why police and fire departments are not socialism

For more than 30 years, he has researched radical left, Marxist, and terrorist movements and their covert influence on mainstream politics. For if some people disproportionately benefit relative to others under productive arrangements that are primarily socially or publicly determined as are ours by our publicly promulgated and enforced property law, contract law, employment law, business law, tax law, banking law, etc. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. The government owns the land, the facility, all the books inside, and cuts the paychecks to the people working there. The tax revenues or debt financing governments rely on are directly related to the state of the capitalist economy and its rates of growth and profitability. Since the Clinton Administration, the federal government has also funded the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) hiring grant program. Vote like your country depends on it. That's socialism. Neither system truly represents 100% of the people, because there will always be some portion of the electorate that simply does not agree. To use a road, you will need to purchase (by exchanging capital) several things from private distributors, including gasoline. Ideally all education should be privately run, completely free of government controlexcept for police, military, and justice institutions. The government doesnt own the machinery, labor, or materials (aka, the, Roads dont serve much use to a person who doesnt own a car. Michael McAuliff of the Huffington Post pointed out that the federal government spends huge amounts of money to support all those professions. This is true, yet the federal government does things frequently that many consider to be outside of the proper scope of the federal powers. Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. In fact none of the. Was FDRs Second Bill of Rights socialist, then? Copyright 2000 - 2023 The Epoch Times Association Inc. All Rights Reserved. Its been shown time and again that many people who say they love socialism cannot accurately describe its basic tenets if their life depended on it. Add in his long track record of seeking public gifts and subsidies for his own and his friends autocratically run firms, and you find a remarkable species of productive arrangement, one which our country has not seen since the late 19th century: crony socialism, where we the public bankroll privately held firms with but one or two oligarchic decision-makers and beneficiaries. Intriguingly, Bernie Sanders and the DSA have more in common with Reagan in this realm than does any other current political figure, including anyone now running for President. Capitalism and social programs exist in most countries. Public-sector unions could play a key role in this endeavor, organizing both the providers and users of public services to radically transform the administrative structures of government. How the Nazis Exploited the Reichstag Fire to Launch a Reign of Terror, In Bosnia, the End of War Has Not Brought Peace, G. M. Tams Wasnt Hungarys Last Marxist, A Rare Book Scandal Provides a Warning About Private Equity, Capitalism Makes Everyone Bend to Its Will, Rich and Poor Alike. In fact, once you spend just a half hour or so researching the subject on the web, it almost begins to seem every cool thing we have done and now cherish has been called socialist by Republicans at some time or another: public (yep, public) education; public (yep, public) utilities; progressive (yep. A government run by a socialist party (or a coalition of left and working-class parties) would move to bring the economys key industries and enterprises under some form of social control. (Electric cars still incur a carbon footprint in the way of increased power demand, and solar panels require raw materials, many of which are toxic. In came a large, older fellow who took one look at my cover, Return to Capitalism, and with a finger pointed at me, said, "We already live in a capitalistic country. Is it about the mechanisms by which resources, goods, or services move from some hands or uses to others? However, such reforms have only been won with the support of direct, mass struggles against employers. The economy is in essence a grand process of production. Socialism, either through state-control/regulatory bodies/workers councils, carries out the will of the workers to equitably redistribute the wealth created by industries. Senator Sanderss Corporate Accountability and Democracy Plan, on which full disclosure this author assisted, does likewise. In fact none of the government programs in America are socialist.Socialism is not when the government does stuff.These are social programs that exist within the capitalist frameworkAt best if you have enough of these programs you'd be left with what's called a social democracyA social democracy is a form of capitalism that advocates for intervening in economic and social matters to alleviate the worst of capitalism's inequities.But it's primary mode of production, that is, it's primary method of producing and distributing goods and resources are still owned by private interests.It's just that some of those goods and resources are redistributed among the working classSocialism is a mode of production which advocates for all the workers controlling the production and distribution of goods and resources.This is not to say social programs are badThe fire department can and will obviously exist in a socialist society.But the fire department can and does also exist within a capitalist society.If we seek to have an honest