Friday, October 16, 2009

Analyzing Barack Obama's Nicknames

Barack Obama has been called many, many names since he took office. Oh, wait, I forgot to include his middle name--Hussein--because, as we all know, if you share the same name with someone you clearly possess all of their other traits too.

Over the next few days, I'll try to break down these various names, in the hopes that we can move beyond ad hominem fallacies and actually discuss some serious issues.

Where to begin?

How about "socialist"? Is Obama a "socialist"? In a word, no. The vast majority of folks who call Obama a "socialist" or a "communist" or a "Marxist," quite frankly, have no idea what they're talking about. And, if they do know what they're talking about, then they're intentionally trying to deceive others because they know that "socialist" invokes an automatic negative image. Many people can't explain socialism, but they sure as hell know it's evil!

Socialism, like democracy, I suppose, is a somewhat slippery term. What on Earth does it mean? The most common agreeable trait is that socialism means the people who physically create the wealth (labor; the working class) also own the means of production. I don't see that happening at all. What Rush Limbaugh means by "socialism" and what "socialism" actually is, like most things Limbaugh defines, are completely different.

Thus, if anything, Obama is a hyper-capitalist because he has done just about everything in his power to PRESERVE CAPITALISM. Under Bush first (TARP was under Bush), and continued under Obama, our government has done everything to ensure that global capitalism survives, not perishes.

No society is purely "democratic" or purely "socialist" either, in reality. It's just not that simple.

Let's consider whether or not the U.S. is socialist. In total, the U.S. government holds some kind of stake now in .21% (That's ONE-FIFTH of one percent!) of corporations. And, as Obama has repeated again and again, he has "no interest" in owning GM. Simply giving money to a corporation is not socialism. Citizens could be angry about this for other reasons, to be sure, but not because it's "socialist."

Let's also use health care as an example. A socialist would abolish private for-profit hospitals, consider all health care professionals employees of the state (everyone would be employed by the state, I suppose), and, of course, would rid our nation of insurance companies. Obama has proposed none of that. Again, if anything, Obama is the epitomy of a capitalist: he wants insurance companies to stay in existence and has not been a very strong advocate by any sense of any kind of "public option" (similar to Medicare.) Even if a public option does pass, I doubt it will have an impact on for-profit health insurance. Most people will still be insured through their employer, and won't have any choice at all. (I thought capitalism was all about choices and a "free market". We don't have that.)

Irony alert! Alaska, under Sarah Palin, most closely resembled a "socialist" state. Alaskans receive nearly $14,000 per capita, far more than most states, meaning, the rest of us subsidize Alaska and its inhabitants. Moreover, Alaskans receive $3,000 a year from OIL COMPANIES. When pushed on this, Palin responded, and I QUOTE: Alaska is "set up, unlike other states in the union, where collectively Alaskans own the resources. So we share in the wealth when the development of these resources occurs."

Hmmm....sounds like socialism to me, and far moreso than anything I've heard Obama suggest.

In the final analysis, Obama is strongly capitalistic, and certainly no socialist.

Perhaps a few days from now, we'll consider whether or not Obama is a "Nazi."

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Dear Canadians,

I’ve been reading a lot lately about how poor your health care system is. It sounds terrible about how long you have to wait for care. Doctors and nurses must be rather incompetent, too, considering how poorly they get paid.

Canada must be a terrible place to live, what with all the dying people in the streets and all that. It’s really sad how your crazy socialist fascist totalitarian European-style government rations care and lets the old and useless people suffer. It’s too bad there isn’t some kind of help for Canadians to get better medical attention. Canadians must be outraged!

It must be hard to find medicine there, too, since there’s no scientific research or any kind of medical advancement there.

Please feel free to come to the United States. It only costs about $9,000 a year here for medical coverage for one person. And then, if you actually get sick, it’s only another $500 deductible and you only pay about 20% of your total bill. I had an MRI last year, and it only cost me $1,500 out of my own pocket! Can you believe the value?

Just be careful to call ahead, get pre-approved for everything (even before you hop in the ambulance!), and make sure your doctor is in the right network (whatever that is!) otherwise you’ll have to pay full price.

Sincerely,

U.S. Citizens against anything Canadian or European-sounding