Socialism or Democracy - It's Our Choice
Government Control is Socialism Not Democracy
Government has become a huge octopus-like vacuum, sucking up everything in its path. Though as citizens, we know government programs are both wasteful and inefficient, most of us are so programed with the idea that government is the answer rather than the problem that we vote for those who promise us the most government perks. We're exchanging illusionary security for freedom.
What we as citizens don't seem to "get" is that the more the government shells out for us, the more they control our lives and the further away we get from either freedom or democracy. Each dollar we take in handouts obligates us to a host of regulations that strangles free enterprise, destroys initiative and undermines what this nation is all about-freedom to live without undue interference. It also further enmeshes us in a socialistic system that has failed in every country that has tried it.
In a republic or a democracy, the people have ultimate freedom to live and control their lives. Socialism, as actually played out, means a few hold resources and dole them out as they deem necessary to maintain their control-not for the good of all.
Our founders formed a democratic republic. Few alive today even understand what the term democratic republic means. We claim to still live in a democracy while looking to government to solve all our problems, problems people used to either solve for themselves or band together to do so. Expecting government to solve our problems isn't democracy, that is socialism as actually practiced. Socialism quickly deteriorates into fascism and/or dictatorship stamping out democracy and the freedom to think, speak and live without threat of imprisonment or worse.
Government socialism has done a wonderful job of managing our resources. Look at FEMA and Katrina. Consider, too, how many levels of government management make huge salaries in comparison to what is doled out to recipients of a program. Consider where government monies come from. It comes from the tax payer. It comes from you and me. Every expanded government program means more money into somebody's pocket but less into the pocket of the tax payer.
We seem bent on surrendering more and more of our freedom in order to obtain government funds. But security in government care is an illusion. What government officials give one day, they take back the next, leaving without recourse anyone relying upon those funds.
American citizens are so dependent upon government handouts (and this includes agriculture) that candidates for office believe that to be elected they must promise more government perks, more handouts. Promises seem to gain more votes than truth and integrity and freedom.
We buy into this socialism government control mindset, seldom thinking beyond the handouts to the reality that more government programs mean higher taxes, more intrusive regulations and less individual freedom. Democracy loses out to socialism. We need to recognize this house of cards will crash when the middle class no longer has money to offer a confiscatory government bent on exchanging democracy and freedom for socialism and complete control of the lives of the citizens.
As presidential candidates curry favor by making promises for expanding government programs (with lots of emotional appeals about kids and the poor), I hope we can look beyond the rhetoric to America's future. Will it be one of socialism and servitude to big government or will it be one of democracy and freedom to live life without big brother with his hand firmly in our pockets?
The choice is ours to make.
Published by Carolyn R Scheidies
Carolyn R. Scheidies is an author/reviewer/ speaker and more. Find her at http://IDealinHope.com. View profile
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8 Comments
Post a Comment4. Federalist Paper #85 Conclusion by Alexander Hamilton does not mention democracy or democracies even once but mentions the word republican four times.
5. Socialism is unconstitutional because it is based on unlimited government with unlimited power to force the individual to conform with the majority.
You present a false choice between Socialism and Democracy when most Progressives believe they are one in the same. The real choice is between Socialism and Republicanism, I choose Republicanism.
You are fundamentally wrong on so many levels I'm hard press on where to begin.
1. The Framers created a Constitutional Republic with republican principles and the Founding Fathers did not use the terms republic/democracy interchangeably. The Founding Fathers were extremely well educated in this area and feared democracy as much as monarchy, in fact the Founding Fathers had so little respect for democratizes they left the word democracy and all forms of democracy out of the Constitution. Republic and forms of the word republic are mention at least 3 times in our US Constitution.
2. The words representative democracy are not found together any of the Federalist Papers but you can find the words representative republic together in Federalist #48, “But in a representative republic, where the executive magistracy is carefully limited; both in the extent and the duration of its power; and where the legislative power is exercised by an assembly…â€
3. There are 85 Fede
Very good article.
You may want to actually know what the terms mean when you use them... I left the US to live in Sweden. I am now more free than I ever was... and looking back see just how NOT free I was in the USA. Sweden is a Social Democracy. Come on over and I'll school ya in your misconceptions.
Check out my recently published content on AC:
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/754119/americas_oneparty_authoritarian_system.html
America's One-Party, Authoritarian System: A Bogus Democracy
It is amazing that some have fallen so hard for the neo-con rihetoric. We have a bad government because they are trying to destroy and use it as a tool for enriching themselves and cronies, while they subjugate us further, and lemmings like the writer of this article are more than happy to let them.
Prime example: the program Eisenhower started to benefit young teens living in poverty. The artist that did not need the grant money gets it to take photo's of his lover urinating in his mouth and the government says they can not censor. Well, my sister would not call that art, she would call it porno. Another was a school teacher that took a year off to write a book. Um, I do not know who benefited from the book, never saw it mentioned. Then there is the lady artist who is comfortably retired that got a grant to make a coffee table book of her photography. I forget how much money she told me she was granted for her art project. In the meantime some kid decided to go out and sell drugs for a living because there are not enough jobs. The biggest handouts are to those top 3% of wealth holders. Like Hoffman La Roche, Halliburton, Kellogg, Root and Brown...
"American citizens are so dependent upon government handouts"? We are forced to pay a day and a 1/2 of wages for taxes. We could not decline paying into Social Security. Yet the gov borrows from our money, does not pay that part of the gov back and now we are told we will not get the promised benefits. Or they use us. They use our money to buy $100. screwdrivers from their friends, because their friends will kick back some of the profit (hate to use Clinton again, but they are masters of that sleigh of hand). The pharmaceutical companies that give lots of $$$ to their gov friends then get special FDA approval. The thinking was "the insurance company is going to pay for it" so overcharging was the way to go. Of course, not turning a profit forced the Ins. companies to raise premiums and it just keeps going. Yeah some get government handouts~the ones that know how to milk the system.