February 10, 2009
Posted by Claire
Who is this “we” I keep reading about?
They are not talking about me. I am not a socialist. Socialism is nothing more than a very tightly run Oligarachy, and an excuse for 2% of the population to have 99% of the wealth and control all of the assets and resources. Make no mistake there are very rich people who always exist in socialist countries, and guess who they are. Not if, but when they start rationing our stuff and telling us who is worthy of health care and who isn’t, I can guarantee you that Bush, Biden, Obama and the rest of them will not be standing in line worrying nor will they be wondering if their loved one will get vital medical treatment — it will be the working class suckers.
I have never said a negative word about Bush when it comes to the war, but I will tell you this… he sold us out big time when he laid down his free market principles. This artcle purports that the socialist government was started by a Republican — well, maybe he is a Republican in name, but he most ceratinaly was NOT practicing Republican principles when he did it. If we get socialism it is 100% a Democrat owned, run, and nailed down deal — thank your former Democrat acting Republican President, Congress and your new leaders including
the One.
I may be forced to live under a government that is udnergoing an identity crisis that will inevitably make my life and the lives of those I love, a living hell, but I am not a socialist. As a matter of fact this picture made me so mad I told Damon he should re-draw it with the blue hand sticking out to shake and the red hand flipping the bird. I think that better sums up how real Republicans and real Conservatives feel about the mess being made of our Country.
16 Comments
February 11, 2009
Welcome to my world..!~
February 11, 2009
Claire,
I’m ready to design the Unapologetically Claire Groupie T-shirts. What the hell is going on with this Republic? I can’t believe our country is being sold out and couldn’t agree with you more about those that are abandoning our free market principles. I thought one of my mentors, Thomas Sowell, was overstating our peril but it’s getting to a point where we have a collection of leaders with no character or regard for the principals on which this country was founded.
With Utmost Respect ~ Semper Fi, Hank
February 11, 2009
Heh, I’m already an unapologetic Claire groupie … but I can’t wear her t-shirts. Too small for me.
When Claire and I talked about the t-shirt with the red hand flipping the blue hand off I thought,’wow. Now that would sell. If only I had TIME to draw it!’
Unapologetic capitolist pig, out!
February 11, 2009
ps: on a serious note, the NewsWeek cover ought to have all American up in arms. Why isn’t that happening?
February 11, 2009
Who needs Time to draw it? You could do it really well! Oh, you mean time as in tick-tock, not Time the magazine?! :lol
On that note… I have learned to just be unapologetic at whatever I am doing… if you know it’s right. I know Socialism is not right. I pay attention, read history and I don’t fool myself.
February 11, 2009
The problem with Socialism is after awhile you run out of other peoples money to spend.I think Margaret Thatcher said this. Our country is ripe for Socialism because of the breakdown of the family created by Liberal Democrats .I still remain optomistic that solid people like visit KneeDeep are more the majority but I can see it slipping away.
February 11, 2009
It’s scary Bulldog. Who knows… maybe we will see a split in the US — it’s a scary thought, but right now I don’t see how the divides can be united — and one of those divides will not the let the other live freely. I can submit to government rules even when I don’t agree with them, but socialism goes against my very deep beliefs. I just don’t know what to do with that.
February 12, 2009
Claire, heard about this cover earlier today. Oy!
Reminded me of something I read in the Telegraph:
Barack Obama is a novice and it shows:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/personal-view/4561229/Barack-Obama-is-a-novice-and-it-shows.html
-piper
February 12, 2009
ps: am intrigued by the Newsweek cover. The headlines at the top…if read across…say:
The Blackberry President Quitting the Thug Life.
He is??
I know they are two different stories, but it made me grin for some reason.
There had to be other stories the editors could have chosen to feature up there.
February 12, 2009
I know the title is nearly as stupid as the artwork! When I read that I thought “Thug life? For rizzle?” :lol
February 12, 2009
I made my first comment with the belief that you dear brilliant Claire were making a poignant point about the direction this country is going. I was applauding your satire having no idea this was an actual cover. Too rich. Has Newsweek suddenly become conservative when I was sleeping? You’ve got to be kidding me. I had to go to Newsweek’s website to confirm my doubts. That’s the cover, unbelievable. “The Blackberry President Quitting The Thug Life” the dichotomy of the text matches the art of the cover and the history of his “leaving the Rev. Wright, Bill Ayers, and the Chicago Political Thuggery et. al.” behind. Hmmm, I’d like to see how his cronies and ACORN benefit directly from the bogus stimulus package. History repeats itself. Welcome to Rome.
