" So let me get this straight. Millionaire Obama doesn’t use his wealth to help his poor illegal alien Aunt get out of public housing, but if I complain about Obama wanting to raise my taxes to ’spread the wealth around’ I’m the selfish one?” So OK Richard, let’s leave the word “socialism” out of the verbal equation for now. Warren court wasn’t radical enough? Redistribution? Fairness? How’s this for a quote…”so in this land there may be no one who lacks what he needs for a living even though it may be necessary that those who are wildly squandering what they possess may be deprived of their right to do so for the benefit of those who have nothing at all.” Now if Argentina’s Peron wasn’t a capitalist, what was he? Obama, like the long list of charlatans who have preceded him, always call this scheme new, but it’s as old as envy and familiar as credulity. They feed on hard times and ignorance. The answers are always simple and they always need a bunch of thugs to secure their power. Marxism, Fascism, Socialism, Communism, call it what you want; they’re all dishes on the menu in the café of tyranny. "

" In recent decades, more and more Americans have been conditioned by politicians to depend on government to solve their problems. This is how demagogues have long operated. They demonize "the rich," implying they obtained their wealth by exploiting the downtrodden; they stir up racial hatreds at every opportunity; they endlessly bash business and CEOs as evil exploiters; they promise "social justice" and universal happiness if only we will elevate them to power over us.

They do all this by appealing to anger and envy. They know instinctively that if they can stir up and ignite these dark, addictive passions in all of us, they will create a large voting bloc of people dependent on them, and thus be rewarded with great power. In its purest form, this phenomenon is called Marxism, communism, socialism – the spiritual core of which is raw envy. This philosophy of cradle-to-grave security and "wealth redistribution" exerts a powerfully seductive grip on people who have not discovered true inner "government." As William Penn famously said, "Men must be governed by God or they will be ruled by tyrants." "

" Communism, of course, is atheistic – where the government is the only true god, the giver of blessings, the solver of problems, the dispenser of justice and mercy. This envy-based, class-warfare-fueled revolutionary system talks always of justice, fairness, progress – but the only progress it delivers is from freedom to slavery.

This is the appeal more and more Americans have been conditioned over the years to respond to, as we have progressively fallen away from the Judeo-Christian values that once animated our culture and institutions. The envy-based system Marx unleashed on the world is alive and well, and in different forms it still dominates large parts of the world. In America, it has taken root in the Democrat Party. Ronald Reagan may have destroyed the "evil empire" of the Soviet Union, but you cannot destroy evil itself. Evil remains, and continues to do its job of tempting and, if possible, corrupting the souls of men.

Even the encouragement of immorality – free sex, abortion, homosexuality, easy divorce and so on – is all part and parcel of the socialist modus operandi, because immoral, dysfunctional people who have crossed the moral line and thus become estranged from God now need the "god" of socialist government.

All of this, my friends, is what we're poised to elect as president in the person of Barack Obama. "

" …..socialism has nothing to do with ‘economics’ or Democrat Management of our interests…that’s pure jingo….besides there is no such thing, historically or otherwise of successful Democrat Management of our interests….

Libs use such terms to fool themselves into believing ‘that we believe’ theirs is ‘a cause above material reward‘……we’re suppose ignore Obama, Reid, Murtha and Biden among hundreds of others have become multimillionaires upon entering office. That Pelosi and Boxer have reach into the several hundred of millions in net worth over their decades os service…..without considering Pelosi’s nepotistic aspects of family financial gain.

‘Socialism’ is the mid-point phase between a free market economy and state ownerships of our society….there are no personal freedoms associated with state ownership. Neither Government management or ownership whether Socialist or Marxist has resulted in anything but total economic ruin…if it were otherwise Cuba’s economy would be 100 times the size of South Korea instead of the other way around…it was not for nothing that Russia and China now emulate US Corporate Management….as does Europe and the Asian Tigers…

Leave it to the libs never ceasing to rewrite history, ever changing definitions, rephrasing, re-jingo, new bumper stickers etc to keep the gravy train rolling along….but at the end of the day the pie goes home with them leaving the crumbs for those foolish enough to follow….this ’ain’t brain sturgerery’ as the saying goes….just at the federal level we’ve spent over 6 trillion dollars on the war on poverty and not moved it down a fraction of a percent….we did create tens of thousands of millionaires through phony ‘not for profits, ‘obscene government employee benefit packages and ‘related’ family enterprises‘….overwhelmingly the party of Obama and Porklosi.

