You Say "Socialist" Like It's A Bad Thing...

Here we are in the last fervent days of the Presidential campaign, and the Republicans are attempting to paint Obama's "change" platform with the broad brush of "Socialism".

Socialism is a word that in the United States that brings to mind images of Lenin, Stalin, Mao, unattractive clothing, and the third word in "USSR". Not the kind of lifestyle that John Wayne lovin' Americans aspire to.

Well, my friends, it turns out we've had a growing list of socialist tendencies for a long time, and most Americans haven't seen it that way.

Remember the New Deal? Most Americans these days think fondly of FDR and the alphabet soup of projects that helped pull us out of the great depression: the NRA (no, not that NRA) the CCC, the WPA to name a few. And we've got the FDIC, Social Security, welfare, and a bunch of other government managed programs that are inherently socialist in nature... only we don't call them that.

These past few days, we've seen a wholesale collapse of our financial markets, and our government has stepped in with infusions of capital. Nothing has been more socialist than our government saying it is willing to take ownership positions in banks and insurance companies. Don't believe me? Go look up the definition of socialism. Go ahead, I'll be right here while you do.

I don't see the average Joe Sixpack complaining about this, because he's saying "Damn, I hate to see the feds spending all my tax dollars, but if it's really necessary, OK. But there better be some better regulation or control, so this crap doesn't happen again." Logical, yes. And socialist.

Barack Obama is promising to reverse what's left of Reaganomics; our friends on Wall Street having proven to us all that the trickle-down economics generally means that the middle class gets pissed on. Plus, they've largely enjoyed getting pissed on, up until now.

The white middle class has always been suspicious of the demands of the blacks, the Latinos, and the working poor. These groups have always wanted greater government intervention in order to provide a more level playing field, affirmative action being the greatest irritant to the white middle class. The middle class has always believed that someday they will be rich; they've made rock stars of Warren Buffet and Bill Gates and indebted themselves heavily so that they, too can have a (mini)mansion, a BMW, and designer handbags, just like the rich folk they read about in "People". Providing for the poor, it seemed, would take away the wealth of their heros, and therefore, themselves.

Liberal Democratic guilt, combined with Neo-conservative greed, have led us to where we are today. In times of a government controlled by the Democrats, we've seen social programs that cost the country billions and contributed to the national debt with little reward.

The Republicans gave us freewheeling speculators at the top of the economic food chain who in the end did the same -- pile our country massively in debt through personal greed. Alan Greenspan, the guy who led the Fed for 19 years and to whom middle America has to thank for their mini-mansions and 401K's, said it best last week when he stated that his perception of 40 years was wrong -- that people running the financial houses would always work in the company's best interest.

The real irony is that a program both parties could get behind caused our current crisis: Allowing people with no stability, no ability to pay, acquire houses for little or no down payment. Liberals loved the idea of offering everyone a house, and the Neo-cons saw nothing but dollar signs.

So, get used to a more socialist government in the Western European flavor. The pendulum has swung once again; the Republicans will resume their accustomed role as vocal minority, and the Democrats will tax, and spend, though without the thoughtfulness I'm afraid that our European neighbors tend to manage with. Hopefully, if Obama wins, he can rein in his party's tendencies to provide socialist change we can all really believe in....without the ugly clothes.