With growing talk of nationalization filling the media and haunting our current political discourse, conservative pundits have not ceased to charge the President of the United States of Socialism.
Apparently such pundits believe that increasing income tax on the wealthy, partially nationalizing the banks, and possibly creating a national health care program amounts to socialism. And apparently this is something to be feared. Or so these pundits would have it.
Oddly, these pundits have no worry about such nationalized services as Medicare, Medicaid, or Amtrack. They find no trouble with an income tax on the wealthy of 36%, but 39% somehow transforms us into socialists. No doubt these pundits take advantage of the post office, the fire department, and the police; certainly they champion the military. So they seem fine with some nationalized services, just not others.This is very odd.
I thought, in light of these charges against the president, I’d explain what a socialist is. As I teach Social, Political, and Moral philosophy, I'm frequently called upon to consider socialist ideas. Put simply a socialist is someone who holds that - although individuals may own private property - there can be no private ownership of any of the means of production. All means of production, socialists hold, must be publicly owned.
In other words, a true socialist country would have no markets, no private enterprise at all. This is not President Obama's position, so it is pointless to tag the label of socialism on him or his ideas.By all means let us debate the policies of the President, but let us not use terms incorrectly and foolishly. Let discourse be guided by reason.
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