http://www.dailyfinance.com/2012/12/05/obama-socialist-dictionary-most-popular-words/
This article tries to address concerns raised by Americans that President Obama is a socialist. It can be said that though Obama's policies which focus on a stronger, more centralized Government may be taken as marginalization of the private sector. However, this may be more of hype than substance. Socialism, in this regard, cannot be confused with a Soviet-style regime. This is only monitoring of the private sector and in that too, the focus is on the financial sector. One can say that since Obama's 1st term also coincided with the Global Financial Crisis, he had to take strong Governmental measures in order to reduce its impact on citizens. Since then, a view has been formed regarding Obama that shows him as a socialist. However, his policies were necessary for benefiting a large portion of the population, and in doing so if he had to restrict some freedoms for the private sector, then that is only good governance and not socialism.
This article tries to address concerns raised by Americans that President Obama is a socialist. It can be said that though Obama's policies which focus on a stronger, more centralized Government may be taken as marginalization of the private sector. However, this may be more of hype than substance. Socialism, in this regard, cannot be confused with a Soviet-style regime. This is only monitoring of the private sector and in that too, the focus is on the financial sector. One can say that since Obama's 1st term also coincided with the Global Financial Crisis, he had to take strong Governmental measures in order to reduce its impact on citizens. Since then, a view has been formed regarding Obama that shows him as a socialist. However, his policies were necessary for benefiting a large portion of the population, and in doing so if he had to restrict some freedoms for the private sector, then that is only good governance and not socialism.
3 comments:
Clearly, the government in this country does not own the means of production. But one might argue, as Whole Foods CEO John Mackey did last week, that ObamaCare is more like Fascism. In Fascism, the government does not own the means of production, but they do control it. Certainly some would contend that that is what is happening with our health care system and the reform of it.
A more accurate argument might be to debate the merits and drawbacks of the increased regulation of areas like the banking sector during his time office. Obviously Obama is not a socialist. However, I believe it is true he has in certain instances looked to expand the public sector at the expense of shrinking the private sector and it is my personal belief that a smaller government and more privatization should be the focus.
In my opinion, there is a tendency to associate 'socialism' with 'communism,' and there still exists a deep-rooted fear and mistrust of the latter in the US today. Obama is known for preferring social welfare policies to cut down the disparity between the richest and poorest in the country, which is a noble cause given that the US' Gini coefficient has steadily been worsening. However, this does not make him an opponent of capitalism, but perhaps more of a proponent of equity over efficiency.
Post a Comment