With Utmost Respect ~ Semper Fi, Hank
December 9, 2009
“Socialism is nothing more than a very tightly run Oligarachy, and an excuse for 2% of the population to have 99% of the wealth and control all of the assets and resources.”
I think you’ve got Socialism and U.S.-style capitalism mixed up here. What you’re describing is the present economic system that exists in the U.S., except that it’s not 2% but rather 1% of the population that controls 99% of the assets and resources currently at disposal.
Socialism, on the other hand, is nothing other than distribution of a nation’s wealth to its citizens more equally as opposed to having it divvied up by the mentioned 1%.
It means that one is able to afford higher education; that s/he won’t go bankrupt if s/he gets sick; it means that EVERYONE will have a roof over their head and 3 square meals a day; it means that folks like firemen and teachers, the *working* people , are in charge of the country, etc.
The only thing making the U.S. appear democratic is the right to vote. That, IMHO, is the last meaningful right the Americans have left.
As for oligarchy… Isn’t the Wall Street-run United States just that?!
Your friendly neighbourhood PoliSci graduate.
December 10, 2009
tss tss
you Americans…
if it was ever “sold out”, your country, it was to faceless corporate America. Hardcore capitalism is just pure uncut greed, and no matter how many millions of people you’ll lock up and execute, your system just ASKS for people turning to crime in order to survive.
Step away from pointless semantics for a second and stop whining about “socialism”.
The changes Obama proposes are not NEARLY as elaborate as in Europe, so what are *we* Europeans then ? Communists ??? Get real…
You people want to be significant in the world ? Well then, stop meddling in other countries, and deal with the problems in your own country first. Like healthcare, decent education…
The European model is called Rhine Capitalism btw, the American model is Monetarism.
Socialism is a political idea, not economics.
Did you know, European kids in Western Europe leave *college* with an education that is MUCH better than your average UNIVERSITY degree in the US ? Oh yeah, you know about the American civil war and you have SPORTS.
But economics ? World History ? Languages ?
Before you make statements about “socialism”‘, read some books.
Germany, France, Belgium, Scandinavia, the Netherlands… all bloody “socialist” countries..
And in ALL of those countries life for average people with an average income is MUCH better than in the US.
Kind regards,
Petrus von Heericsson
“socialist”
(*rolls eyes*)
December 12, 2009
Miles, you may be my friendly neighborhood poli-sci graduate, but I have a graduate degree in social work. I have also worked in that field for many years. Furthermore when I went through college I had three kids and lived in poverty for many years. You greatly over simplify the problems when you say that socialism will provide a roof for everyone. We have a lot of public housing in the Country that is full of drug addicted criminals who have lived in homes with generations of welfare. They have no interest in work. Why would they? Don’t tell me what the text books say — I am the one who has gone into those homes and removed little girls who have been sold as prostitutes so that mommy could have her next hit off the crack pipe. It happens more often than anyone realizes… it happens in big cities and it happens in rural America. We have many homeless people (many veterans) who live on the streets because of mental illness – not because there are no programs to help them. Socialism is not going to stop mental illness — what will the answer be? Maybe institutions again? I can see that coming for their future.
I agree that we are an Oligarach — although I see the SCOTUS as being just as big a part of that as Wall Street. We have elitists who legislate from the bench and thumb their nose at the American people.
My friends who live in socialist countries don’t seem to think that socialism is the answer either. One family I know lives in fear that they will have to flee because the government doesn’t like that they want to homeschool their children. Socialism is not just doling out the dough and making the economy even — it is also about dictating lifestyle and squelching individual conscience. That right there is something I will fight with my life for — not just me, but many other Americans. We are already a mixed bag in this Country, but taking away individual freedoms and throwing the constitution out the window will probably cause a massive revolution in this Country.
Petrus… I have read many books, but more importantly I talk to many people. Your view is most certainly not the only view about socialism from people who live in socialist countries. Just because someone disagrees with your position you do not have to pretentiously assume that they are ignorant or uneducated. I know about a lot more than just the Civil War and probably much to your surprise this ignorant American prefers the Opera to any sporting events (I’ve never been to a game and I don’t watch television) It sounds like you have some of your own prejudices about Americans — and yet you assume that perhaps we are the only ones ignorant of someone else’s culture?