discussion about these topics it's important to separate specific institutions as examples of socialism or capitalism and focus instead on who controls how those resources are produced and distributed. Some of them sadly have widespread public support, even among many self-proclaimed conservatives.. But the sheer volume of spending tells us little about the political valence of government action. Both of these socialist programs have become so entrenched that it will take a Herculean effort to get rid of thembut do so we must. It funnels billions of federal tax dollars to state and local police departmentsas well as park police, college police and other law enforcement agencies. Nov 9, 2015. Its also how theyre able to conflate their own interests with a larger public or national interest under a capitalist system, theres some truth to their claim. The federal government simply does not have the money to bail out profligate states or municipalities. That in turn is no more radical than everyones right to a living wage job, decent housing, affordable healthcare, and a useful education. Russia was known as the United Soviet Socialist Republic and all such regimes referred to themselves as socialist, but, yes, communism is an. We wouldnt have to change the purpose of any existing programs, nor would we have to reform the administrative structures of government agencies. Lets begin by identifying one source of confusion one reason that there are so many socialisms and, therefore, so many non-socialisms: While the word social can be readily understood in distinction from individual, the words socialism and individualism are more difficult to make sense of as contrast terms, because so few of us specify which realms of activity we have in mind when we use them. Which seems more socialist in such case Lincolns, Reagans and Sanderss labor republican capitalism, which actually produces outputs from inputs, or Mr. Trumps state-funded oligarchical feudalism, which simply brands already existing entities that earn money by luring working people into gambling casinos and overpriced low-quality hotel accommodations? If we start now, there will be minimal pain as we will see a rebirth of the efficient and personal friendly societies and private insurance and savings schemes that used to fulfill these roles. Something else? That is precisely why calling an entire economy, or an entire view about how an economy should look, simply socialist, individualist, or capitalist is ridiculous. If the government takes large chunks of your wealth to fund whomever it wants to please, thats socialism. It's a purposeful lie or a lie repeated by newbie Leftist that are just parroting what they've heard from other Leftists. And they are partially correct. Its not difficult to see the problem with this line of thinking. The DSA is a political movement with adherents in both the current U.S. Congress and fourteen state legislatures. This is also relatively true for fire departments. Lincoln, FDR, Eisenhower, Martin Luther King, and indeed most American leaders throughout our history had what the test of time showed to be a very compelling answer to that query. Certainly FDRs Republican opponents called it that. No, socialism isn't just more government it's about democratic ownership and control. The military is the most socialist institution we have. Let's start by observing two readily confirmed facts. As he recently said: When you go to your public library, when you call your fire department or the police department, what do you think youre calling? What is it to be more socialist or more individualist along this dimension? If roads are socialist, then they do a great job enabling Capitalism/Free Enterprise to function. We can abbreviate that by saying we do and decide some things individually and some things collaboratively, or socially, with the size or scope of the collaborative group in the latter case varying according to the activity. This is an indoctrination factory and a recipe for disaster. Nearly two thousand years before Marx and his collaborator Friedrich Engels penned The Communist Manifesto, Rome had established what many historians consider the grandest engineering achievement of the ancient world: a system of stone-paved highways that snaked across more than 100 provinces, stretching some 250,000 miles. Fact: In 1806, more than a decade before Karl Marx was born, the United States Congress passed, and President Thomas Jefferson signed, legislation authorizing construction of the Cumberland Road, an interstate highway that would stretch more than 600 miles, connecting the Potomac and Ohio Rivers. Why do we need public libraries? We use cookies to understand how you use our site and to improve your experience. The idea that any government activity is synonymous with socialism has major political and strategic implications. It also turns out, as it happens, that it is impossible to be either 100% individualistic or 100% socialistic along any of these three dimensions. Obamacare has increased health insurance coverage, partially through the (contested) expansion of Medicaid. One can think of UBI enthusiasts as cousins of Resource Socialists, I suppose, rather like Yang himself. And our founders did not create a socialist system. Yes, federal funds have flowed to state and local governments to hire firefighters, teachers, and police. Who presently benefits cui bono? Firefighters, Teachers and Police - Not a Federal Responsibility, Drama in Electing Speaker McCarthy: More Than Sound and Fury, 17th Amendment Weakened Balance of Power Between States, Federal Government, COVID and