Is Obama a Socialist?

There's been a lot of talk about socialism recently. A recent poll said that only 53% of Americans favored capitalism over socialism (47%). Here's why.

When society goes through a Nine Shift, a transition from one economic age to another, the old infrastructure (banking laws, taxation, highways, suburbs, etc.) becomes obsolete and dysfunctional.
A new social infrastructure, with new rules, has to be constructed.  That involves government, big time.

So are sewers, parks and the Food and Drug Administration socialist ideas? Actually yes.
100 years ago only the socialists advocated for sewers, public parks, and the Food and Drug Administration, for example.  Neither Democrats nor Republicans supported those things.  Today of course everyone supports them.

So, is President Obama a Socialist? And what do you think of so-called socialist proposals for society?

Comments

[nineshift.typepad.com]

Is obama a socialist.. He-he-he :)

[Susan Smith]

Greg, it is very interesting to me that you find what Obama is currently doing moral! If he is our standard of morality or if he is seen as "restoring our country's moral leadership" America is in bigger trouble than realized.

[Antique Cabinets]

According to socialist definition, he is definitely not one.

[Brad]

If you actually look at what Socialism originally meant, you'd recognize that we live in a Socialist country (although, obviously, we never went as far as the National Socialists or Communists or even the Europeans). Both Bush and Obama are Socialists. Virtually all major politicians these days are.

However, I see a trend away from Socialism. The rhetoric has definitely changed in the last half-century, even if the conservative commitment to limited government and the free market turned out to be only in rhetoric. It is now generally acknowledged that Socialism does not work and most people recognize instinctively that more government will not bring prosperity. The response of Socialists in recent decades has either been to promote perpetual war (the ultimate Socialist program) as a desirable goal or to attack progress itself (as much of the Environmental movement has).

Currently, we have a massive ideological vacuum. The Socialists of today are almost entirely moderates who support Socialism because it is the status quo. The radicalism these days is entirely on the side of the Capitalists, especially the most radical ones. This is a reversal of the situation 125 or so years ago. The great Capitalist theorists of the 19th century (most of whom have since been forgotten) believed that the emergence of pure laissez-faire was inevitable (although the greatest of them, Herbert Spencer, eventually came to understand that an age of what he called "Re-Barbarization" and "The Coming Slavery" was coming, but he continued to believe that his favored system of pure laissez-faire would emerge in his distant future, our near future). The radicals of the young generation are radical Capitalists (I am among them), not radical Socialists. We may be the minority among the younger generation, but in the long run, the majority will have no choice but to side with us or face utter ruin as the collapse of Socialism in America approaches.

[Liz Lentz]

Our country is very much a blend of socialism and capitalism. I can't imagine paying tolls for every privately owned road I drive down or not having the city pool or public education. Without any socialism our battleships would have names like the USS Donald Trump and there would be condos built up and down the walls of the Grand Canyon! Socialism is not a dirty word but seems to compliment capitalism very nicely. Obama is not a pure socialist or capitalist. Few Americans are.

[David Reilly]

HOLD THE DELIVERY ON THAT BABY LADY I AM CALLING WASHINGTON! I am a little concerned about being taken care of. Seems the people of the US want to be taken care of. I am having enough trouble having the pharmacies and the Doctors take care of me with insurance. I am paying for it now, with the help of insurance. Which by the way is a concern also. What will happen and who will I have to call; Washington, Congress, White House, or will we have a new beauracracy like Social Security Adm. for permission to get my prescriptions refilled. Is a OBAMA a socialist, nah just another Democrat, only he has been listening to the America People

[Greg Hogan]

Most people have never studied socialism. Most people equate it with communism. The label is unimportant. It is the goal and the results that matter. Ending war, bringing peace to the Mid-East, restoring our country's moral leadership, providing affordable healthcare, creating jobs,and reversing the excesses of deregulation, is what I would call finallywegotsomeleadershipism.

[Susan Smith]

The only problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money.

[Judy O'Dwyer]

labels are not as important as follow through - I support the processes of this administration. Old thinking needs to change to meet the current challenges.