When Describing Obama, Pelosi, etc., Socialism Is Not Just a Buzz Word

I hear it a lot. Liberals accuse us of using socialism as a label to tarnish a target, much in the same way that leftists use the word "racism." Using the "s" word is seen as destroying civility. Of course racism gets tossed at our side by a former president.

So where's the proof that the leftists are socialists? Why not ask the experts on the subject? In 1991 Bartlomiej Kaminski (PhD University of Warsaw, currently professor of government and economics at the University of Maryland) published a groundbreaking study on socialism in Poland called The Collapse of State Socialism . It explains the nature of state socialism, compares it to a free market system, then describes how it is ultimately unsustainable.

The first table in the book lists comparisons of a free market system against state socialism and the comparisons should scare you.

The left wing in America, including the Obama Administration, compare strongly to the listed characteristics of a state socialist regime. I am going to list a few of them:

"Society as an object" Obama does not engage society, he informs it what he expects of it.

"Conflict suppression" Kaminski says that democracies mediate conflict. Socialism finds ways to demonize and marginalize opposition.

"Political unity" Socialist states see unity as the primary goal of politics and achieve it by a variety of means. Democracies believe in political pluralism, the give and take between people that disagree on the issues.

Kaminski sees law in a democracy as being a constraint upon both the people and the government. Socialist states see the law as a tool to accomplish their goals for society.

Democracies at times want to convicne people to act in a certain way and use arguments to appeal to people's reason and sense of self-interest. Socialist states use coercion and bribery.

In terms of the economy, democratic and capitalist systems exclude themselves from the private sector, although they do enact policies that apply to the whole system. Socialist economics tends to be interventionist, trying to alter and control individuals and specific businesses. Democracies tend to create regulations that are understandable and specific. Socialists make the rules unstable and hard to comprehend by design. They want people and business to be constantly breaking the law because it provides the government leverage over them.

In this way, the state system envisioned by Obama, Pelosi, Reid, and leftists resembles more a state socialist system than a capitalist one. The government has arbitrary power over people and corporations that it uses to pursue its own goals. History shows that such a system is unsustainable in the long run. That, and the fact that it deprives people of freedom, makes it and the people that advocate it very dangerous.