Red-Scare Rhetoric Still Packs a Mean Punch

If you ask any American today what they think of McCarthyism, the vast majority will condemn it as a dark period in our nation's history yet more than likely these same people will cringe at anything associated with "Communism" even if what is associated, has nothing at all to do with that form of government.

Conservative politicians, very aware of the power "McCarthyism" still holds, figured out that by appropriating certain parts of the English language under the banner of communism, they could make most Americans vote counter to their own interests. In other words, they select benign words; soak them in a "communist red" solution until the whole spectrum of "red-scare rhetoric" is represented, ranging from "commie pinko" to full-blown "soviet crimson”, and then apply them to anything that interferes with their agenda. This tactic is so powerful it can convince the majority to deliver themselves into the hands of the enemy.

"Socialized" is an example of one of the words this group has chosen to soak in their "communist red" solution, allowing the word to absorb just enough of the color to manifest a distinct shade of pink. Any government-sponsored program that tries to level the playing field between the haves and the have-nots is labeled with this pink word. Yet, what about all the Republicans who are in favor of publicly funding defense? What about publicly funding capitalism?

If the word socialized is defined as any program that is publicly financed or under government control, our defense program, and capitalism are most certainly, socialized. True, President Bush is trying to semi-privatize the military by using independent contractors in Iraq; however, defense and military spending consumes most of his budget, therefore it is socialized.

In contrast to the word, socialized, the term capitalism is pink-free, all-American, and totally supported by all those who circulate among the right-winged, wealthy elite. Yet despite the American flag, wrapped letters, only a very small part of the private sector reap the rewards of capitalism, and "we the people" always pay for its failure, especially every time the government bails out an industry or company. Not only that, between corporate welfare, rules, and regulations or lack thereof, created to benefit the rich, and a 28th grade level of education - or the money to hire people with that level of education required to figure it all out - American capitalism sounds pretty socialized to me.

As long as the socialized program does not enable or prop up the part of the population who struggle to make ends meet or who may have hit hard times, then, not only is it OK to bankroll, according to conservatives, its perfectly patriotic to run a deficit so large we can barely keep track of what it truly is.

Those who embody conservatism, whether they like Ayn Rand or not, embrace her egoistic ethics and believe in her "every man for himself" philosophy, totally discounting the importance of social structure and co-operation that allowed humanity to survive and evolve over time.

I am certainly not advocating Socialism, merely pointing out that just as each one of us is a complex composite of many different qualities, our society is also a composite of capitalism, democracy and yes, even socialism. Our job is to adjust, balance, and tweak the ratio of each element to create the kind of society our Founding Fathers so eloquently established in the Constitution.