This just in:  There seems to be a rise of Democratic Socialists which is being fought by Republicans as “Socialism!”  Note, many of these same Republicans claim they would rather be Russian than vote Democrat.  Go Figure.

Abraham Lincoln said, “The legitimate object of government, is to do for a community of people, whatever they need to have done, but can not do, at all, or can not, so well do, for themselves — in their separate, and individual capacities.”

Socialism definition: “A range of economic and social systems characterised by social ownership and workers’ self-management of the means of production as well as the political theories and movements associated with them.”

Democratic socialists believe that both the economy and society should be run democratically—to meet public needs, not to make profits for a few. To achieve a more just society, many structures of our government and economy must be radically transformed through greater economic and social democracy so that ordinary Americans can participate in the many decisions that affect our lives.

Now, with that foundation, let’s ask ourselves…”Are we now a socialist country?’

You might answer “No!”  After all, refineries, airlines and local markets are not owned by “the people”.  If I owned a farm, it would be my farm, not the community’s farm.  GM, while publicly owned, it not owned by the people in general; rather it is owned by the people that bought shares.

So, there is a lot of evidence that we are not a Socialist country.  And, I might add, that I am not hearing any politician suggest that we should become a Socialist country.

However, we already are, to an extent, a Democratic Socialist country.  Our military is owned by the people.  Our roads are owned by the people.  Our fire departments and police are owned by the people.  In fact, take a look at our annual budget.  We collect from the people to spend on the people.  That’s it.

Take a look at the budget for 2015 (below).  This is all about us collecting money to do exactly what Abraham Lincoln said (above).

This is all Socialism to some extent.  We collect money and then do together what we cannot do as well ourselves.

We can quibble over the exact “word” to use to describe this but remember, it is what it is and using a word ending in “ism” does not make it bad.

This brings me to my point:  The United States needs to have universal healthcare.

Don’t tell me it can’t be done.  Done tell me that something every, other industrialized nation has accomplished is “too hard” for Americans.

I heard yesterday where the number of people over 65 declaring bankruptcy has tripled since 1990.  Most of this is attributed to healthcare related issues.

We can solve this.  Our taxes will go up but our out-of-pocket costs will actually go down.  No longer would people have to lose everything because a loved one got cancer in their later years and they spent every penny they had to spend just one more day with that loved one.

Republicans are against this because: (1) its not their idea and (2) they are corrupt and accept money to vote against it.

Democrats seem to be on the fence.  Some like it and some don’t.  Those that don’t like it fear backlash of raising taxes to pay for it.  They don’t believe the average person would understand that taxes will go up but medical expenses would go away completely.

In the end, we can take the Republican Path or that of Abraham Lincoln.  We can “Go it alone” or we can “Work together.”

I’m with Abe.

Time to save the world.

Up, up and away…

Jim