Socialism Creep

 ~It's important to get with the majority, isn't it?
That's... oh, that's a big thing nowadays,
isn't it, Reverend? 
~That's all there is, is the majority.
The minority must have died on the cross
two thousand years ago 
--I Am the Night (The Twilight Zone)
__________________

This socialism creep is not that weird little neo-Bolshevik at the cafe.  Instead, it is the reality of modern America which most Americans fail to grasp. The bumper sticker "No Socialism for America" on a local merchant's vehicle got Ranger thinking on the topic.

• The U.S. tax code is Socialism in action. Property taxes are Socialism.  Redistributing the wealth to pay educational costs for (often) non-homeowning baby producers.

• The Department of Veterans Affairs medical system is socialistic (though it is lauded by most as being a paragon of efficiency.)

• Military service itself is pure socialism -- it is distributing the duty to those who cannot afford to avoid service.  If military service were democratic then citizens from all strata of our society would serve equally (which is not the case), and capital would provide neither an escape route from service, nor an incentive to enlist.  Since we have socialized the requirement, we provide socialized medicine for the veterans. 

• Social Security Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is Socialism.

• Pell Grants underwriting college education redistribute wealth -- isn't that socialism?  For that matter, public schools are also Socialist.

• State-run Lottos are Socialist, if not very fair. 

• State hospitals for the mentally infirm are Socialism, as are state-run "old soldiers homes"; our society would be much the poorer without these safety nets.

• National disaster relief is Socialism, as is the Centers for Disease Control. 

• Even organized religion is an exercise in Socialism: Jesus died for our sins in order to redistribute the assets of heaven, and not on a meretricious basis. 

Strangely, we champion capitalism and democracy when even our banking system is based in socialism.  The United States socialized the debt of the errant banks in 2008 and underwrote the results of their ineptitude, greed and resultant financial shortfalls with U.S. taxpayer funds.  The U.S. socialized the debt while ensuring the privatization of the profits from the governmental bailouts.

Isn't the concept of Federalism actually socialist in basis? Doesn't the Federal government redistribute the wealth of the richer states to the poorer?  Doesn't Alabama, Mississippi, etc. benefit from this socialism? 

If our citizens would stop to think for the time it takes to belch, maybe they would realize that socialism is the reality and the answer, rather than the problem. In addition, most of our major NATO allies are Socialist states; why are they allies if we are so opposed to their way of life?

When FOX news et. al. fashion socialism as the devil it keeps the plebes in line, keeps them feeling a faux solidarity against a chimerical enemy.  For example, the U.S. outspends twelve other industrial nations in healthcare, but our level of treatment is inferior.

Ours is a mangy Socialism: All of the calories, little of the nutrition.