Is America becoming a Socialist country?
Karl Marx- Father of Socialism
All of the wars we’ve fought within the last 100 years, were in defense of Capitalism, “the only way”. Socialism = bad. Now we may have to eat our words and place a higher sense of sin in the killings in the name of Capitalism. People who never doubted America should take a fresh look at our motivations.
Basically Capitalism is the ideology that markets should only be controlled by businesses. As markets get larger, consolidate through mergers and competition they gain power relative to the Government. Hence you have a country that is controlled not by the people, as in a democracy, but by the corporations, as in lobbyism or special interest. Capitalism breads a concentration of power at the top where 90% of the assets/resources are controlled by 5% of the population. In a Socialist economy, the assets of the country are theoretically controlled by many of the citizens through heavy governmental participation in markets.
This idea of Socialism is normally very bad from the perspective of those in power. They like the structure they’ve “enjoyed” up to this point. That’s why they are called conservatives; they’d like to conserve their current power and wealth. Liberals tend to want to spread the wealth of America more evenly throughout the citizenship through redistribution of wealth by way of tax code.
Yet the confusing part is that we have people on the right wanting to own stock in the companies that
obtain a part of the $700 billion. The Government wants to not only take bad assets off the balance sheets of American corporations, but they want stock in these companies. Now, I consider myself in the center politically and I think that is going too far unnecessarily. The government’s participation in Corporate America needs to be limited to Regulation. Let me repeat that word just to piss off right wingers,
“R E G U L A T I O N!”
The all mighty Harvard educated CEO’s of this country do need DADDY to tell them right from wrong. Regulate. That is totally opposite of being a GIRLFREIND, which is to say that the stockholder Government want to partake in profiting as well. They sell this to the American people as a good thing for citizens to have the Corporations accountable to the stockholding Government and have to forfeit some of their profits to the American people for bailing them out. Yet this is no how it will play out. The Government is going to get in bed with the Corporations. That’s one of many problems with incest, you can’t be in bed with whom you are to discipline. That’s a dysfunctional family. At every turn this Country continues to go in the wrong direction.
Ask yourself, is Congress for you, or is Congress for corporations? Congress has a strange opportunity to package a marketing scheme to sell corporate ownership by the Government to the American people. They will pull the wool right over your eyes if you let them. If Congress was for you, they’d want to be the corporations DADDY. If they are for corporations, they want a piece of the action. Do you think 100% of profits realized by this Government investment portfolio will be going to your pocket? Reduce your tax by 100% of the returns? NO. If you think yes, please explain to me why.
How about the corporations interest in giving shares to the government, good idea for them? Yes, no, yes, no… Sure, if you are battling Washington and paying out tons of lobby money, why not get them in the mud with you as a partner. Now you both are dirty scum and there is no more DADDY to REGULATE. Can you say CONFILCT OF INTEREST BOYS AND GIRLS?
This country is soooo close to absolute greatness, but we will never get there. God bless America, we need blessing because our sin is GREED. As for me, I love America with all my heart. Just like a son loves his crack-head mother.
Just words & thoughts
What’s wrong with socialism? Do you think its wrong that the top 1% makes more money than bottom 50% ? Education is down people don’t health care. What’s wrong with helping others get a head ? Its funny to me that the people paint socailism as bad help sign the 700 bailout.
Michael, The irony is that we’ve fought against it and not we are morphing into our enemies. The type of system is irrelevant to me. What matters is the consciousness of society, the acting out of Humanity/Spirituality rather than material greed. The people make the system; the system does not make the people.
Yet we must address the distribution of wealth, economics. There is enough wealth in America to go around, but as we become global the rich countries will become poorer and the poor countries will become richer. Are we willing to sacrifice 15% of our average American income of $45,000 for all Americans to have a fighting chance at education, healthcare and political inclusion? I’d gladly take a 15% cut in income if I could rest assured that everyone has that chance. Would you?
I would and the reason being , I feel if a person that really wants it and if giving a chance would have success. The reality of the urban community and mind frame is to the graduate high school or just to stay alive. If investing 6750.00 (45,000) yr to “change” that thinking I’m all for it . I feel the over all picture of society would be beautiful in is ugly national we have today.
Well you just jumped over a big line. You suggested that $6750 would go to people in the urban community and would some how change the thinking of such recipients. It will not, in the past it has often held minds down in dependence. Money can only be spent. That doesn’t mean mentalities would be changed. That’s why mind sets have to be the focus, rather than just making sure everyone eats. A poor mind is often given riches, yet if that poor mind does not grow, that man will die poor. More than mere money shifts we need policies that encourage mind shifts. Hence our participation in political and social movements are vital. Michael, I think we both are looking towards the right future. Let us all contribute to the steering.
Free markets are the solution to our current dilemma. Currently, America practices capitalism, which is not the same as free markets as described by the Austrians like Mises. The key element in capitalism is a central bank chartered by the state which has the ability to monetize the debt of the state to issue credit into the banking system. The central bank has the ability to control by force the quantity and cost (interest rate) of money in the economy. In a sense, this is the same as socialism. Instead of the state owning the means of production, they control the medium of exchange. The Federal Reserve System has destroyed the capital structure of the United States. The have done so by forcing the interest rate below what a free market would call for. An artificially low interest rate has caused misallocations of capital that are now normalizing. That is why we have recessions. It is the market trying to clean up the mess the central bank has created. They have inflated the money supply dramatically since December. When that money begins to circulate, it will hyperinflate the economy leaving the working class destroyed. The only way to save America is to abolish the Federal Reserve System immediately and let the marketplace restore honest money which is gold and silver coin. From there, the marketplace will rebuild a sustainable capital structure that tends toward full employment. The 20th century has proven socialism (communism and fascism) to be failed systems of social organization. Now, the beginning of the 21st century proves that capitalism, built upon fraud, is a failure. Only free markets, free from state force, fraud, and coercion, bring maximum prosperity to the most people.
The Federal Reserves exist for the main reason of maintaining control of the economy in an effort to create more stability. The secondary reason is to maintain the power and wealth structure that exist. The strange thing about the point of your argument is that it can be used on both sides of the coin. Yet regardless of if we have fiat money or money based on precious metals, we will still be in for a bumpy ride, and the markets will always have peaks and valleys.
Fiat money is adjustable through valuation of loaned money (interest rates) as well as an adjustable value of money (money supply). So attempted control is possible. Yet with a gold or sliver standard, power of our country is given to whom ever controls mass quantities of the metals. This may infringe on our national security more so than foreign debt does now.
The Fed adjusts interest rates and money supply to balance out the flaws of man, the greed of man and the fear of man. I believe the Fed doesn’t cause these problems, they respond to them. Not to argue against you, because I’m not sure if what they do actually helps the process. Pure capitalist seam to put too much faith in man doing the right thing, or maybe they are willing to suffer the consequences of mans flaws for the sake of “capitalism”.