How is President Obama a socialist, and why do many naysayers equate the word socialism to "evil"?

I am an honest Liberal (and yes, I support Obama) trying to understand the other perspective. I have quite a few questions.



1. How is Obama a "socialist"?

2. Why are there many who think Socialism means "evil"?

3. How is Socialism a "bad thing"?

4. What is the true definition of the word Socialism?How is President Obama a socialist, and why do many naysayers equate the word socialism to "evil"?Some answers from a Socialist:

1. Both the Democratic Socialists of America and The Socialist Party of the USA agree that Obama's policies are quite a bit to the right of being called socialist. America, after all, has always been a capitalist nation (with some socialist elements.

2. Socialist sis just the newest type of evil bogeymen to scare people (along with Terrorism, Liberalism, Atheism etc.)

3. Many conservatives believe that since America was founded on capitalism, it must stay with Capitalism forever. There are of course many flaws with socialism, such as lack of incentive for people to work, but I believe that these problems should be fixed, not dismissed as "socialism fails"

4. Socialism has many possible definitions. In Marxist Ideology, it is the stage between capitalism and Communism(defined as classless Utopia) A commonly accepted definition is that it is the system of wealth being controlled by the government, and distributed as it wishes. Though many modern socialist parties point out that it isn't necessarily the government, but the people, It is necessary to remember that in a fully Democratic society, the Government is the People. This why the USSR was not really socialist, because the Governmentnt of the USSR wasn't Democratic at all, so it was a matter of the State controlling the means of production, which was pretty distinct from the people.

I know you were looking for a right wing point of view, but this was my left wing interpretation :)How is President Obama a socialist, and why do many naysayers equate the word socialism to "evil"?
1. Obama is socialist because he stands for and is trying to implement socialist behaviors into our country.

2. I don't think Socialism is per se "evil", but look at history. It doesn't work.

3. Socialism is a way for lazy people to mooch off of people who work their butts off all day trying to support themselves. How would you feel if you worked for 14 hours straight, got your paycheck and someone forced you to give a huge chunk of that to some guy who is unemployed because he's sitting on his couch watching TV all day eating Doritos? It's not fair. I work for my money, and I am not prepared to give it away to help people that are too lazy to get off their butts and get a job.

4. The actual definition of Socialism is:



A theory or system of social organization that advocates the vesting of the ownership and control of the means of production and distribution, of capital, land, etc., in the community as a whole.

2. procedure or practice in accordance with this theory.

3. (in Marxist theory) the stage following capitalism in the transition of a society to communism, characterized by the imperfect implementation of collectivist principles.How is President Obama a socialist, and why do many naysayers equate the word socialism to "evil"?1 - Socialism requires a totalitarian system -- that gives the ruling gang the power to distribute the fruits of other people's labor to its political pals. That is what is happening to the United States as President Obama proceeds with his goal of "remaking America."



In America, there is no room for Communism, Marxism , Socialism and Fascism - these are the same philosophies our brave men and women fought and died trying to stop and destroy. Remember tyranny by government started the American Revolution.



2 - The younger generation probably doesn't realize that the word socialism means and connotes a system that is profoundly un-American. Socialism has virtually disappeared from our national lexicon since the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) collapsed because of Ronald Reagan's policies and the National Socialist (Nazi) Party was destroyed by the United States in World War II.



3 - most college students are economically illiterate. When quizzed by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute about basic concepts, such as supply and demand, the average student’s score was 53 percent. And since most don’t work or pay taxes (only 46 percent of full-time students have jobs), they simply have no idea how capitalism works.



But they do understand grades. Students who study hard get good grades; students who skip class and binge drink every night get bad grades. Some struggle with difficult material, but with enough effort (attending office hours, seeing a tutor) most can maintain a decent GPA. Every sane college student realizes the immorality of “spreading the grades around”—regardless of who benefits.



And it makes their rationales for supporting socialism interesting.

http://www.youtube.com/v/_p8DFUnYtPo%26amp;hl=…



This is typical. Day in and day out, professors indoctrinate students with hatred for the greedy “rich”—which, under our tax code, includes a lot of middle-class families just like theirs, who struggle to pay the mortgage and college tuition. They’re taught to believe that people who don’t work are entitled to endless welfare benefits financed by the productive class. But when it comes to redistributing grades they earned, they don’t support it.



4 - The American Heritage Dictionary defines socialism as a system of social organization in which the means of producing and distributing goods are owned by a centralized government that plans and controls the economy. Both Webster and Random House identify socialism as a "Marxist theory."



o_OHow is President Obama a socialist, and why do many naysayers equate the word socialism to "evil"?
I agree with you, Socialism is a GOOD thing!



I'm unemployed and Obama's policy of "Spread The Wealth" is working great!



Evil Rich people are gonna be forced to pay for my house, food, car and health care



Socialism is the greatest system in the world!How is President Obama a socialist, and why do many naysayers equate the word socialism to "evil"?Socialism is not good enough. COMMUNISTA REVOLUTIONHow is President Obama a socialist, and why do many naysayers equate the word socialism to "evil"?
1. Obama is an adherent to the philosophy of legal plunder, and legal plunder is identified quite simply. "See if the law takes from some persons what belongs to them, and gives it to other persons to whom it does not belong. See if the law benefits one citizen at the expense of another by doing what the citizen himself cannot do without committing a crime." — Frederic Bastiat



Obama wishes to expand the plunder exponentially, all in the name of the "common good".



2. We ask that the government undertake the obligation above all of providing citizens with adequate opportunity for employment and earning a living. The activities of the individual must not be allowed to clash with the interests of the community, but must take place within its confines and be for the good of all. We demand profit sharing in big business. We demand a broad extension of care for the aged. In order to make possible to every capable and industrious [citizen] the attainment of higher education and thus the achievement of a post of leadership, the government must provide an all-around enlargement of our entire system of public education … We demand the education at government expense of gifted children of poor parents … The government must undertake the improvement of public health. We… are convinced that a permanent recovery of our people can only proceed from within on the foundation of the common good before the individual good. – From the political program of the Nazi (National Socialist) Party, adopted in Munich, February 24, 1920



3. Socialism is not in the least what it pretends to be. It is not the pioneer of a better and finer world, but the spoiler of what thousands of years of civilization have created. It does not build, it destroys. For destruction is the essence of it. It produces nothing, it only consumes what the social order based on private ownership in the means of production has created. -- MISES, LUDWIG VON, Socialism



4. At the time I wrote, socialism meant unambiguously the nationalization of the means of production and the central economic planning which this made possible and necessary...socialism has come to mean chiefly the extensive redistribution of incomes through taxation and the institutions of the welfare state. -- HAYEK, F.A., The Road to Serfdom, 1976 Preface