideals they were lightning quick to look after number one when the time came.

Sound familiar?.

juvat said...

So, Ed, trains not running on time. Does that disqualify him as a Fascist or does that just make him an incompetent Fascist?

Anonymous said...

The answer might be "Incompetent fascist", or is it perhaps fascist of another kind? The thing is, Barry doesn't care if the trains run on time. The important thing for him is Air Force One runs on time.

I've been surrounded by incompetent (but also cunning and vicious) commies all my life in universities. These people have been studying fascism for years. They call it "postmodernism," among other things. Be afraid. Be very afraid.