People, especially Republicans, have been labeling people and things as socialist lately. It’s like the magic bullet in American politics: call your opponent a socialist, and you gain the high ground, because socialism is evil and capitalism is wonderful. This is nothing new in a down-and-dirty political system that encourages its participants to say anything to defeat their opponents.

But there’s a funny difference this time: it’s not working. While the champions of free market capitalism continue to cry commie about bank takeovers and bailouts, government interference in the auto-industry, and the expansion of government health care coverage, the average American seems unmoved. This is because they don’t give a shit what is and isn’t socialist anymore, as long as it keeps them from starving, getting sick, or losing their home.

Frankly, it could be argued that we are a socialist nation, and have been for some time; our welfare state simply takes care of only those at the top, not those at the bottom. If you lose your house because the company you work for laid you off and you can’t afford your responsibly structured mortgage payment, you’re out of luck. But if you play financial roulette with billions of dollars, like the rich whiz-kids at AIG, Merril Lynch, and Citigroup did, you can sleep soundly knowing that even if the shit hits the fan, your poker buddies in the Treasury and Federal Reserve will be waiting with a fat bailout package borrowed straight from China. We are socializing losses and privatizing profits, but only for those at the very top. Clearly, the free market way of doing things takes care of the richest one percent at the expense of the 99 percent below them.

Frankly, socialist policies would go a long way toward solving this economic crisis. Expanded unemployment programs, mortgage assistance, and designing an efficient, effective large-scale public health care program would put more money in the pockets of the people who really have the power to restore the economy: the American Consumers.

And what about unemployment? There’s a great deal of work to be done, from building windmills to installing efficient power-grids to rehabbing our nation’s rail and road systems. Why not kill two birds with one stone (sorry vegans) and accomplish this with dramatically expanded welfare-to-work programs? Pay unemployed Americans to do the work that sorely needs to be done in this country, instead of handing billions of dollars to the same asshole capitalists who screwed us in the first place.
We’ve reached a turning point. Our global influence is waning. Our coffers are running dry. The free marketers have failed us, and it’s time to try something new. We don’t all need to don big bushy hats with Red Stars on them to incorporate some of the better elements of socialism into our country. It’s time to stop fearing the S-word, and see if we can’t get some things done.

Tags: vegan