Alot is being said now about the Obama administration's leftist leanings and the country slipping towards socialism. As an actual socialist and a member of DSA (Democratic Socialists of America) be assured there is nothing further from the truth. Socialism is very different than a capitalist state and it is a system which is run by and elevates one thing... LABOR. State owned and state controlled businesses and banks are not part of the a socialist movement unless the government was made over and controlled by laborers, I'm not simplly speaking about party affliation.
GM being bought out by the government and run by the government is state enforced Capitalism, not socialism. The fact is GM and many other indutries have and continue to receive a great degree of corporate welfare... this is nothing new. The main difference in this situation was that government not onlt supplied funds and loopholes, this time the government wanted a say in the decision making. I would hope all of us who pay into this system realize that's not the worst thing.
Fact is there have been few attempts to install a socialist system because of the complexities and interdependancies that such a system would require, again not state owned; but, worker owned economy. This is very hard to even conceive of because we live in a system so radically different. Ask a Christain to describe heaven or tell a blind person what the color blue is... not an easy task because there are no reference points.
There is no need to fear socialists as the right wing talk show hosts demonize us. Yes, socialism would rely more heavily on taxes; but, socialist pride themselves on fiscal responsiblity and transparent uses of money... therefore pet projects and corporate welfare would be eliminated.
I don't want to belabour this point for too long in any one entry. I touch on it again from time to time and I will try to post to this blog daily.
DP