I'm a Republican, but I keep hearing mention of a Liberal movement toward Socialism. Has Obama really infected this country to the point where the Democrats want a form of Socialism instead of Capitalism? I find it fairly hard to believe.
Dems?
Anonymous
Favorite Answer
Because they lack the gray cells necessary for a functioning brain.
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What is Socialism? It is the government planning every part of the citizens life from cradle to grave. The government telling you how much you can make, where you should live, what you can do for entertainment, what you can say, where you should go to school, what you should eat, what kind of health care you can get for yourself, how much money you should make, whether or not you can buy a home or own a car. It is GOVERNMENT PLANNING.
Yes, the Democrats, for the most part, are socialists. They are Progressive. It started with Roosevelt and has become like a disease in America. The common citizen wants it because they like freebies coming from on high. But the problem with freebies is that they really aren't free. Someone has to pay for them. That's why they clamor for higher taxes on the rich all the time. However, there are not enough rich people in the country to cover the insatiable demands of the Democrats social programs.
If you get a little book called "The Road to Serfdom" you'll get a clear understanding of Socialist Government. It was written by a world renowned economist who lived through WWII in Austria. He saw the rise of Hitler and knew Germany before Hitler came. He saw the rise of Government Planning and warns America and Europe that we are on the same road to a total dictatorship if we don't stop now and return to our roots.
People must be responsible for their own welfare. There is room for caring for those who are completely unable to care for themselves in a Republican form or Government, but that government expects the able bodied to work and earn their own bread. When you take that away and you spoil everyone, you have a bunch a baby citizens crying to Nanny Gov. to pay their way and there just isn't enough $$ to go around to a couple billion citizens.
Elspeth
Actually, Obama is in some ways more conservative than Bill Clinton was. The problem is that Republicans use that broad brushstroke to paint him "socialistic". President Obama's response to the PATRIOT Act certainly wasn't a liberal action, and liberals are the ones who, rightly or wrongly, are characterized as leaning toward the Socialist ideology.
Social Security is socialistic; you'll notice that I use the lower-case "s" in socialistic.
Are we going to call Social Security wrong when people have paid into it in good faith and now are able to buy food and have somewhere to live because of it?
Is it reasonable to assume that the majority of Americans have enough money saved up (or have had the opportunity to save it) to do without Social Security as they become too old and/or feeble to earn a living?
Are Amercians supposed to work at their jobs (what jobs?) until they drop dead or just starve after they've "outlived their usefulness"? That is how it used to be for those who did not have families to take them in and care for them.
I would suspect that it is more practical to have a Social Security system than it is to expect one's children to take the elderly and infirm in and care for them until they die.
I was wrong once
Because they are weak minded gullible idiot hypocrites who have been brainwashed by fox news right wing propaganda. Anything that might cut into corporate profits is called a socialist plot. The right wing scoundrels have always preyed on the ignorant by labeling anyone who might interfere with their profits for the sake of the greater good (clean air, clean water, a safe workplace, decent wages, etc) socialists and communists. it's nothing new.
thursday's_child
The problem is that people like Sophia don't know the difference between Socialism and Communism.