Misunderstandings about Socialism

The irony of this billboard is that it seems to be based in fear and ignorance, yet purports to inform its readers to be mindful of fear and naiveté. Socialism is fundamentally about the public ownership and operation of the means of production in an economy.

In the July 13, 2010 article "Billboard linking Obama, Hitler draws complaints," Associated Press writer Luke Meredith explains how the sign caused controversy, even within the tea party movement.

DES MOINES, Iowa – A billboard created by an Iowa tea party group that compares President Barack Obama to Adolf Hitler and Vladimir Lenin is drawing sharp criticism — even from fellow tea party activists who have condemned it as offensive and a waste of money.

The North Iowa Tea Party began displaying the billboard in downtown Mason City last week. The sign shows large photographs of Obama, Nazi leader Hitler and communist leader Lenin beneath the labels "Democrat Socialism," "National Socialism," and "Marxist Socialism."

Beneath the photos is the phrase, "Radical leaders prey on the fearful & naive."

The co-founder of the roughly 200-person group said the billboard was intended to send an anti-socialist message. But Bob Johnson admitted Tuesday that the message may have gotten lost amid the images of fascist and communist leaders.

"The purpose of the billboard was to draw attention to the socialism. It seems to have been lost in the visuals," Johnson said. "The pictures overwhelmed the message. The message is socialism." He said he didn't know of any plans to remove the sign.

But others in the tea party movement criticized the sign.

"That's just a waste of money, time, resources and it's not going to further our cause," said Shelby Blakely, a leaders of the Tea Party Patriots, a national group. "It's not going to help our cause. It's going to make people think that the tea party is full of a bunch of right-wing fringe people, and that's not true."

Blakely also expressed outrage at linking Obama to Hitler, the leader of Nazi Germany who oversaw the killing of 6 million Jews and whose invasions of neighboring countries led to World War II.

"When you compare Obama to Hitler, that to me does a disservice to the Jews who both survived and died in the Holocaust and to the Germans who lived under Nazi regime rule," Blakely said.

John White, an Iowa coordinator of the Tea Party Patriots, said that he can understand the North Iowa group's perception that Obama is "Hitler-esque," but he thinks the billboard is offensive and unproductive. White said that he planned to discuss the matter with national tea party officials.

"I fear they may end up in some kind of trouble over it, because it's basically slanderous," White said. "I don't know that it's the message we want to send. I'd much rather see billboards that say 'Remember in November. Get Out and Vote.'"

The billboard is owned by Waitt Outdoor of Omaha, Neb. Waitt general manager, Kent Beatty, said the company didn't have a problem with the message.

"We believe in freedom of speech," Beatty said. "It doesn't reflect our views, necessarily."

The White House declined to comment on the sign.

One person who welcomed the billboard was Dean Genth, a Democratic activist from Mason City, a city of 30,000 people just south of the Minnesota border, who said he thinks the sign lays bare the views of tea party supporters.

"I welcome them to continue to spew that kind of stuff because I think it's going to do a lot of good for the good Democrats around the state," Genth said.
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Capitalism and Free Markets

Capitalism is an economic system in which the means of production and distribution are privately or corporately owned.
Socialism, by contrast, is an economic system in which the means of production and distribution are collectively owned.

A free market occurs when the purchases and sales of goods and services occur without interference, intervention, regulation, or subsidization by the government.

What many advocates of capitalism and free markets fail to acknowledge is that they do not exist - at least not in a pure form.

Every society in the world is a combination of capitalism, socialism, and tradition. Every economy allocates its resources and products through tradition, command, and markets.

Under pure capitalism, the government does not produce or distribute anything. It provides no national defense, police and fire protection, public health, education, roads, highways, bridges, or garbage collection.

And when markets are unregulated by government, they create many socially undesirable outcomes, such as excessive amounts of pollution, poverty, and market power.

Many advocates of capitalism and free markets seem to imply there are only two options: capitalism or socialism. The reality is that there is a whole spectrum of ways to produce and distributes goods and services. Societies vary in the degree to which they rely on the government to improve market outcomes. It is deceptive to imply any increase in government involvement in the economy is a leap from one extreme to another. Instead, it may be a slight move along a broad continuum.

Is there socialism in the United States? The closest thing is Sarah Palin's Alaska.

Click the image above to enlarge it.

