Posted on 07/27/2002 11:27:25 AM PDT by forest
We, and others, have labeled the Democrats as a bunch of socialists. Some are, of course. But, that "some" does not necessarily define the whole of the group. So, maybe we should reconsider. That is, maybe we should label them more by what they do, rather than just by what they say.
Socialism, after all, implies outright nationalization of the means of production. Government would take ownership of all business. Sure, the Democrats have tried to have government take over segments of business from time to time, but never everything in the country. They have never even hinted at making everyone an employee of the state. Rather, Democrats just want to keep certain segments of society as dependent on government as possible so they can control them -- and count on those groups for their vote.
Democrats, as a whole, are into control. That is, instead of government ownership of our nation's agriculture, business and industry, the Democratic Party favors private ownership. The responsibility for operation is then placed in private hands, rather than governments.
Under the plan of the Democratic Party, government will only control, not own, the means of production in the United States. That started with Roosevelt's "New Deal." Therein, dozens of regulatory bureaucracies were formed with new (totally unconstitutional) powers to regulate all agriculture, business and industry in the country. Roosevelt claimed this was done to fight the depression. But, even when the depression was over, the bureaucracies increased in size and power.
The Johnson administration followed Roosevelt's lead with the "Great Society" war on poverty. That cost the American taxpayer's nearly three-trillion dollars and did nothing except steal more freedom. The poverty level is higher now than before the Great Society programs began. But, the bureaucracy expanded considerably as government extended its controlling tentacles into our private lives.
Then came the environmental movement. First, man was said to be causing another ice age. That proven false, they changed it to global warming. Whichever. EPA is one of the most obnoxious and best financed regulatory agencies today. They control some aspect of nearly everything we do.
Then came the multi-billion dollar war on drugs. Again, Americans saw freedoms evaporate and the police state greatly expand. Today, a citizen can be said, but need not proven, to be guilty of a drug offense and, through unconstitutional forfeiture laws, government can take any goods or money they wish. A trial is no longer necessary. Today, punishment comes before trial. And that punishment is at the discretion of government agents -- who then get to keep all the goods or money they take for the use of the people in their own department.
Of course, we are all familiar with today's style of free speech, commonly called "politically correct" speech. The Democrats have even usurped our language. Like Orwell's "Newspeak," today's speech is often very sanitized. In today's schools, such a tight rein is kept on the thoughts and speech of students that kids will actually be expelled for drawing a picture of a gun or even pointing a finger and saying "bang." Cursing, however, is politically correct -- as is the free distribution of birth control devices and/or the distribution of literature promoting deviant sexual behavior.
Little or none of this is socialism. Therefore, we should now quit calling the Democrats socialists. They are something else. But what?
Well, they caused vast unconstitutional government programs at taxpayer's expense. None of these programs promoted free market solutions. None were ever used to expand individual freedom. Just the opposite, in fact. Every single Democrat program greatly restricted the freedom of the American people.
The Democrats mutated the federal government into a system of government marked by centralization of authority. The Democrats' programs put forth stringent socioeconomic controls. Now, with their "politically correct" garbage, they are attempting to suppress all opposition through terror and censorship. They label anyone supporting the Constitution as a radical, call those with religious convictions kooks, and say that anyone who refuses to associate with the deviants of society are dangerous. They become belligerent to parents who demand their children actually learn useful skills in school rather than liberal indoctrination. And they are even trying to tell us that a garden variety owl or bug takes precedence over the land use of humans.
The Democrats have a simple concept, actually. The activities of the individual must be subjugated to the will of the state. The state, then, will be directed by leaders like them: Democrat-Fascists.
Is the Pope Catholic?
Does al gore loose elections?
Yes you own it without the expense of buying it.
I agree. The Democrats may not be "pure" socialists, but their ideals are certainly leftist, that is to say, inspired by socialism. So you might as well call them socialists, since that's where there philosophy comes from.
Though I think any of the other names they are called in this article are accurate. For that matter, the Nazis were socialists and fascism also derives it's very similar ideals from the same roots as does socialism.
Au contraire, my friend. In the late fifties there was a proposal in the house of representatives to do just that. I don't remember the creep's name who proposed it, but he was a democRAT. The democRAT party identified strongly with the communists of the twenties and thirties and have never really distanced themselves form them since.
In my neck of the woods...we call that stealing.
democrats are certainly anti-capitalists. 'capitalists and the greedy' are their favorite terms to alienate people from the conservative ranks and make the democrats seem more compassionate and fair. the accumulation of capital to put people to work and forward the economy is not what the democrats are all about. they despise the wealthy and tax them as much as they can -- so they have much less wealth (capital) to utilize.
democrats are control freaks and try to control the popular news medium -- same as communists and socialists. free speech is out, debate is out. control is in.
democrats want to nationalize as many industries as possible. the most recent has been airport security. but they long for the days of government owned utilities. the democrats simply do it one at a time because it is more palatable to the american public.
the democratic philosophy of fairness, like marxist theory, is based on a biblically flawed ideology. remember the parable of the talents -- and i can give more.
democrats pass laws to have people check up on us. every beaurocracy in place has people checking something, be it the safety of cars, emissions from factories, looking into our lives, etc. the socialists do this to, with an explicit reason to keep power.
yes the democrats are socialists. they are willing to overthrow the government slowly, one at a time, through evolution, instead of through revolution as marxist predicted.
A better source than a failed italian dictator I think.
The closest thing we have to fascists in this country right now are on the left, and promoting the idea of "thought crimes" (hate crimes). They believe in free speach, so long as it's an opinion that they agree with. Otherwise, they brand it as "hate speech" and try deperately to supress it.
My spelling mind quits functioning as I type at the computer keyboard.
I would use a more fundamental definition: Socialism is the dilution of individual personal strife, a risk management system, akin to a marriage.
Liberty is the idea that the individual belongs to himself and the earth first, and cannot be 'born into' such a marriage.
A free nation is one that acknowleges there need be no other impetus to an individual other than his local investment in the earth (property) and the love of his neighbor to insure the commitment of his very life, his grand asset, in defense of these.
These free people, sovereign men, create a mechanism to protect that 'way of life', to manage the overlay of civil functions so that these functions themselves remain congruent with the ideal of liberty.
Such a government does not 'force', the overlay provides the system of justice and law where the individual is supreme. That is all.
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