“Many people consider the things government does for them to be social progress but they regard the things government does for others as socialism.” -- Earl Warren
Living in America, the term socialism has many negative connotations. During this past election the term socialism was thrown around as though it was this terrible thing, but I am not quite sure this is the case. Socialism is often associated with communism, an ideology America has been against for decades now. Capitalism, on the other hand, is presented as the “best” system, having less flaws than socialism.
It is difficult to understand any political ideology in totality, especially when there are so many varying genres. In understanding socialism, there are a few key ideas to make sense of.
- Socialists argue against capitalism, for it concentrates power and wealth into a small group of society that controls and exploits the system. This in turn creates social hierarchies, where individuals cannot maximize their full potentials.
- Socialists believe the people should be motivated to help others.
- The people collectively own the government, workers collectively own industries and services.
- Production operates to satisfy the needs of the people based on use, rather than profits
Obama in particular has been called a socialist because of the policies he has implemented or intends to implement. In 2008, McCain asserted that Obama was a socialist when he said, “When you spread the wealth around it’s good for everybody.” Also, Obama’s plans to tax the wealthy to create better programs for lower and middle classes are being called socialist by many of his opponents.
Not seeing socialism as inherently bad or evil, I find these comments ridiculous. When wealth is so largely divided between rich and poor, I think that it is necessary for the government to ensure all of its people have access to live a prosperous life. By making the lives of your people better you are making your country better. I am not saying that we should adopt a socialist government, but I think that it is important to put terms aside and look at what is best for the people as a whole. We no longer care about our neighbors and instead only care about getting ahead of them and getting a larger piece of the pie. In my opinion, this is cannot be the best way to run a country.
I see the points you are making about socialism and at the surface level, it seems fine. I don't understand, however, how concentrating the wealth in a small amount of society and creating a strong social hierarchy is "good." America clearly is not perfect with its capitalist system (with the huge divide between rich and poor), but it also is a system that allows for people TO move up the social ranks. People start from humble beginnings and are able to become wealthy. Granted, its no the easiest thing in the world to do, but it isn't literally IMPOSSIBLE like it would be in a socialist society. I think it is just as much of a crime to take the ability for people to create their own destiny away as it is for there to be a huge divide between rich and poor.
ReplyDeleteI really like the points you make it in this post. I too am bothered by the "socialist" remarks about Obama and his policies. Helping others is not a bad thing and there should not be such a huge divide between the rich and the poor. In the past it has lead to the downfall of societies and I think it is very troublesome. That being said I am not sure what the solution is. I agree with Madison that I think it is a good that it is possible to move up in the social hierarchy in America and it inspires people to work hard and essentially "pull themselves up by their own bootstraps". However there needs to be a way to regulate the uberwealth that has collected in a small percent of our population.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your point on "I think that it is important to put terms aside and look at what is best for the people as a whole." First, I think associate socialism with communism is ridiculous, when they are not related at all. Communism talking about a public, shared ownership, but socialism touches nothing on it at all. I think these words have mislead people and many people failed to see the real concepts behind the images media and governments put on these words. It is funny to think that in China, capitalism is considered to be bad as communism is considered to be bad here.
ReplyDeleteI feel that I am in the same boat as you -- If I really looked at my political beliefs and how I think the country should operate, I would 100% be considered a socialist. But that word does have such a negative connotation in American society. Why is this? You're right, people blur the line between socialism and communism. They are completely different things: one has worked and continues to work in many nations across the world and one has failed miserably in the vast majority of countries in which it has been applied (not accurately applied, but applied none the less). The happiest countries in the world (mostly Scandinavian) are far more socialized that the United States is. This is not to say that socialism (or socialism policies, more specifically) are the sole reason for this, but it is definitely a strong contribution. I remember growing up going to the grocery store with my parents and wondering to myself "why can't everything be free? What if each person just took what they needed and then whatever services they provided would also be free for everyone." I am not articulating this is clearly as it was framed in my mind as a 10 year old. But, maybe what I am trying to say is that if communism was applied in its truest sense (which is almost impossible), it might just be that "perfect" system.
ReplyDeleteSocialism is without a doubt the best political philosophy. But the problem, and negative connotations, come from what must be done in order to implement socialism. The establishment needs to be torn down, the rich ripped out of their homes and all the power given to the government. It would inevitably result in some of our freedoms being taken away in order to enforce the transition from capitalism into socialism. For this reason, socialism and communism have always been scary things that we have fought to protect people of all countries from falling under the influence of.
ReplyDeleteI always find it hilarious when politicians attack each other and call each other "socialists" because it does have such a negative connotation and because I don't think they know for sure what socialism is anyway.
ReplyDeleteSocialism and communism are both viewed very negatively in the United States. Socialism is often confused with communism, and they both have very negative connotations. Back in the 1950s there was a severe fright of communism, and hence the whole McCarthy fiasco. I personally find communism just a different ideology from democracy, one that is neither better nor worse. In fact, as purely an ideology, I understand why communism is pretty attractive. It distributes wealth equally, and ideally everyone inputs the same labor to produce the same results. But as we've understood from history, putting ideology into practice is a completely different story. China's Cultural Revolution is one of many examples of how implementations of "equality" may violate fundamental human rights.
Although I tend to lean more towards the capitalistic and the idea that each individual should create their own destiny and opportunities, I do think some of “self-made” people in particular, neglect how others impacted their success. As insignificant as it may seem their success/ wealth has been in part possible by sacrifices of others. Sometimes a low wage earner may have gotten a salary, but to say that miserable wage was enough to say you did most of the “hard work” to earn your lifestyle is a little unfair.
ReplyDeleteMarx was no slouch. The philosophy behind socialism and its more radical cousin is sound, and has the human interest at its heart. The labeling effort is a weak way to (attempt to) marginalize an approach to public policy. This said, there is something profound in the visceral, fearful reaction that people have to the idea of having their freedoms taken away (the negative image they draw from socialism/communism, besides the simple fact of it being the "other"). If some structured dialectical process were to take place, in which the concept of "socialism" in the public eye were evolved, then perhaps we could resolve this issue. However, people will operate in parallel most of the time, and despite this well-founded plea for reason, it will take some sort of unforeseen exogenous jolt for this perception to change in the short term. Institutions lead to entrenchment, and the country is full of them.
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