Federalism: Rich Opportunities for Public Accountability. The White House?). FACT: Most Americans never use the socialized services of the fire department. -Are gas and electric lines socialist? Socialist Programs like Medicaid, welfare, social security, can and do exist in capitalist countries. Culture of Respect: Conservatives Need Not Apply? However, many hospitals are privately owned and controlled, and many operate at a profit. If it were truly democratic, the ability to overturn the system by any majority demanding a different economic system would have to exist indefinitely. If we do not know what a word means, or the meaning is amorphous, then comparative logic becomes impossible. It is a limited form of socialism, though, because the Fire Department doesnt produce any commodity. They used the word socialism in order to dupe the country into thinking they were merely a pro-labor movement when they were anything but. Are access to these things rights, or are they luxuries? Does it increase our subordination to market discipline or offer us more freedom from its demands? Are Fire Departments Socialist? I feel if we did not have them today it would be a tough sell to republicans, Socialism is a way of governing. Well have you ever heard of this little thing called the fire department? He is best known for his book Enemies Within: Communists, Socialists and Progressives in the U.S. Congress and his similarly themed documentary film Enemies Within.. What determines whether we choose to pursue an activity more individually or more socially? Citizens United) and lobbying activities. Uses, mentions, and misuses of the word are spiking once more. People pay taxes and the government then gives it to others, whether they have contributed toward the cost of the service or not. Thats the theory, anyhow. You simply take what you need when you need it. Why does this happen? Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who knows socialism better than anyone, often plays this deceptive game. When we use color words, for example, we know we are speaking of visible surfaces. Yellowstone: The Hidden Propaganda in Television and Movies, How to Cultivate a Marriage That Will Help Your Child Succeed. Worker control of capital does nothing to end Capitalism. Why? Roads are collectively owned infrastructure, and created under the capitalist mode of production. 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Trevor Loudon is an author, filmmaker, and public speaker from New Zealand. Jay Inslee's vaccine mandate. Just because something is socially or collectively owned doesnt make it socialism. When we use number words we know we are speaking of countable objects. Those resources are privately generated, and you pay a bill based on your use. Economic power is political power, and under capitalism the owners of capital will always have the capacity to undermine popular democracy no matter whos in Congress or the White House. At one campaign stop last year, he endorsed the thinking behind the most simplistic of these memes: When you go to your public library, when you call your fire department or the police department, what do you think youre calling? But roads? The cooperative government has control over the economy. And as it happens, different questions that implicate our moral and political values come up in connection with each. The third best option is what the United States has nowa mix of public, private, and charter institutions, all directed to some degree by the corrupt and socialist federal government bureaucracy. I cover law, justice, money, finance and economics. If the level of economic activity declines perhaps , because capitalists are unhappy about new legislation that benefits workers the state will find it increasingly difficult to fund its activities. For the most part, yes. Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Canada, Australia, pretty much all of Western Europe, etc. Like the DMV? Fire departments are a service associated with the well-being of society and not a means of production. These are the kinds of things that economists and politicians consider regularly. Admirable goals at the time, but both could be better handled by the private sector today. Yes, no, no, Bernie. No taxpayer-funded charter schools. Mixing the profit motive of the private sector with the low accountability levels of the public sector is a recipe for corruption and co-option by radicals. If you don't like socialism, tell all the firefighters to go home, they are a socialist program paid for with our taxes. Counterpart questions arise in connection with capitalism, to which socialism is often mistakenly contrasted. A case in point can be found at Big Think, a publication whose videos and short articles I often enjoy. -Are hospitals socialist? Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. (LogOut/ (Lincolns Homestead Act and Land Grant Act were products of this vision.) And because all of those purportedly socialist programs have been won without fundamentally challenging private property, there would be no need for a decisive confrontation with the owners of capital and their political allies. No. Winning government power and using it to break the dominance of the capitalist class is a necessary condition for beginning the transition to socialism. Chris Maisano is a Jacobin contributing editor and a member of Democratic Socialists of America. Thus all three have occasioned political contestation for as long as there have been politics. And by industry, I mean anything capable of providing an income. In a country as deeply and reflexively anti-statist as the United States, the identification of socialism with government is perhaps the worst possible rhetorical strategy the Left could adopt. The police and justice systems are essentially organized force. Social Security and Medicare are two examples. Thats a library, a public school, food stamps, or any form of universal basic income. These are often termed transfer payments. The government takes money from individuals and corporations and gives it those it wants to supportor get votes from. Post office at Alamo, May 1972. There is no 'pure socialism,' 'pure individualism . In that sense it makes more sense to call them boosts to economic democracy or, again, Lincoln-style labor republicanism than socialism. At least thats what Reagan would say. If its the former, then what sorts of arrangements are political, in putative distinction from economic? The answer is to roll back that socialism, not expand it. Often, if capitalists arent induced to make investments through business subsidies and other incentives, they simply will refuse to invest. The old Latin query cui bono? (who benefits?), on which our contemporary follow the money is a variation, highlights whats most salient to most people the purpose or point, in effect, of productive activity. It is an appeal to ambiguity or equivocation that makes it impossible to know what another person means to say. The House That Low Information VotersBuilt. If anything disappoints me even more, its when communication completely breaks down because of the failure to use concrete terminology. It might be helpful, then, to sort some things out sos to get clearer on what were all talking about when we talk about socialism.. At a fire or medical incident, most police officers perform only security or very basic first aid. An article detailing the recent surge in the popularity of socialism was teed up this way by the brands social media editor: If youre against socialism, dont drive on public roads or call 911! Subscribe today to get it in print! This is the famous Dictatorship of the Proletariat. The labor sector has total control of the economy. Evidence suggests that socialism is becoming more popular in the United States. They would be one of the most important institutions in any socialist society worthy of the name. But its quite another to include the police. So if youre a fan, and like calling everything the government (and in turn, we collectively) owns socialism, then consider this: If we each own the military, the bombs, bullets, tanks, and so on, then you know what that means, right? Socialism and capitalism are economic models that concern themselves primarily with what's done with the surplus product created by profitable industries. The first is that all modern economies are what economists call mixed. There is no pure socialism, pure individualism, pure capitalism, or pure anything else where political and economic systems are concerned. If you spend much time on social media, youve probably seen the memes purporting to show just how socialist the United States already is by listing a bunch of government programs, services, and agencies. For the most part, yes. [See Bernie Sanders' Lies?] Why is a public library socialist, but police and fire departments arent? Public schools, welfare departments, planning agencies, courts, and all other government agencies would invite workers and recipients to participate in the design and implementation of those services. With that in mind, a road does not generate a profit, the police do not participate in the market, students do not receive wages for their "work" and libraries do not typically sell products in order to become wealthy. Ancient rome had highways, public bathhouses and aqueducts but this doesn't mean they invented socialism. Is the DSA socialist, then? Why do those who now make up our new largest demographic millennials, who bumped out the boomers last year not fear it? Socialism is about redistribution of wealth. That shouldnt be an excuse for more socialism. In classical socialism, there are two major forms: State Socialism = Marxist/Leninist socialism where an oligarchic state has the final say in economic affairs. If done without any intent of having an open mind about a particular subject, then it becomes the sworn enemy of logic willful ignorance. closely held corporations autocratic personal fiefdoms. Ancient rome had highways, public bathhouses and aqueducts but this doesn't mean they invented socialism. There are many variations on the theme, but my favorite one lists no less than fifty-five ostensibly socialist programs whose only commonality is that Uncle Sam carries them all out. Much of the United States is already socialistalmost all of the bad parts, for example. Lets start by observing two readily confirmed facts. The federal government doesnt pay for teachers, firefighters or policemen.. If you spend much time on social media, youve probably seen the memes purporting to show just how socialist the United States already is by listing a bunch of government programs, services, and agencies. We will lose our kids and the future of this country if we allow this corrupt mess to continue. Yet there is reason to believe this is at least partly because Americans are pretty much clueless as to what socialism is. According to a widely noted 2014 study by two political scientists, the political dominance of the wealthy is now so pronounced that average citizens exercise near zero influence over government policymaking. Why not just name and discuss policies rather than dropping vague ism names? In fact, you could say that these redefining tactics