Change our government habits or destroy our economy….

‘McCain/Plain 08’ "

" cant really help her if he doesnt know she is there.....and that isnt as far fetched as it may seem...my family has a aunt that hasnt been seen for almost 20 years...except for an occasional post card.... "

" Obama knew she was here and in public housing, yet did nothing to help her - where is the redistribution of wealth here?

Obama is a fraud and if elected we will have to impeach him asap. "

" And now we find out his aunt is here illegally and living off of public assistance. And he claims not to know this despite the fact she was ordered to leave the country 5 years ago!

More lies by Obama. Complete disregard of American laws and if he's elected president we will see the floodgates open at the expense of American taxpayers. Socialism is not our greatest problem if he gets into office. "

" hate to disappoint you paddy but ICE doesnt send out notice to next of kin when they order some one to leave the country....

and PPF.....he said and there is no indication from anyone he is being untruthful, that he didnt know she was there.

and according to the director of the housing program, she was qualified to live there.... "

" As a college student who has done extensive research on economic thought and political theory through critical pedagogy, I can not agree more with Mr. Morgan.

Politics in practice can be a very dangerous field to step into. And now the concept of Socialism is being used as a weapon to attack none other than a status-quo capitalist politician.

A simple course in Poli-Sci 101 will educate you on the meaning of socialism.

From the comments people have left below, I can see that there is a serious lack of knowledge in political theory, but besides this lack of pedagogy and intellectual knowledge, I also see this absurd but common mentality of "nobody else but me". U.S. Americans lack serious political consciousness and thus people can buy the outrageous lie that Obama's fiscal policy equates with socialism. "

" Raven - I'm not sure ICE had anything to do with deportation orders of Obama's aunt and I forgot, Obama doesn't care enough about his aunt and her financial situation to be of any assistance. If his own aunt wouldn't go to him in crisis why would the American people want him to be President? I know I would not! "

" Raven: If you had family say-a brother or sister in Kenya who lived on $12.00 per year, would you help him financially if you had the means? "

" "Change our government habits or destroy our economy…."

This is my favorite line today. For 30 years our government habits have been "the magic of the marketplace/government is the problem" and now our economy is on the verge of collapse. But, let's not change our "habits", the economy is still alive... "

" Meanwhile, all the usual suspects can talk about is Obama's aunt, who may (or may not) be here illegally. Maybe we can talk about McCain's brother, who phones 911 for traffic complaints and calls the people of North Virginia communists..

No wait, there are actual issues to talk about. "

" according to the director of the housing program, she was qualified to live there, according to raven. That's because the director of housing did not know of the deportation order, and most times these local people don't care about that anyway. And Obama knew she was in public housing, even if he didn't know about the deportation order, yet he didn't help her. He's a millionaire - but no help to his family, here or in Africa. If he doesn't live by his own alleged beliefs, why should we expect him to live by his campaign promises?

This is the guy who's going to redistribute everyone else's wealth, except the Dem members of Congress, Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, etc.

It is becoming clearer every day that Obama is a fraud. Unanswered questions. Carter tax and foreign relations policies (didn't work then, won't work now), rampant socialism. An ego that makes Nixon look like he had low self-esteem. Ambiguous relationships with unsavory people. Unable to pass a basic security check for a top secret clearance (and we're going to make him commander in chief???). And his running mate, the famous used car salesman Bigmouth Biden hasn't been seen since he made the "Obama will be tested" blunder. They're starting to call him 'Hiden Biden', while Sarah is out and speaking to massive crowds. "

" Richard, when someone talks about the "redistribution of wealth" they are talking about socialism... "

" " Richard, when someone talks about the "redistribution of wealth" they are talking about socialism... "

So when the wealth is redistributed from the lower levels to the upper levels of society, as has been happening for the last 30 years, is that socialism? "

" Immigration and Customs Enforcement...so if they don't do deportation orders who does?...

