Socialism, anyone?

So, if the recent "elections" have taught us anything-it is that America does not cower before the word "Socialism" any longer. Through out the spectacular mud-slinging contest that is American elections, the People were not horrified by the idea that Obama might be a Socialist.

And why should Socialism frighten anyone. All of my European friends are quite comfortable with the aspects of Socialism that they live with. I have yet to hear an Austrian, Scandinavian or Frenchman say "my universal-non-profit health care is horrible". Nor have I heard "It is awful to have free university education. Just wretched. And the five weeks paid holiday a year is killing me!!"

If a Capitalist society is pre-occupied with CAPITAL, then its ability to secure a prosperous and healthy nation is going to diminish. The focus of our communities should not be to expand the capital held by the ruling few-as the current toilet that we are in suggests. Conversely, a Socialist society, with a pre-occupation with the SOCIETY, tends to turn out well adjusted, educated and healthy citizens.

Embracing a socialistic tax policy, that requires the richest to pay more in taxes, is embracing a Democratic Economic policy. That is what Socialism is-Democratic Economics. The poor and the working and middle classes cease to be the whipping boys of investors. The men at the top are required to offer up their fair share of sacrifice. They must drop up to forty percent of their billions into the common tax pool. It is this ethos that assures every man, woman and child has health care and access to education, training and the services necessary to keep oneself functioning as a part of the society. How else is one to rely on a workforce to turn out car parts, television sets and millions of restaurant meals a year?

If you ask the richest people in Sweden or Finland what they think about their high tax margins, they would say "it's fair". These financiers and developers are not willing to walk through cities that look like our cities here in America-swarming with homeless people, people lost to addiction and violence, roving gangs of directionless youth. The people of more socialist countries will not watch their fellow country men fall into despair and depravity because it is profitable for this disparity to exist. They bite the bullet and contribute to the preservation of their nation's health and freedom.

And if you think Socialism means giving up your freedom, you need to do some more research. When a choice in direction is before the nation, the people of countries like France, Norway, the UK, or Spain will step up and be heard. And if they are ignored-they will shut down the country and the government. Can you imagine what America would be like if we all had free health are? Or equal and free access to University? Or a guaranteed paid holiday that lasted a month every year? Can you imagine how much more dignified and happy all of would feel? Can you imagine our trade unions having the ability or chutzpah to shut down the highways of America in protest of wars for oil? Or price gouging?

Do you see why that would be so threatening? The people who still use "Socialist" as a bogey man are quite obviously people who profit from our poverty. Anyone who tells us that equal access to the necessities of life is communist is looking to line his own pockets-at our expense. I suggest it is the fervent capitalists who are the threat. Anyone who would put their profit margin above the health of their work force or the environment is a criminal-and a threat to freedom.