happen intentionally for the very reason of defeating logic: Sure but thats not what it means to me.. Hydro and wind endanger natural habitats.). Ask them "How much gross profit did your fire department make last year? There should be a huge range of options including church schools, cooperative schools, home schooling, apprenticeship training, and trade schools, plus privately run professional training institutions and universities. After all, if our country wasalready at least partly socialist, then all we wouldhave to do iskeep gradually expanding government. Sure, you can have personal and privateproperty, but there is no private ownership of any business or industry in a socialist society. There is a sense in which most talk of socialism over the past century or so has been confined to what I am calling the output dimension. This article first appeared on townhall.com. They are infrastructure that exists in every country regardless of socioeconomic framework. The 21st century is so different from the 19th where alignments and, more fundamentally, modes of political and productive organization are concerned that terms at home in the earlier era have little more application in this one than medieval medical terms like bilious or phlegmatic have in modern hospitals. That requires a community effort. Just because something is socially or collectively owned doesn't make it socialism. No. Some combination of such things? Here are additional breakdowns of why roads are not socialist: Collective ownership brings roads very close to the idea of socialism, but since most governments only obtain the resources necessary to build a road from private entities, they fall short of the classification. Trump, who passes himself off as a corporate whizz, has not in fact worked within multiple-shareholder-controlled corporations, and has only once issued shares publicly in a Trump family enterprise. If so, then control over what? The GOP Is Afraid to Cut Social Security. Its because these bureaucracies provide terrible service and concentrate huge amounts of money in governmental hands. U.S. education is already heavily socialist. The list goes on and on. But the individual mandate only serves to deepen marketization, adding millions of Americans to the private, for-profit insurance system. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies, revised Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. After all, governments are dependent on some minimally robust level of economic activity to fund themselves. Education can be delivered in four basic ways. Ever since Karl Marx invented socialism and wrote the Communist Manifesto (which was mainly about socialism), socialism has meant getting rid of capitalism. The bitter experiences of the twentieth century have taught us that socialism wont further the cause of human freedom if the political and administrative structures of government arent thoroughly democratized. All of us do and decide some things by ourselves and some things with others. The temptation to loot that pot of gold is overwhelming. Its possible the Facebook comment was written by some poor unpaid intern who has not yet taken a political theory class. "No Bernie, the Police and Fire Departments Are Not Socialism"; A Primer on Socialism VS. A Free Society The Epoch Times "In their incessant propaganda war to move the United States leftwards, leftists often claim that this country already is partly socialist. Such an expansion of popular power would be neededto both push out personnel committed to the old regime and to transform the often alienating and repressive bureaucracies that currently administer public services. Hinzman said it was . Interestingly, now that Yangs out of contention for President this year, there are no outright Resource Socialists running for President. This is, of course, completely immoral and antithetical to the principles of a free and just society. Duh. A 12-year-old Ethiopian girl was snatched by four men on her way home from school. There are fares for these services. When literally three Americans literally own more wealth than literally the bottom half of our citizenry, as Senator Sanders seems to be the sole Presidential candidate regularly to point out, isnt it clear whose socialism ours is? In any true form of deterministic socialism, the government is always the one signing,as well as cashing your paycheck, eventually eliminating the need for a paycheck altogether. Police are "responding to nonviolent, noncriminal calls for service for people whose needs are largely social, behavioral or mental. Abolish the postal system, the police, and the military: all social. Well, for starters there is the question of who should own, control, or benefit by these inputs disposition in the productive process. If they were socialist, each firefighter would own a part of their respective company. The other word we use to describe our polity another Latin one this time to complement the Greek is also suggestive here: we call our polity a republic, from the Latin res publica, or thing of the public (sometimes also translated into the suggestive word commonwealth hmm common / wealth). Change), You are commenting using your Facebook account. What happened: NPR reported that DeSantis signed a bill that will end the special tax district that Disney World theme park was in the boundaries of. Change). Indeed each one has. No private institution should make money off jailing people, aside from those providing goods and services, such as food, clothing, and utilities, to public penal institutions.
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