as for supporting anyone, depends upon the relationship I had with them...but not automatically, no

and the deportation order came after she was allowed into the project...and until we have proof otherwise, he says he didn't know....which won't satisfy you I realize but such is life


yeah..calling 911 and cursing out the operator ....what a guy... "

" There has been redistribution of wealth in the United States since FDR. The New Deal, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, WPA, Welfare, and Free Lunch programs are all examples. This isn't a new idea. Bush and Congress just did it with 700 billion with McCain and Obama both voting yes. The banks are undergoing nationalization. Any time the government steps in with tax payers' money is redistribution.
Socialism is a far cry from this. When Exxon has to share its 14 billion in profits with all of us....that'll be socialism. "

" What a pooling of ignorance!

alucawanza is right. Representative government always seeks to represent its constituents, and that involves redistributing the wealth. Some politicians represent the moneyed classes; some represent the peasants. For some time now, the wealth has been going to the upper classes. This election will continue that process or bring it to a halt. Or maybe produce a happy medium between greed and general well-being. Or to be specific, between regulation and deregulation and between tax and spend.

Call it socialism if it gives you your jollies, but we are a long way yet from socialism. "

" O.k., so Richard Morgan is an avowed socialist. Congratulations, Richard. That's swell.

Richard doesn't think we quite understand what socialism is, so he's graciously provided us with his whimsical interpretation, like something out of the Communist Manifesto, I might add. It is naturally replete with fake nationalism and a clear disdain for the "haves" in our society.

Richard doesn't understand the ill effects that socialism can have on a society, nor does he understand exactly how Obama wishes to bring forth socialist rule of our nation, much to the detriment of our futures. Why he'd want to expose this about himself in full-view of the community is, however, quite strange indeed.

But, it is of course the woefully ignorant who have always fallen prey to socialist mantra that promises to make everyone happier with their lot in life. How sad. The "Richards" of the world: so sure of themselves and their misguided perspective on the world. So "educated", so prolific in their political speech, yet so disasterously wrong about the way a free people should be governed. "

" Napahistorian….very well said…

Teach…hate to wet your parade but government polices hinder and obstruct economic growth…..the Great Depression was caused by massive government expansion going into a recession…FDR called it a ‘sound economic plan’ praising and defending Hoover….then like a good Democrat turned around after supporting Hoover’s policy ran against him to win the election. All our nations periods of rapid economic growth….were periods when our government stayed out of the private sector….excluding war munitions.

The best run government agency wouldn’t stand a chance competing against a poorly managed private sector company…. How did Ross Perot became a billionaire? By showing the government where they were spending money…..there are several billionaires like him that provide duplicate data services for government agencies including Medicare and Social Security…

Arguably, the only thing Bill Clinton did deserving recognition was he acted like a Republican instead of a Democrat….until his massive tax increase when the economy tanked within 9 months…a direct consequence of his policy.

Current Democrat/government created messes.
1. Financial meltdown….directly the consequence of a Democrat policy.
2. Foreign energy dependence…..direct consequence of Democrat policy.
3. California budget crisis….direct consequence of Democrat policy….

I’ve been waiting 35 years for a lib to provide a single example in the history of mankind where socialist intervention resulted in economic growth….the failures are easy to point out….Soviet Union, China, Cuba, Mexico, Libya, Syria, Egypt….those that abandon socialism are now the fastest growing economies…Brazil, China, Columbia and India….go figure, libs cling to a theory that simply does not and never has worked, except for their personal gain that is. "

" hmmm.....sweden perhaps? "

" Raven, my anti-8 bud,
Swedish economist Stefan Karlsson disagrees. He has written some very interesting articles on the subject. "

" a teacher wrote on Nov 1, 2008 8:02 PM:
" " Richard, when someone talks about the "redistribution of wealth" they are talking about socialism... "

So when the wealth is redistributed from the lower levels to the upper levels of society, as has been happening for the last 30 years, is that socialism? "

I love this statement of redistribution from the lower to the upper levels!!! If you mean that the rich get wealthy off the the poor, because the poor WORK for the wealthy, then WOW! Thank god the wealthy can afford to have work available for the rest of us. Opportunity is available for all. If you want to become rich, outsmart the competition, and get on with it. Cry me a river. "