I would hate to think that our next president might be a full-blown socialist – but that might just be the case with Barack Obama. I’ve long been wary of his economic policies, ever since his proposed “universal health care.” Recently however, Obama has been hinting more at his socialist policies, especially when he promised as president to bring about “economic justice“:
Reportedly, he repeated his endorsement of “economic justice” three more times in that speech.
Although the senator didn’t define what he meant by “economic justice,” in its July 28th editorial, IDS did.
The editorial asserts that “Economic justice simply means punishing the successful and redistributing their wealth by government fiat. It’s a euphemism for socialism.”
Uh-oh. Punishing the succesful? I don’t like the sound of that. Neither does Ted Belman at Israpundit:
It’s clear from a close reading of his two books that he’s a firm believer in class envy. He assumes the economy is a fixed pie, whereby the successful only get rich at the expense of the poor.
Following this discredited Marxist model, he believes government must step in and redistribute pieces of the pie. That requires massive transfers of wealth through government taxing and spending, a return to the entitlement days of old.
Of course, Obama is too smart to try to smuggle such hoary collectivist garbage through the front door. He’s disguising the wealth transfers as “investments” — “to make America more competitive,” he says, or “that give us a fighting chance,” whatever that means.
Among his proposed “investments”:
• “Universal,” “guaranteed” health care.
• “Free” college tuition.
• “Universal national service” (a la Havana).
• “Universal 401(k)s” (in which the government would match contributions made by “low- and moderate-income families”).
• “Free” job training (even for criminals).
• “Wage insurance” (to supplement dislocated union workers’ old income levels).
• “Free” child care and “universal” preschool.
• More subsidized public housing.
• A fatter earned income tax credit for “working poor.”
• And even a Global Poverty Act that amounts to a Marshall Plan for the Third World, first and foremost Africa.
I wonder if even the liberals of America would approve of his proposed policies.
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1.) Does this post fit in with the content of this blog?
2.) Socialism, by definition, includes the “socialization” of industry, i.e. the taking over important industries by the government. Is Obama endorsing the socialization of, say, utilities or communications?
Personally, I like socialized medicine, postal systems, police, fire, and medical emergency service.
Israel was founded as a socialist system. Ever been to a kibbutz?
1.) Since Israel’s policies and actions are closely tied with those of the United States, and the obvious impact the United States can have on Israel given their policies, I feel it is necessary to report on the presidential campaign as well. If you look at many other Israel dedicated blogs, you will find that they also pay close attention to the upcoming elections in the United States. Also, the Jewish vote is considered an important one to the candidates, so this topic is also related in that sense.
2.) Obama’s “economic justice” is agreed to be just another socialist policy, or as Ted Belman says, “Stealth Socialism.” I believe many of the points I already revealed give insight into Obama’s socialist policies:
“Obama also talks about “restoring fairness to the economy”
“He assumes the economy is a fixed pie, whereby the successful only get rich at the expense of the poor.”
“punishing the successful and redistributing their wealth by government fiat.”
Obama has in many instances shown his plans to regulate the economy at a closer level, including employees wages, sick days, etc. If you take a look at Israpundits article regarding Obama, you will find that Obama has had close ties to many stated socialists (which is the reason he established connections with Wright), including his father:
“As a Nairobi bureaucrat, Barack Hussein Obama Sr., a Harvard-educated economist, grew to challenge the ruling pro-Western government for not being socialist enough. In an eight-page scholarly paper published in 1965, he argued for eliminating private farming and nationalizing businesses “owned by Asians and Europeans.”
By now we know how much Obama has been influenced by his connections.
I tried my best to answer your questions, if there is something that you disagree with, please ask me again. I can always change my mind. In fact, I won’t even incriminate Obama for suggesting Universal Health Care, considering that many countries, including Israel, also have UHC.
Eric,
“Israel was founded as a socialist system. Ever been to a kibbutz?”
The Kibbutz are indeed one of the very few instances in which a socialist community thrived for [b]some time[/b], but consider the fact that people lived in a Kibbutz through their own will, and were by no means forced to settle there and acknowledge the policies.
I will agree that some policies are very appealing, including a few you mentioned, like socialized medicine for example. I find Obama slightly too radical for my taste though.Punishing the succesful? No thanks.