In the June 5, 2009 article "Sarah Palin's Economics Lesson" on The Atlantic's politics blog, Conor Clarke suggests the closest thing to socialism that we have in the United States is Sarah Palin's Alaska. According to Clarke:

Alaska gets $13,950 per resident from the federal government, more than any other state in the nation. It ranks number one in taxes per resident and number one in spending per resident. It's also number one in pork-barrel spending. Each Alaska resident receives a check for $3,200 a year from state oil revenues -- which Palin bumped up from $2,000 last year. Palin once justified this by saying that the state of Alaska was "set up, unlike other states in the union, where it's collectively Alaskans own the resources. So we share in the wealth when the development of these resources occurs." (Sounds socialist!) Industrious indeed.

Nationalization Fear Mongering?

Rush Limbaugh talked to Sean Hannity on June 5, 2009 about Barack Obama´s efforts to nationalize U.S. businesses. Hannity said the Obama administration's efforts to recoup taxpayer money by accepting an ownership stake in some businesses that are receiving government assistance "is the definition of socialism." In response to this and similar critiques, Bill Maher used a pie chart on his June 12, 2009 Real Time television show to illustrate how much of country's businesses are owned by the government:

Socialism is defined as public ownership of the means of production and distribution. In other words, the government owns the businesses.

Does the pie chart above suggest the U.S. is becoming socialist? Or are Limbaugh, Hannity, and others engaging in fear mongering?

Socialism in the United States

Click the image above to enlarge it.

In the June 3, 2009 article "What Socialism Looks Like" in The Atlantic, Conor Clarke explains the absurdity of the claims that President Barack Obama is leading the United States toward socialism.

Socialism is defined as:

a theory or system of social organization that advocates the vesting of the ownership and control of the means of production and distribution, of capital, land, etc., in the community as a whole.

In other words, socialism occurs when the government owns and operates the corporations and other businesses that produce goods and services for the society. Take a look at the chart above. Does the government own and operate most businesses in the United States?

UPDATE:
Clarke has two related blog articles.

"What Socialism Looks Like, Part Two" was a response to a reader that suggested increasing government expenditures as a share of U.S. gross domestic product was evidence of socialism in America. Clarke retorts:

If you're going to equate an increase in the deficit or in federal spending as a percentage of GDP with socialism, then every modern American president (with the partial exception of Bill Clinton!) is a socialist. In which case I'm not sure Barack Obama has a lot to worry about.

"Sarah Palin's Economics Lesson" provides an example of something that resembles socialism more closely - Alaska. Clarke writes:

Alaska gets $13,950 per resident from the federal government, more than any other state in the nation. It ranks number one in taxes per resident and number one in spending per resident. It's also number one in pork-barrel spending. Each Alaska resident receives a check for $3,200 a year from state oil revenues -- which Palin bumped up from $2,000 last year. Palin once justified this by saying that the state of Alaska was "set up, unlike other states in the union, where it's collectively Alaskans own the resources. So we share in the wealth when the development of these resources occurs." (Sounds socialist!) Industrious indeed.

Is Obama a Socialist?

A survey suggests many Americans, including critics of President Obama, do not know the difference between capitalism and socialism.

According to a May 22, 2009 Business Week article entitled "Socialism? Hardly, Say Socialists,":

"Some conservative commentators have even likened Obama's economic stimulus and regulatory initiatives to a Soviet-style takeover of the country. In February, syndicated radio host Rush Limbaugh accused Obama of waging war on capitalism. "That's his objective. He wants to destroy capitalism," Limbaugh told a caller. "He wants to establish a very powerful socialist government, authoritarian. He wants control of the economy."

But real Socialists would vigorously disagree. They say if the Obama Administration were establishing a true socialist state, we'd have at least a $15-an-hour minimum wage (instead of the current $6.55 federal minimum) and 30-hour workweeks. Every American would be guaranteed employment and health-care coverage. Oh, and homeless people would be occupying vacant office buildings in cities and vacant McMansions in the suburbs.

In fact, many Americans appear to be confused about what socialism actually is. In a poll of 1,000 adults conducted Apr. 6-7, Rasmussen Reports found that 53% of Americans said they prefer capitalism to socialism, while 20% said they prefer socialism. More than one-quarter, 27%, said they're not sure which system is better. Another poll conducted this month by ConservativeHQ.com found that 70% of self-identified conservatives consider Obama's political philosophy "Socialist" or "Marxist," with 11% calling it "Communist."

Socialists say the policies Obama has pursued are hallmarks of "democratic capitalist" states, not socialist ones. "None of the societies of Western Europe are socialist, but the political influence of their strong Labor, Social Democratic, and Socialist parties make their form of capitalism much more humane than our own," says Frank Llewellyn, national director of the New York-based Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), the largest U.S. Socialist party."