I’ve recently run across confusion from a few ill informed Barack Obama critics. This confusion is in regards to the exploitation of Obama’s off-hand remark to Joe the Plumber about “spreading the wealth.” The McCain-Palin team seized this statement and used it to paint Obama as a socialist. This was a blatant fear tactic, meant to cause doubt about Obama’s motives.
Now, most reasonable people likely saw through this charade. The greatest evidence for this is that McCain was drubbed in the election. But there are some out there that completely misunderstood what was going on. One example was a comment that I saw posted on Digg in response to an article suggesting a reading list for our new president. This commentator suggested that Barack Obama will be too busy reading “his beloved Mein Kampf” to read any other books.
Let me take a moment to explain why this person was so off base and what’s wrong with this whole situation.
First, let me state the obvious: socialism and fascism are not the same thing. In their skewering or Barack Obama, the McCain-Palin campaign attempted to create fear in people that he held radical views and he was a Trojan Horse whose real intentions were to change our basic way of life. Some folks, unfortunately, just lumped together everything that they had been taught to hate and fear during World War II and the Cold War.
Here’s my understanding of the definitions of the two political ideologies. I do not have a background in political science or history. If you don’t think I have it right, please leave a comment and educate me .
Socialism is a mid-way point on the political spectrum between laissez-faire capitalism, where markets run free of any government influence or regulation, and pure communism where the entire economy is state run. Since there is a large gap between communism and capitalism, socialism can take many forms. This makes it possible to call just about anybody a socialist. It is like defining an alcoholic as anyone who drinks more than you do.
Fascism is a political ideology developed in Italy in the early part of the 20th century. The core tenants of fascism are nationalism, totalitarianism and militarism. The fascist solution to problems would be the exaltation of the nation (fascist Italy) or race (Nazi Germany). Fascism was developed with the idea of being a third position, outside of the capitalism-communism spectrum. The economy of a fascist regime is based on corporatism, where key sectors were state controlled, but most industries were controlled by collaboration of employers, workers and government. Private property is allowed, but everything in a fascist regime is done for the good of the state or the race.
Now, having laid out these differences, it is very clear that Barack Obama is not a fascist. We need not worry that he will be spending a lot of time reading Mein-Kampf.
But is he a socialist? It depends on whether he advocates government regulation more than you do. America itself has gone back and forth. A century or so ago we had a quasi-laissez-faire capitalist economy. The lack of regulation is largely blamed for the Great Depression. To overcome the depression, Franklin D. Roosevelt pushed though several policies known as The New Deal. This is where many of the programs that our economy relies on today, such as FDIC, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Social Security System originated from. You could make the argument that we already have a socialist government.
For this current economic crisis, our government has chosen to bailout large companies and take over some fundamental banking duties. This was all happening during the peak of the 2008 presidential election campaign. Because things had reached crisis levels, the Republican President George Bush and his Treasury secretary Henry Paulson broke from the economic conservative script and promoted these interventions. It was very hypocritical and counter-productive for the republican campaign to have suggested that Barack Obama is a socialist while all of this was going on.
Since average Americans are generally occupied with their families and careers, many do not understand the nuances of these different political ideologies. The McCain-Palin accusations and innuendos were meant to do only one thing, stir up doubt and confusion. Since the economy is dependant on investor confidence levels, this is a time where doubt and confusion will likely cause further unravelling.
My hope is that we can move beyond the politics of fear and partisanship. We need to approach the problems of the world with reason, compassion and flexibility.
