Do you still wonder whether banks will be nationalized? Does the idea of an auto manufacturer declaring bankruptcy scare you even just a little? Tell me you’re not still engaged in any discussions on whether or not the response to our economic crisis has been a step toward “socialism!” Please, come down off your soap box. This discussion of competing ideologies is so 20th century. Disco is dead baby and it’s time you adopted a new framework of thinking. What’s probably confusing you is that the ideology has already been settled. Once you see all of this to be purely matters of terminology, you’ll also gain an insight into what happens next.
For a short while, President Obama’s critics tried to frame the discussion in terms of Socialism. This is a non-starter. I think if you were to poll this president and this congress – a few far-left nuts not withstanding – you’d find each of them expressing a love for this country and not a one expressing a desire to become a Socialist State – even passing polygraphs. You’re using the wrong terminology! Accusing this administration of moving us toward Socialism may have the support of a technical definition, but it drips of ideological connotations where none belong. Think of it this way: the nuns in a convent live in a technically defined communist system (from each according to her ability, to each according to her need). But would you call them communists? Not only is the connotation unjust, the ideology is not accurate. This is what still causes those trepidations mentioned in the opening paragraph.
Listen to me and find some peace. The new ideology has actually been in place and growing for some time. The recent election was only the crowning of its leader. We must move away from Democrats vs. Republicans (too often these days, a distinction without a difference) and understand the new dimension, which is Progressive vs. Self-Reliant. The progressives have been in power in Congress for some time now. The first $350 billion to banks, the AIG bail-out, the “loans” to GM & Chrysler and so Read more