I’m sure a lot of you saw this video. It’s no surprise that this video, according to Fox News, is the most popular election video on YouTube, garnering over 11……

I’m sure a lot of you saw this video. It’s no surprise that this video, according to Fox News, is the most popular election video on YouTube, garnering over 11 million views. Transcript: Dear Mr. Obama, Having spent twelve months……

If you don’t hear anything like that from Obama, I suggest that you are not listening well. Socialism is not simply about ownership. It is about control. When he talks about “spreading the wealth” that refers to government control of capital producing enterprises.

The progressive tax structure proposed by Obama may or may not be the close to that under Regan. The idea of either government control of the healthcare industry or forcing people to purchase healthcare insurance is nothing like Regan. Regan proposed harnessing the entrepenueurial spirit to generate wealth, not spread wealth. Your statement is ridiculous.

Likewise, your statement about the stockmarket, or any type of private sale being “socialist” is incorrect. Private sale assumes that all or part of a business or property is privately owned and subject to the will of the owner. Socialism assumes that the property is subject to the will of the majority via government control. While there are government regulations regarding many sales, in most cases they are still capitalist transactions which tends to make them more efficient. To see some of the effects of socialism, check the condition of the Canadian Health Care Service where people regularly wait several months to consult with the appropriate specialist, have cancer turn untreatable during the wait, or are sent to the US where care is available.

The Alaska collectivism that you refer to is returning profits from state resources to the people, not taking control of private resources for the government’s use. State resources held by the government inevitably are used for political purposes, not the benefit of the citizenry.

But the stock market is kinda socialist, selling ownership shares to the community. A lot of companies are employee-owned; that’s kinda socialist. Stock options are very socialistic. Even Sarah Palin’s a socialist.

The New Yorker’s Hendrik Hertzberg writes:

A few weeks before she was nominated for Vice-President, she told a visiting journalist—Philip Gourevitch, of this magazine—that “we’re 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.”

Now THAT’S socialism.