Over 50% of Americans Believe Obama Is A Socialist

It's scary when it's put in perspective isn't it, govt. taking control of insurance companies and auto makers?

I like the concept of Accountability, the people elect the person and therefore the people are also accountable.

This is so very true and I agree with it so much.

Thoughts ATS?
Do you think Obama is a socialist?

SO It's now proven that 50% of Americans have no clue what socialism actually is... I was right after all!

I blame the years of trying to demonise communism during the Cold war,

American's view of what socialism, Marxism and communism is have been
lumped together and distorted trough years of western anti communism propaganda.

Dangerously ignorant if you ask me...

Originally posted by XyZeR
SO It's now proven that 50% of Americans have no clue what socialism actually is... I was right after all!

I blame the years of trying to demonise communism during the Cold war,

American's view of what socialism, Marxism and communism is have been
lumped together and distorted trough years of western anti communism propaganda.

Dangerously ignorant if you ask me...

socialism is nothing but a transition from democracy to communism. you can call it a 'social democracy' all you want. But the truth is in these 'social democracys' the overnment just gets bigger and bigger to the point that you get communism inadvertently.

reply to post by XyZeR


I don't know why I see so many posts like yours

"americans don't know what socialism is" but then you don't explain it yourself.

I see many posts like yours and your inability or interest to define it after such a statement makes me think it's you and other authors of posts like yours that do not know what socialism is.

Like the video says, there are better words than socialism but it isn't that wrong either.

If anything I would agree with you that it's not socialism but worse than socialism, if what you mean is redistribution of wealth that wealth is to the people not to special interest, so perhaps economic fascism is a better word than socialist.

Explain to me what you meant though in detail... if you are capable

All those people don't include the leader of the Socialist Party USA Billy Wharton.

Obama's No Socialist. I Should Know.

The first clear indication that Obama is not, in fact, a socialist, is the way his administration is avoiding structural changes to the financial system. Nationalization is simply not in the playbook of Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and his team. They favor costly, temporary measures that can easily be dismantled should the economy stabilize. Socialists support nationalization and see it as a means of creating a banking system that acts like a highly regulated public utility. The banks would then cease to be sinkholes for public funds or financial versions of casinos and would become essential to reenergizing productive sectors of the economy.

The same holds true for health care. A national health insurance system as embodied in the single-payer health plan reintroduced in legislation this year by Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.), makes perfect sense to us. That bill would provide comprehensive coverage, offer a full range of choice of doctors and services and eliminate the primary cause of personal bankruptcy -- health-care bills. Obama's plan would do the opposite. By mandating that every person be insured, ObamaCare would give private health insurance companies license to systematically underinsure policyholders while cashing in on the moral currency of universal coverage. If Obama is a socialist, then on health care, he's doing a fairly good job of concealing it.

Issues of war and peace further weaken the commander in chief's socialist credentials. Obama announced that all U.S. combat brigades will be removed from Iraq by August 2010, but he still intends to leave as many as 50,000 troops in Iraq and wishes to expand the war in Afghanistan and Pakistan. A socialist foreign policy would call for the immediate removal of all troops. It would seek to follow the proposal made recently by an Afghan parliamentarian, which called for the United States to send 30,000 scholars or engineers instead of more fighting forces.

While I'm not a socialist, so I can't say if he is being accurate in his statements or if he's just "covering for Obama", I'd like to believe that his views are more inline with actual socialism, than the Fox News version of socialism.

reply to post by ThaLoccster


I completely agree with your post, there are worse words than socialist that would fit Obama very well, like corporatist, authoritarian etc... but let me ask you something...

Although I completely agree with your post allow me to ask you question

As I was reading what Mr. Wharton had to say I thought.... doesn't this word get scrutinized more than any other word?

How come no one says Obama isn't progressive and then define what to be progressive is? How come nobody criticizes Obama for not adhering the to democratic platform?

Was Bush republican? He did campaign at first on a sensible foreign policy at first but then started wars left and right and invaded so many countries, how come nobody called him out for not properly adhering to the republican platform like Robert Taft did so well?
The only thing that happened was a culture of calling republicans war-mongerers.
Many many hated republicans but nobody said 'they aren't republican".

