Socialism = Fail

By On · 6 Comments · In personal, politics

Today will be remembered for a long time to come. How it will be remembered, is likely going to be up to the rest of us. On this seventeenth day of February, two-thousand and nine years after the birth of our lord and savior Jesus Christ, Socialism was snuck upon the people of the greatest country in modern times.

The method for this, was a bait-and-switch bill disguised as a financial stimulus bill to help an ailing economy. The bill, the largest ever,  is the single largest takeover of government in American history. Unlike the military coups that were required to nationalize Venezuela, Cuba, or the former Soviet Union, the transfer of government type here has been completely accompished via stealth. Ask the average person on the street about what’s in the bill. You’re likely to get limited response.

There’s reason for that. Nobody actually knows the entirety of the bill. The particulars will take months to decipher. So, either this bill will not have the immediate impact that was championed as a reason for it’s immediate passage, or the bill will be employed with reckless abandon. Either way, it appears the American people got a raw deal.

During all of this, what news do the American people get? Likely, there will be news about the amazing fashion appeal the First Lady has, or how Republicans are hellbent on destroying the economy by opposing efforts to help people with federal aid. What irritates me most about current affairs, is how the story is consistently spun to provide positive light to those who wish to fundamentally alter the way our country works (or doesn’t).

There’s a reason government handouts don’t help anyone (including banks) : The government has zero ability to require responsibility to the folks that receive, well, welfare. The federal (or any other for that matter) government does not, nor should it ever have, the ability to monitor the responsibility of the people it’s employed by. To trust the government with your security, with your freedom, is to give up both.

Of course the irony about the sudden appeal of a strong executive branch, is how the same folks were appalled by the same scenario 6 months ago. Do not confuse the current president with the much more long term presence of government. Giving away freedoms to a ‘seemingly’ benevolent leader today ensures that some other leader, with much more sinister motives, will exploit that power later. By handing over this level of control to government, we have ensured at least some difficulty in re-establishing our right to be a free people.

The lesson from all of this : The American people are just as susceptable to manipulation by the lure of compelling leaders, as any other country in the world. There will be a day when people look back on our country and realize how we the people threw away the greatest of strengths we’d ever had. We will look back and remember what we lost. Then again, maybe we’ll be so fixed on a marionette, that we’ll never look back …

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  • http://www.gospeedraser.com John Raser

    Great post! Well said! Tremendous insight! I like the way you think. I’m appalled by this pork laden bill. Frankly, I’m insulted as an American citizen that Obama and his cohorts think they can grease this phony stimulus package under the radar. The American people are quickly seeing why Obama was nothing more than smoke and mirrors; an unqualified, overhyped, extremist, socialist held up by the biased media. What a joke.

  • jharr

    We need to be very careful how we throw some of these words and comparisons around. I don’t think stating we on a path towards more government control or nationalizing key elements that are currently public is incorrect, but it’s not really socialism. And the states you mention being ‘socialist’ aren’t or weren’t socialist at all. Comparing this bill – which is a monumental ruse and not all a stimulus but spending bill – with the USSR is hyperbole and hurts the point. Spending is out of control and there are efforts to nationalize parts of our system – but even key Republicans are supporting this for banking.

    To your last point – “The American people are just as susceptable to manipulation by the lure of compelling leaders, as any other country in the world” well America was certainly gung-ho for following Bush into Iraq, etc. and if you’re trying to compare Obama to Chavez or Castro, et al. then you know as well as I do that’s just wrong.

  • http://corycollier.com Cory Collier

    Jharr,
    First of all, I’d like to thank you for making your point so elegantly. Usually, talk of politics erodes all sense of manners. So thanks again for speaking with such grace.
    Regarding the use of parallels and analogy: I do not apologize for comparing what may wind up being potentially similar scenarios. There are a number of institutes that are now starting to refer to the United States as a socialist nation, simply by virtue of the ratio of government control over markets, vs private control.
    I would be more likely to temper my words, if any of this was being reported on the news. Instead, the entire bill has been glossed over without critical analysis by media outlets. I can’t begin to describe my frustration with that.
    When Bush successfully argued for the troop surge in Iraq in 2006, news reports of the failure were unrelenting. Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, and Barack Obama were repeatedly holding news conferences claiming the Surge was a failure, just days after it had started.
    Contrast that type of reporting with a far more important event occuring right now. Where’s the reporting? It simply doesn’t exist.
    The vast majority of republicans do NOT agree with this bill. When the Obama administration had a chance to consort with them on key issues, they failed. Some tax incentives were included on the bill, but far less than what republicans were asking for. That’s not bipartisanship, that’s a lie.
    Regarding the reference to Chavez and Castro: If you recall, the references made about Bush to Hitler are far too numerous to count. Comparitively speaking, Chavez is a much better guy than Hitler (which is saying a lot).
    Again, I’d be less dramatic in my rhetoric if any of my concerns were reported in major news media outlets. The fact that I (and many others) are so concerned about these issues, and there is zero reporting about it, screams of news bias.

  • http://www.alexrudloff.com Alex Rudloff

    @JHarr,

    “The American people will never knowingly adopt socialism. But under the name of ‘liberalism,’ they will adopt every fragment of the socialist program, until one day America will be a socialist nation, without knowing how it happened.” ~ Norman Thomas, former Socialist Presidential Candidate

    I agree that we aren’t totally there yet, but I think the fear folks have on this is legitimate. The “other side” seems to take the position of calling those who speak out against it paranoid or simply dismissing them as “the chattering classes.”

    But when is it that government, more specifically human beings in positions of power, have given up that power once gained? Very rarely, and in our history, it’s happened mostly because people rose up and demanded it. In order for that to happen, people need to understand the path that we’re on. If we’re not careful it’s only a matter of time until our government, specifically the executive branch, will hit a tipping point. If we aren’t indeed socialist now, we’re sure as hell pointed that way.

    You’d think after the last 8 years, folks might be a little more willing to believe that the concentration of power is a bad thing ;) Amazing what happens when the team jersey changes.

    “Moderation in the pursuit of liberty is no virtue, extremism in the pursuit of justice is no vice.” ~ Barry Goldwater

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