(6 minute read)
SOCIALISM
I’m seeing a lot about socialism, fascism and Nazism in social media. The Trump Republican Party of today continues the proud tradition of the old Republican Party of calling anything that they don’t like socialism or communism. It’s what gave rise to the McCarthyism that destroyed so many innocent lives through red-baiting.[1] This happens during election cycles and especially when Democrats are trying to pass legislation that will primarily benefit working people or the poor.
In simple terms socialism means that the state owns the means of production of goods and services.[2] Do we have that? Are we working towards that?
No, we aren’t.
The Horror!
President Roosevelt signs the Social Security Act into law on August 14, 1935.[3] This is when the United States of America became a socialist country. Not really. It is when, from the National Archive Librarians: “On August 14, 1935, the Social Security Act established a system of old-age benefits for workers, benefits for victims of industrial accidents, unemployment insurance, and aid for dependent mothers and children, persons who are blind, and persons with disabilities.” Oh my God the socialist horror! Hundreds of millions of Americans have since been helped by this Act. And I am being literal.
The socialist horror continued with the passing of the Medicare and Medicaid act in July of 1965.[4] From the librarians: “On July 30, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Medicare and Medicaid Act, also known as the Social Security Amendments of 1965, into law. It established Medicare, a health insurance program for the elderly, and Medicaid, a health insurance program for people with limited income.” Yet another huge dose of socialism loved by the public.
The above programs are probably two of the most popular social programs in the history of our nation and are broadly popular by people across all social constructs. And yet Republicans try to gut Medicare and Social Security on a regular basis through privatization or downgrading the service.
There are lots more government acts that provide benefits to everyone that also aren’t socialism. The benefits too numerous to list that Republicans with the help of Democrats have provided to corporations large and small are also not socialism. And not all assistance provided to businesses is bad either. Sometimes assistance is a necessity.
People could use some help at times.
Imperatives.
As far as I’m concerned working people and the poor shouldn’t subsidize the profits of major corporations. As for people that say the country should be run like a business, business operates with the imperative to be profitable, not to be moral. The morality of business provided us with exploding Pinto automobiles.[5] The morality of business also made a river catching fire in Ohio possible because of pollution.[6] The morality guiding business has caused disasters all over the country as well as polluting the earth, air and water. I can’t even come up with a good source for providing the number of deaths caused by business practices.
Should they be ruining the country?
Fascism is NOT socialism
Ever since Trump got busted having classified documents at Mar-a-Lago, the Trump Republican Party along with the Fox Pravda talking heads have been calling the DOJ, the FBI, Democrats and the Biden Administration, communists, socialists, Nazis, fascists, you name it.
Dictatorships, whether they are rooted in socialism, communism or any other form of government are not examples of anything other than dictatorships.[7] Nazis of Germany are often used as an example of socialism. Nazism is a form of fascism NOT socialism.[8]
North Korea would be considered a personal dictatorship like Russia, perhaps a single party dictatorship like China but certainly NOT a socialist dictatorship. No such animal exists. There are countries that self-identify as being socialist but like the countries mentioned above are actually dictatorships. Myanmar is an example of a military dictatorship.
Lots of countries including democracies have socialist parties. America may have democratic roots but it can end up a dictatorship. There’s no such thing as a democratic dictatorship. That’s not what the Trump Republican Party is striving for.
There is however democratic socialism.[9] It’s often conflated with liberalism but that isn’t always the case. It contends that socialist goals can be obtained through democracy. Those goals being making the lives of working people better.
Does that sound bad to you?
RED-BAITING
It’s ironic the Republicans have the most direct links business wise and otherwise to the communist Chinese and Russian regimes. Moscow Mitch earned his moniker through his ties to Russia. Trump had myriad business links to both Russia and China prior to the 2016 election. His son Eric bragged about their access to Russian money. (He now denies this.) His Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax comment is the opposite of the truth. Trump was dealing with the Russians. There is even a Trump Republican Party wing that supports Putin and pulling the US out of NATO.
Trump really wants to be dictator (or President for Life because that sounds better). He maintains that he was joking when he said that at campaign rallies. The events of January 6th, 2021, prove that he wasn’t kidding and that his treasonous supporters back him in his endeavors.
Who’s the commie socialist now?
Drama Queens
With all the accusations and name calling being done by Trump Republicans I’m not sure that most of them know what they’re calling people. Those like Greene, Boebert, Jordan, Gohmert, Goetz and Trump may not have the education to know what they’re talking about. They’re just calling names and uttering slogans. Some Doctor said that Trump was a narcissist and then they started calling others the same thing.[10] They may not know what the word means but they know it was probably an insult. True to form they accuse government agencies of being out of control and compare the actions of the FBI to that of the Gestapo. Seriously, people.
Get a grip.
Whether a pauper or a King
What happened is the law caught up with Trump. Law that he supported when he thought it would be used against others. That’s all. No guns were drawn. There wasn’t a firefight between the SS protecting Trump’s property and the FBI. No doors were kicked in. Nobody died. Nobody was placed under arrest. It wasn’t like some black person got shot for being black. It was just a case of a white person of privilege getting served with a lawful search warrant for his home and he wasn’t even there. Didn’t want to upset him.
And lest we be in danger of forgetting – they found stuff. They found stuff that shouldn’t have been there. They found what they were looking for. Yes, Trump’s the first President to have his premises searched. He’s also the first President that has violated the law so flagrantly and so frequently. Trump got used to doing it. He’ll have the best legal team that a billionaire can afford even though he’ll have his rubes paying for it. Because first and foremost,
He’s a grifter.
[1] https://mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/1061/mccarthyism
[2] https://www.ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=socialism
[3] https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/social-security-act
[4] https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/medicare-and-medicaid-act
[5] https://www.grunge.com/703729/the-real-reason-ford-pintos-used-to-explode/
[6] https://clevelandhistorical.org/items/show/63
[7] https://www.britannica.com/topic/dictatorship
[8] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fascism
[9] https://www.politicalsciencenotes.com/socialism/democratic-socialism-definition-nature-methods-and-tenets/817
[10] https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/narcissistic-personality-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc-20366662