So☭ialism
In light of the right-wing hordes calling Obama a socialist for daring to raise taxes on the rich, I’m amused by dKos’s compilation of times when McCain has expressed the same sentiment:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8EyGpOU3qM&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en&fs=1]
Not to mention this quotation that I found a long time ago, but which
seems especially apt right now:
The US treats its socialism like a Catholic priest
treats masturbation: it does it very rarely, with a great amount of
guilt, and tries its very hardest to ignore the relief that it
brings.— Electric Angst
Amusing (in a WTF? sort of way) to me, who has a moderate amount of socialim in the family, and has even been known to vote NDP on occasion (ie. when they weren’t being total idiots about something). My reaction to accusations of “socialism” is: Yeah, so what? It might be a good idea or a lousy one, but it isn’t something to get your panties in a knot about.
Yes, but you live up in Canadia (or is it Canuckistan?), where they have government-run healthcare, and Celine Dion, and Newfies and stuff like that, so no wonder you think socialism is just one economic option among many.
Down here, though, we recognize socialism for what it is: a code synonym for communism, i.e., Stalin and Mao and Castro. Those of us who remember the cold war know better than to touch nationalization with a 3-meter pole, tovarisch!
Or, to put it another way, in most of the world, socialism is an economic theory, as opposed to capitalism, rubbing magic lamps, or investing in tulip bulbs.
In the US, it seems the prevalent definition is as form of government, not only meaning “hey, you misspelled ‘communist’ in that sentence, there,” but is in direct opposition to and the greatest threat against ‘democracy.’
Or something.