Lets put these political terms in plain English

[lees1975]

The Signal Press: Let's Put These Political Terms in Plain English

For 18 years, as a classroom teacher of secondary social studies, mostly upper level American History and government, Economics and World Civilization, I included objectives in my lesson plans which led to students being able to identify political ideologies by name. Terms like "Communism," "Socialism," "Democracy," and "Fascism," are part of an eighth grade class in Constitution. Since that's a required class, and most Americans have at least an eighth grade education, at least I hope they do, these are terms we should know, and be able to use by now.

Don't trust politicians, especially conservative politicians who think their constituents are the most stupid and ignorant people on the planet, to define these terms correctly. In some cases, I'm not sure they know what they mean, and if they do, they don't care about the real meaning. Let's take, for example, the term "Democratic socialist." This is often referred to, by those who either forgot everything they learned in social studies, or who are deliberately engaged in duping their constituents, as a "left wing" political ideology that supports both political democracy and some form of a socially owned economy.

The Socialist part of Democratic Socialism is a bit more complicated, and it has a long history. Basically, the American economy, while it has overwhelmingly capitalist characteristics, is socialist by definition. There are businesses which the society at large, through the government of the republic, has placed under public ownership and control or regulation. For example, one of the biggest socialist projects in American history is the Tennessee Valley Authority, a series of dams constructed for the purpose of preserving water resources and providing electricity to an impoverished part of the country.

The railroads are another example. No need for every rail company to build rails, the infrastructure was a socialist development.

In Canada, for example, the national health care system is an example of the most beneficial kind of Democratic Socialism. Canadians have a national health care system that pretty much covers everything, right down to prescription drugs. Conservatives in America love to bash the system, claiming that if it was so great, why do so many Canadians cross the border to get health care in the United States?

I know the answer to that question. They don't.