Sam
Smith, 2009 - Socialism is about the state running
things on behalf of the public; fascism is about the state running things on
behalf of corporations. Adrian Lyttelton in his book on Mussolini wrote that
"fascism can be viewed as a product of the transition from the market
capitalism of the independent producer to the organized capitalism of the
oligopoly." It was a point that Orwell noted when he described fascism as
being but an extension of capitalism. Lyttelton quoted Italian Nationalist
theorist Affredo Rocco: "The Fascist economy is. . . an organized economy.
It is organized by the producers themselves, under the supreme direction and
control of the State."
This is the way we have been heading for some time. What if we set out to rid
ourselves of all intrusions of this purported political curse called socialism?
Here are a few things we might do:
- Return to the old system of fire fighting in which blazes were handled by
private fire brigades hired by private insurance companies. Brooke Harrington
described the practice in Economic Sociology: "If you wanted a fire
brigade to come to your aid in . . . emergencies, you had to join a kind of
club with private membership fees. It worked like this: you ponied up the fees,
the club gave you a plaque to put over your front door, and then if fire swept
through the neighborhood, the club dispatched help, but they only assisted
paying members. So if you didn't have that plaque over your door, the fire
rescue teams would pass you right on by. It would not be uncommon to find that
your house burned down while the one next door would be saved." Sounds a
little like our health insurance system.
- End public education. Public schools - which strongly aided the growth of
America - are about as socialistic as you can get.
- Close down all federal highways or sell them off to the highest bidder so
they can turn them into profit-making roads using tolls.
- Abolish Social Security, Medicare, food stamps and all other such welfare
programs.
- End all government interference with the banking and financial industries.
- End all veterans programs including closing veterans' hospitals.
- Sell off all public transportation to unregulated private interests.
- Close all public hospitals, end public subsidies to other hospitals and
privatize all ambulance service.
- End all government regulation of food or health products.
- End the practice of government plowing streets after a snow storm. As Boston
mayor James Curly put it, "The Lord brought it; let the Lord take it
away."
There.
Feeling better yet?
Bet you never realized what a bunch of closet socialists we are.
We got there, though, because - instead of hurling theories and cliches at each
other - we decided on a case by case basis who could do a particular job best.
And the funny thing is, it's worked pretty well.
People who complain about the threat of socialism remind me of the man from
Virginia who went to college on the GI Bill and bought his first house with a
VA loan. When a hurricane struck he got federal disaster aid. When he got sick
he was treated at a veteran's hospital. When he was laid off he received
unemployment insurance and then got a SBA loan to start his own business. His
bank funds were protected under federal deposit insurance laws. When he retired
he went on Social Security and Medicare. The other day he got into his car,
drove the federal interstate to the railroad station, parked in the public lot,
took Amtrak to Washington and went to Capitol Hill to ask his congressman to
get the government off his back.