I'm just saying.... where were you guys for the last decade?????
Espcially after reading XyZeR's post
where were you guys out of curiosity?

Can I ask which political direction do you lean towards?

Is it just a matter of "don't call the president what he isn't" but also "Though I wouldn't say that he doesn't properly personify his party either"???

[edit on 12-7-2010 by ModernAcademia]

Originally posted by ModernAcademia
reply to post by XyZeR

 

I don't know why I see so many posts like yours

"americans don't know what socialism is" but then you don't explain it yourself.

Look m8, i that whitty "if you are capable" remark is just pathetic. And a personal attack at that.

Maybe there's a reason you see so many posts like mine: because the rest of the world just laughs at the constant idiotic comparisons between com- soc- and fas-ism and your current administration and President: they hold no ground whatsoever.

I know what socialism is, because I've lived in a democratic socialized country all my life, and if it wasn't for socialized health care, I'd be dead and my family would be broke.

It's not up to me to inform ignorant Americans, but I feel the need to call them out if they use terms they apparently have no clue about.

In stead of asking me what it really means, you could have done some research and find out yourself.

economic fascism is a better word than socialist.

There you go again , which is it now, fascism, communism, socialism: all the same, it all sounds so wonderfully evil!! This is so pathetic...

Here's the definition of : Fascism inform yourself, ..."if you are capable"...

But do keep using those terms, they make it all seem so deliciously evil!

Originally posted by XyZeR
In stead of asking me what it really means, you could have done some research and find out yourself.

I already know what it is thank you very much
But if you say he isn't a socialist shouldn't you also say HOW he isn't?

I just mean backing something up with fact, otherwise it's like posting an article with no link.

Now let me ask you something and please answer it
You obviously don't believe Obama is a socialist so tell me what is he?
What political ideology does he represent and support?

Please tell me
thx in advance

Obama is a communist and most of the losers he associates with are anarchists, communists, racists, and other low forms of life. So, they are sort of coming around to the reality of our commie dirtbag president.

Socialist? ...HA!

He isn't even a Liberal and barely a Democrat.

I should know, I am a Liberal Democrat and worked hard to get him elected in South Florida Martin County.

He is moderate, and I have a big problem with moderates.

reply to post by ModernAcademia


Because noone is saying Obama is any of those things, they are saying he is a Socialist. They don't say he's a "progressive" because that word doesn't sound as nefarious as "socialist" and it doesn't seem like he's trying to destroy your country.

I think they don't say he's a corporatist or any other definition you could easily brand him with, because then the American people would start to see the similarities between all the other Presidents, you have to individually brand them.

Clinton the cheater, Bush the idiot, Obama the Socialist. If you take those labels away and apply more fitting labels, they all might be wearing the same shirt then, and the people would start to realize that we've been #ed for a long time.

Ive got bad news for over 50% of America, Obama isn't a socialist. The man is a fascist corporatist puppet.

Originally posted by ThaLoccster
I think they don't say he's a corporatist or any other definition you could easily brand him with, because then the American people would start to see the similarities between all the other Presidents, you have to individually brand them.

Clinton the cheater, Bush the idiot, Obama the Socialist. If you take those labels away and apply more fitting labels, they all might be wearing the same shirt then, and the people would start to realize that we've been #ed for a long time.

See... this is what i'm talking about

Nice post, can we applaud this post?

This is a great explanation for why the media does what they do, at the end of the day Fox's future republican president might just be one of those if they win another term.

What about the people though, there's many of them
Are they just following what the media says, so basically no matter which side of the fence your' in you are a pawn?

Good .... lets hope he is , whats wrong with Socialism , sure beats Capitalism in my book .

Originally posted by ModernAcademia
words

Haha, that's rich of you, asking me to define for you what socialism is, and then claiming you know what it means...

I see 50% of Americans claiming that Obama is Socialist (or communist or fascist or....) so please the burden of proof lies with the people making those (whacky) claims, not vice versa!

