Comments on: Socialists Say Obama Isn’t

By: Jon

Jon — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 17:11:56 +0000

All these terms are used interchangeably but have very different meanings. In Europe, "democratic socialism" is the benign system in which government pays for social services like health care. What's key is that it is "democratic" because the citizenry voted to cede control of services to the government. (We do it here with police and emergency services, schools, libraries and care of the poor and elderly -- and now banks -- but Americans are averse to the term, so we don't refer to our system as "socialist," even though, with the glaring exception of health care, it is.) "Nazi" is actually shorthand in German for "National Socialist German Workers' Party." But Garry, you are right that Nazi-ism was not socialism. It was fascism," which is authoritarian corporatism and can be described as a system in which government and corporations merge. Sound familiar?

By: GarryInNola

GarryInNola — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 15:08:37 +0000

National Socialism was Nazism and wasn’t socialism at all. When I speak of socialism I speak of government ownership of most large industries and a comprehensive social welfare safety net. No homelessness or poverty and free healthcare for all but few wealthy people either. And socialism can co-exist with democratic elections.

By: Kira

Kira — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 19:45:00 +0000

I think the term you’re looking for is “Democratic Socialism.” Check out Sen. Bernie Sanders of VT.

And here’s more – Sanders’ view of the bailout:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/9/20/191440/829/107/605018

By: nikolai

nikolai — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 18:39:49 +0000

Good point Garry. Though it is off-topic, another point I’d like to make is that bailing out the banks is NOT socialism, as many people are claiming.
It is actually MUCH worse than socialism and is properly called “Corporatism” or “Facism” which are defined as the government becoming one with big business.
Of course, we’ve already had this for years in the form of the Federal Reserve! Do yourselves a favor and do a web search and read up on the history of the Federal Reserve.

By: Greg

Greg — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 18:39:26 +0000

National Socialism, that sounds familiar… as the great John Belushi once said… “I hate Illinois Nazis”

By: GarryInNola

GarryInNola — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 16:02:30 +0000

Personally I would welcome Socialism but I realize the chance of that happening in America any time soon is extremely remote. And Socialism is not a political or government form. It is an economic system plain and simple. But the powers-that-be in the U.S. decided long ago to politicize Socialism and Communism as evil forms of government. But that’s not what they are.