(no subject)

[avevale_intelligencer]

So the latest thing going the rounds is "OMG they're using socialism on us!" The idea has permeated the web and become one of those things that nobody questions.

Newsflash, guys. Okay, the government may have bought some assets, but calling that socialism is like calling it Christian worship when a man stubs his toe and shouts "JESUS!!!" Socialism is when the government owns and administers the means of production and distribution for the benefit of the people and as the normal state of affairs. Buying up a bunch of dodgy loans to save your venture-capitalist friends from having to face the consequences of their greed may be many things, including but not limited to unconstitutional, impractical, hypocritical, desperate and just plain stupid, but socialism in any meaningful sense it ain't, and calling it such is simple scaremongering, because for some reason Americans are more terrified of socialism than of, oh say, theocratic despotism.

To be fair, I'm sure Bush and his friends would much rather have simply handed over the original $700bn to the bankers with no strings attached (it's the American way), but something prevented them. I don't know what.

Comments

[melodyclark.livejournal.com]

I say "putative" because the right-wing pundits have been calling Obama "socialist" not because he is seen as one. As for "European ears", I always seek to be polite enough to allow the denizens of any culture the right to judge and define their own culture. It's not for me to say. Among my people, it's generally considered VERY rude to criticize another culture. I'll just say, yet again, that the only truly ignorant people are the ones who ascribe certain qualities to all the members of any group -- be they gay people, black people, Europeans or Americans or what-have-you. Such generalizations usually say more about the percipient's need to demean than it does any outer reality. ;)

[zanda-myrande.livejournal.com]

Hi, and welcome to my LJ. I don't think I've seen you here before, so it's possible that you don't know me very well.

Of course it would be very stupid to assume that all Americans believe, or are scared by, any one thing, and of course I make no such idiotic assumption. I am, however, not taking my impression from pundits, but from my experience of American culture, gathered over a great number of years, not merely the last few weeks.

It seems hardly deniable that when the right-wing pundits call Obama "socialist" they intend it to have a similar effect to calling him "Muslim" or "terrorist," and it seems quite likely that they imagine they have some reason to assume that it will have such an effect. And, in some quarters, as I have seen, it has indeed; although the comments I've seen have not referred to Obama, but to the bailout measures as I said. And, yes, I find the overreaction a little ridiculous, but I do not actually imagine that all Americans feel that way.

Regular visitors to my little nook are quite aware that I have nothing but the greatest respect and fondness for America as a nation, for its people, for its history, and for the many ways in which it has benefited the culture of the world. As for its current administration, the Republican party in general, extremist Christian fundamentalism, or laissez-faire capitalism in any form, I am afraid I reserve the right to be very rude about them in my journal whenever I choose, because I think they deserve it. And if you think that's bad, you should hear me on the subject of our pathetic excuse for a government in Britain.

I hope that has cleared things up a little.

[melodyclark.livejournal.com]

We have a lot of flist members in common so I've seen your posts before. I've never responded until now.

"Republican" is a self-selected culture and an abysmal one (self-selected cultures aren't representative of a generalized people pool). With a few exceptions (Chuck Hagel, for one), they have become the party of sociopathy -- Grand Old Psychopaths. I also have a great respect for genuine American history and culture (I'm a John Adams buff, as you might have guessed) which has nothing whatsoever to do with this band of theocratic thieves and liars who've taken over our government over the last thirty years. We're very much in agreement on all that.

I've just friended you back, btw.