OH: Socialists Continue to Point Out "Obama is not a socialist"

From the letters to the editor of the Salem News:

Ever since Obama put his hat in the ring for the Democratic presidential candidacy in 2007, the words "socialist", "communist" and even "fascist" have been thrown around thoughtlessly by the right when describing his politics. I am here to tell you, as a democratic socialist, that Obama is in no way a socialist. "Socialism" is often used to describe the Obama administration, but he is not as liberal as FDR or Johnson were. From 1930s through the 1960s he would have been labeled a "moderate democrat,"

I am here to tell you what socialists really stand for and to tell you to stop associating socialists with authoritarianism and total government takeover. Myself and other socialists find that the use of the terrible "s" word is being used as a scare tactic. The misconceptions of socialism still relies somewhat on authoritarian communism, state ownership of everything, and state misplanning of everything, leaving no role for the market or the workers and a crude "equality" that socialists NEVER favored.
The role of socialists and radicals in America's past has brought about democratic reforms that people don't want to give up: e.g. Social Security and Medicare. Without socialist, these wouldn't have happened. Socialism can co-exist with a democratic capitalist economy, but the U.S. is currently the least democratic of the capitalist economies and is certainly not socialist.

Many people throw this "s" word around without knowing what it stands for. Socialists have long rejected the belief that the entire economy should be centrally planned by an all-powerful government bureaucracy. Nor do we want huge corporations and their CEO's controlling our society politically or economically . . .


Socialists believe in a mixed market economy, which combines both the private and public ownership of means and production with some measure of control by the central government. This way, we can prevent situations where multinational corporations receive huge bailouts where the people are the ones that really need the help.

Socialists believe that democratic politics should help regulate the economy so that it serves the people's needs rather than the needs of corporate managers and private wealth holders.
With the current U.S. government system, wealth is not individually created by technicians, scientists, entrepreneurs or people in general - with the strength of the private sector this is almost no room for individuals to progress. With production in a highly globalized economy that is very interdependent, if you believe in democracy, institutions that are socially constructed ought to be democratically managed.

To learn more about what socialism really stands for, visit www.dsausa.org before you try to pin Obama or any other political leader to our organization or beliefs.
In solidarity,
KASEY KNOPP,
Greenford