August 28, 2011 by David K. Sutton
I’m a Socialist and So Are You
Did you hear? President Obama wants the Bush tax cuts to expire – only on the top tax bracket – therefore he is a socialist. Or let’s try another one… They are saying Obama is a socialist because he wants everyone in this country to have access to healthcare. Actually “they” are right about that second one. That is a socialist idea and I fully embrace it. This must mean I’m a socialist too, at least when it comes to the topic of healthcare. I will show I’m also a socialist in many other areas and you likely are as well.
To know if someone is a socialist we must know what socialism is. The way that term is thrown around by Fox News pundits you would think it’s a horrible system that we would never want to have visit us in the good ol’ U.S. of A.
Merriam-Webster defines socialism as:
Socialism – any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods
It is the rare citizen of the United States that would advocate for a pure socialist system. What many on the left would advocate is using socialism where it makes sense for the collective good of society. What many Fox News pundits – and many on the right in general – fail to recognize is that ALL modern, industrialized democracies are a mix of democracy, capitalism and yes socialism, it just depends on the mix. Some countries have more socialism and less capitalism – arguably most democracies other than the United States – and some have less socialism and more capitalism – quite possibly only the United States.
So why do I say I’m a socialist and so are you? Even if the United States has the least socialism out of all other modern, industrialized democracies we still have many social programs for the collective good of society. Some of these programs are: Medicare, Medicaid, Veterans Administration, public schools, postal service and the program with social in its name, Social Security. If you support any of these programs and services – and a great number of Americans do – then you are a socialist too.
