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[PUBLISHED JUNE 16, 2010] People who lack the intelligence or adequate knowledge to debate or understand complex poltical theories are easily manipulated into internalizing the exaggerated speech of shrewd politicians and pundits who often prey on the badly informed and uninformed to undermine their opponent and advance their agenda. They inject negative messages into their minds that are blatantly false because they know the uniformed lacks knowledge to separate fact from fiction.
The North Iowa Tea Party paid for a billboard on South Federal Avenue in Mason City, Iowa that compared President Obama’s economic policy to that of Adolf Hitler, the leader of the Nazi Party, and Soviet dictator Vladimir Lenin. It was not only an unintelligent argument for opposing Obama’s economic philosophy, but it also showcased how ignorance disregards facts that disprove false assertions.
Adolf Hitler was responsible for the murder of as many as “17 million civilians” of which six million of them were Jews. He also murdered “Romanis, ethnic Poles, Soviet civilians, Soviet prisoners of war, people with disabilities, homosexuals, Jehovah's Witnesses, and other political and religious opponents.” He was a man hell bent on gaining power so that he could rule with an iron fist by any means necessary. He was a vile human being with a thrust for power that rivaled any other dictator in the world then and now.
Though Hitler's economic policy (after he murdered millions of people) was forward thinking and innovative and spurred economic growth, the underpinning of everything he did was to control the minds of the populous by convincing them that he was their savior and the country could not survive without his leadership. Whatever he did was about mind control, and that's a fact. How can this despicable human being, for any reason, be compared to any U.S. President whether it is Barack Obama or George W. Bush?
Russian born Vladimir Lenin was in law school when he became interested in politics after reading the economic philosophy of a German political economist and theorist named Karl Marx. Lenin, a revolutionary and Communist politician and leader of the Bolsheviks, expanded Marx's economic theory known as Marxism, which became known as Marxism-Leninism. The idea of Leninism became the foundation for Soviet socialism.
Political theorists would vigorously argue that comparing Obama's economic philosophy to that of Leninism is evident that those doing the comparison are ignorant about the meaning of socialism and the political ideology of Vladimir Lenin, who was a dictator.
Marxism contends that the economic interest of the capitalist (corporation) and the economic interest of the worker are for all intents and purposes at odds. The worker wants a fair wage commensurate with his experience and skill level, a safe working environment, and job security. The capitalist wants to expand markets to increase profitability, which often times mean the worker is exploited to minimize the cost of doing business. Low wages is one way a capitalist exploits a worker. This creates a conflict between the capitalist and the worker because markets expand and they contract. When the markets contract, that eats into the capitalist’s profit and threatens the worker’s job security.
Academia and political theorists have debated Karl Marx’s economic philosophy for decades. Marx believed that just as feudalism (where the land owner exploited the worker) gave rise to capitalism (where the capitalist’s sole commitment is to making a profit), the worker would eventually gain an understanding of how he's being exploited and revolt, giving rise to a socialist revolution.
Marxism touts that a small minority of the population controls capital (money). Today, out of 300 million Americans counted in the 2000 Census, one-percent of the population controls all of the wealth. That's an inequality that millions of Americans see as a problem. The answer is to level the field of opportunities so that every citizen has an equal and a fair chance at realizing their dream.
The government is the only avenue the worker has for leveling the playing field. Without government laws and regulations to stop the capitalist (corporation) from exploiting the worker, the worker would have no rights. The government bars the capitalist from having the worker to labor for long hours without a break or lunch. The government established a minimum wage that the capitalist will pay the worker. They passed laws to make sure the capitalist pays the worker time and half for working more than 40 hours a week. The government also created laws to prevent the capitalist (corporation) from manipulating and monopolizing the markets and from predatory practices.
Obama has repeatedly stated that he does not believe in too much government intervention in the free markets, but the steps he took to help the economy rebound were necessary to prevent a depression. That does not make him a socialist. He believes in promoting “individual success and social cohesion”, and that “government and corporations are bound by obligations to citizens, like a clean environment, education and health care.”
Ignorance is not something to praise or support. It is dangerous and should be treated as such. It would have behooved the North Iowa Tea Party that put up the billboard, which now has been taken down because of public outrage, to have come up with a better argument for opposing Obama economic philosophy than comparing him to Hitler and Lenin.
Civil rights leader and icon Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was also characterized as a communist, a socialist by people who were threatened by the changing demographics of America. They used similar tactics to try to silence him and squash his mission to root out inequalities and prejudices, to make America live up to its promise of freedom and justice for all citizens regardless of class, color, creed, race, or religion.
Obama believes in a capitalist society. He also strongly believes that government is obligated to advocate for the worker and to protect the worker from exploitation by the capitalist.
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© 2010 Shar'Ron Maxx Mahaffey. All rights reserved.
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