Then Color Me Pinko

I have friends and relatives living in terror. They fear that they will lose their health care coverage to “Obama’s socialist agenda.”

Of course, their primary coverage is via Medicare, a government program. One could say a socialist program.

What is socialism? According to Wikipedia:

various theories of economic organization which advocate either public or direct worker ownership and administration of the means of production and allocation of resources.

In short, public ownership constitutes socialism. I live in Nebraska, a generally red state, where “socialist” is considered a major insult, yet I purchase my water, gas, and electricity from publically-owned utilities with elected boards. Looks like socialism to me.

My children attend excellent public schools and universities. An educated electorate is essential to democracy, and most education in the US is subsidized by the public one way or another. More socialism in action.

Early intervention is  another service readily available through our socialist education system. Every state in the union put these programs into place during the 1990’s to target children with special needs. Their development improves with programs implemented before the traditional school age, sometimes during the first year of life. Most parents would not be able to afford the intensive behavioral and occupational therapy provided by these publically-funded programs.

Yup, early intervention programs are another example of pooling public resources to provide a public good. More of that “S” word.

Sarah Palin denounces socialism every chance she gets. She attended several public universities, though, and has thus benefitted from educational socialism. Yes, you pay to go to university, but it is highly subsidized via tax dollars, even for out-of-state students. State universities are big-government at work.

Palin claims to have turned down government handouts. Will she become even more suspect of public and government funding as the tea-party movement gathers steam? I hope not; for the sake of her son, Trig, I hope she accepts those socialist early intervention services.

Just say thanks- the American public does this because it is the right correct thing to do. We all want Trig to have the best life he possibly can. I personally want every child to have nutritious food, educational opportunities, vaccinations, and adequate healthcare, even though it means higher taxes for me. Even though it means a larger government. I would like every US citizen to have guaranteed health care, whether or not they are employed or have pre-existing medical conditions. I do not see how these changes to healthcare threaten individual freedoms in any way.

Guess that makes me a socialist. Please don’t shoot me.