Daily Archives: May 10, 2010

Politics

Define Socialism

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Define Socialism
by
Captain Jack

I found it rather amusing to read David’s prior post on the social foundations of America and our founding fathers. I was not in the least suprised by the confused response to his references to socialism.

As sad as it is, Americans have no clue what Socialism is. They’re taught to hate and fear it because it represents the arch enemy of democracy, communism. Many tyrants in the world’s history have used the term socialism to hide and sweeten the sound of the awful deeds they wrought upon their people as well as the earth as a whole. Even Hitler was selling his hate-filled and corrosive politics as a form of socialism.

No wonder Americans are so afraid of the sound.

But, alas, a couple years in school (well, higher education perhaps) one quickly learns that socialism is either a political theory or an economic theory that is constructed for the benefit of society, for the benefit of the social.

Since this is primarily a political blog though not exclusively, my understanding of David’s reference to the term socialism was that of a political bent. It’s important for everyone to know that there is world of difference between socialism and communism, even though some like to blur the lines. There is also a world of difference between political socialism and economic socialism.

Obviously, political socialism is political decisions made for the benefit of society. Economic socialism is a form of economy that is similar to communism where some or all of the businesses are owned by society. It is obvious that using the term communism for this type of economy is easier to understand by everyone involved than to use the term socialism. This is obviously why the republicans try to use this confusion at every opportunity.

You can go to five different sources and get five different definitions for socialism. Too bad. It’s an easy opportunity for those intent on keeping their uneducated followers motivated. Fear Socialism!

Politics

American Values

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American Values
by
David Schlecht

One of the greatest strengths of our great country is our freedom to say what we want. Freedom of Speech. No matter how much you love or hate your country, you can always feel free to make suggestions and get interviewed on the news. But, one would think that the average news media would put the America haters on much less frequently than the others, but you would be wrong.

What are some of the principles upon which America was founded? What are the first few you come up with?

Here’s my short list:

1. Freedom from an oppressive government. The constitution contains many references that protect a society free from a tyrannical government. We have freedom from undue search and seizure. This includes the right to be viewed as innocent until proven guilty.

We also have a very obvious freedom that is so basic and obvious that it is not even explicitly stated in the constitution. That is the right of Habeas Corpus. This is the law that says we can’t be imprisoned without a day in court to defend ourselves.

2. Our constitution and endless documents from the founding fathers makes it undeniably obvious that this country was also founded on the concept of freedom from religion. Our founding fathers knew that it doesn’t matter what religion it is, but if a religion controls a government then you will always end up with another Taliban. Ever heard of the Dark Ages?

It’s unacceptable for American to oppose the basic principles upon which this country was founded but our freedoms apply to those American haters as well as anyone else so they are free to have and to express their opinions.

But, why would a news outlet have these America haters on the air time after time after time? Is it possible that the news outlet hates what America stands for? Is it time to honestly evaluate your news source?