There is more of a variable here than just knowledge — there are values, understanding and life experiences that color our views of many things in life. I don’t think you are ignorant, but I do not agree with your assessment. I don’t feel the need to belittle you because my conscience and convictions are on my side.
December 13, 2009
Claire, I’m afraid you have confused fascism with socialism. G.W. Bush and Obama are both fascist in their policies. Fascism takes tax monies and gives that money to industry and corporations. Socialism takes tax monies and redistributes it to the actual people, mostly the tax payers. Fascism keeps the rich at the top and the rest struggling. Reasonable socialism (NOT what was called “socialism” in the USSR or China) gives people a shot at a decent life. Non-rigged capitalism also can give people a fair turn. The US has nothing resembling socialism or real capitalism and Obama isn’t a socialist in the least. Obama’s Health “reform” is fascist and not socialist at all. It will not benefit those who are most in need and it will not help the struggling and diminishing middle class. It simply is yet another tax giveaway to industry – namely the insurance industry.
As Petrus von Heericson rightly noted, the quality of life is far higher in countries with a measure of socialism. Rhine Capitalism is a far more healthy model and allows for creativity, competition and enterprise. The type of capitalism currently existing in the USA doesn’t give the “average Joe” a chance to have a piece of the pie. This is not true competition or “free” enterprise when the game is rigged from the start. It is also fascism, not socialism, when our tax dollars are bailing out Wall Street.
Americans are sorely uneducated when it comes to what socialism and capitalism actually are. Most would embrace a healthy mix (i.e. the Rhine model) fully if they actually learned what it could offer. I’ve had the opportunity to live in Quebec and see first hand what a moderate measure of socialism can mean. You don’t see excesses of wealth and you don’t see excesses of poverty. Indeed there are people that are very well off. So hard work can pay off even in a more socialist environment. On the other hand people working for low wages have a decent life and don’t fear the instabilities that most Americans are one paycheck away from. The overall contentment of life far outstrips that of residents of the USA.
We need to call what is happening in America what it really is: fascism. Both republican and democrat politicians with a few exceptions (namely Ron Paul, Dennis Kucinich and Bernie Sanders) have been guilty of moving us further and further to fascism. The reason why this has happened is that most of our politicians are in the pay of corporate lobbies and not being accountable to the actual tax payers and voters.
This is more of a reason to get beyond divisions of left and right, conservative and liberal and democrat and republican. It is more of a reason to address what socialism and fascism really are and to see which benefits us and which does not There may be much that all of us Americans can agree on that NONE of our politicians or talking heads even address in the least. Let’s start to focus on that and we might start to actually make some progress that is needed. We need to elect politicians that will represent US and not the corporate interests. Given that corporations only supply 7-8% of all tax monies, they benefits they reap far outstrip what they put into the system. Forget the party tag and vote your conscience. As long a we keep choosing the “lesser or two evils” we will be trapped in this current system. Stop trusting the media – any media to choose your candidates. Start to learn what all the candidates stand for. Look beyond political ads and media attention. Yes it takes some research and time, but the end reward of electing true representatives of the American people will pay off immeasurably.
Sincerely,
Kat Peters M.Div.
Boston, MA
December 13, 2009
So you are saying, Kat, that in a socialist system those who do the redistribution of the wealth do not set up a system that keeps them in power, keeps them a little fatter off the cream? I don’t buy it. I also do not buy that any form of government will ever work as nicely in practice as it does in theory. In theory there is no difference between the two — in practice, however, the difference is huge. Outside of communism and total control I think we almost always see variations. The welfare system in our Country is most definitely a form of taking taxes from the working class and redistributing them to those on a lower social strata. How is that not socialism? Public housing, food stamps, government clinics AND public insurance (which we already have).
I do know what Candidates stand for. I do the research. Once again, why is the assumption made that if I don’t agree with your view point then I must not be informed or I must be some media puppet?
There is more to socialism than just redistributing wealth.
“Government big enough to supply everything you need is big enough to take everything you have … The course of history shows that as a government grows, liberty decreases.” Jefferson
Sometimes we don’t know what we have until it’s gone. It’s one thing when that is a few conveniences, it’s another when it’s our freedom and liberty.
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