It's regurgitated FAUX news bull# like this which i'm talking about:

Obama is a communist and most of the losers he associates with are anarchists, communists, racists, and other low forms of life. So, they are sort of coming around to the reality of our commie dirtbag president.

The man is a fascist corporatist puppet.

^This makes 50% of Americans come across as ignorant idiots.

So I pose my question back to you: which undeniable proof do you have that Obama is in fact a socialist, a fascist (a corporate one), a communist, a muslim....etc (pick any -ism that sounds remotely evil and fill it in)

This entire he is a *****-ist is just a pathetic and silly as the whole birth certificate issue, some people refuse to let that one go as well.

My hunch: the fact that he's half black is still the biggest issue, but since no-one has the balls to actually just say it: they resort to calling him "things" they heard on Fox news, but don't know the definition of...

Originally posted by ModernAcademia
reply to post by XyZeR

 

I see many posts like yours and your inability or interest to define it after such a statement makes me think it's you and other authors of posts like yours that do not know what socialism is.

Like the video says, there are better words than socialism but it isn't that wrong either.

Maybe because one would expect if you are going to bandy around the word you would what the hell it means? I'm not obligated to tell you what it means. If people are that stupid they actually think it's Socialism, so be it.

And it's not a question of better words: He's not a socialist.
en.wikipedia.org...
Boom, there's your definitions. By definition the guy isn't a socialist. He's not even close. Even the USSR wasn't close to it. China isn't even remotely communist.

Socialism really isn't that bad. It's not scary. You just have to know what it really is.

Everyone needs to just stop it! The reality is that there is NO "ism" to describe what Obama is doing. There is no "ism" to describe what this country has evolved into over the past 30 years. If you want an accurate portrayal then investigate "Plutocracy" or "Meritocracy" or the new en vogue term "Corporatocracy". What is happening in the United States, around the world even, is a blend of the very worst that socialism and fascism have to offer, bit in a kinder and gentler way.

The need to compartmentalize the new era of government only distracts you from the reality of what is occurring. I care not one whit what one chooses to call it, as we ALL know that IT IS NOT GOOD! So I urge each and every one of you to drop the pretense that it has a name. Evil has no name, only a goal. And that goal is to own your soul. Let's not focus on what it is or isn't called - instead let's simply focus on how to put and end to it and restore the one thing is SHOULD be called - FREEDOM!

reply to post by ModernAcademia


After reading several of your post in this thread, I have a question or two for you if you don't mind.

Is your local Police dept. and the protection it offers to your community a socialist service? How about your Fire dept., are their services considered to be the result of a socialist government? Or what about the sewer system that serves your community and the highways that provide access to and from your community, are all of these things the result of a socialist mindset or government?

The list could go on and on. The common denominator here is that all of these things are "basic needs" and not luxury items, like automobiles.

With regards to the GM "bailout," IMO it is not a take over but rather a loan to be paid back with interest. It's is no different than the 1979 bailout of the Chrysler Corp. by our government. We didn't take over that company and we don't run or own it today so the term "government takeover" really doesn't fit the situation, although it does work quite well if your purpose is to scare people into agreeing with your point of view.

The larger needs of any society must be addressed by the society as a whole and the process of doing so should not be considered socialism. The constant use of these terms such as communism, socialism and fascism, as well as many others, are nothing more than words used to frighten voters.

The success of the republican party depends on their ability to make voters fearful of the democratic party and demonizing words like "liberal" or "socialism" is the main course of their diet.

It has become clear to me that the republican party has decided it would rather spend it's time, and our money, demonizing the democrats rather than offering positive legislation to help move this country forward and out of this hole we're in.

When they say, "We are going to take our country back," I think they really mean it. Only thing is, I think they want to take us back some 200 yrs. or more. I don't know about you, but forward is the direction I prefer.

Would make you all feel better if I said that Obama the fascist corporatist puppet is just another in a long line of the same exact thing. Some of you would fit right in with his crowd I would think.

[edit on 12-7-2010 by Redwookieaz]

reply to post by XyZeR


If you think that most American's problems with Obama stem from the fact he is half black then you are severely out of touch with mainstream America.