Afraid of Socialism? You already live with it!

 I have marveled at the recent wave of fear of the radical left "introducing" the threat of socialistic programs into the United States. This has come to a head with talk of the "one payer health initiative" or "Medicare For All" or socialized healthcare.

Whatever you choose to call it, it is the proposal of a government run healthcare system. Leaving aside the fact that Medicare and Medicaid have been around for years and you're paying into them with every paycheck.

I don't understand the new implicit fear surrounding the word socialism.  The United State has utilized socialistic programs for years, perhaps since before the actual beginning of the United States.

Anti-socialistic commenters seem to feel that socialism is automatically tied to communism or Marxism, which I suppose it could be if we chose to do that, but like I said socialism has been at work in the United States happily co-existing with democracy and capitalism since the beginning.

Perhaps the place to start is the actual definition of socialism;

The Google definition reads:

"so·cial·ism

/ˈsōSHəˌlizəm/

noun

1. a political and economic theory of social organization which advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole."

1.   In a second definition it goes on to describe the Marxist version of socialism. Which everyone appears to be afraid of. But every definition of a word does not apply to every use of that word.

   
   

   Take the word "BOMB" for example.  It is defined as a container filled with explosives constructed to do damage. (The bomb detonated and destroyed the building). But it also means a bad movie or show. (That film bombed at the box office). But it also means an outstanding person or thing. (She is really the bomb).
   

    

   You could not mix or confuse those definitions without completely changing the subject or perhaps causing harm or injury. If she was the BOMB did she see a bad movie and blowup the theater?
   

    

   The idea that social medicine would lead to the end of choice or the end of democracy itself is just as ridiculous. The United States is one of the few modern countries that has not embraced the idea of socialized medicine.  Right now the UK leader Boris Johnson is trying to introduce the United States version of medical treatment such as private heath insurance to replace the National Health Service (NHS) because of issues involving BREXIT, and the British people are up in arms. 

   
   

   If you think that socialism is a concept that should be used "never in America", I have a shock for you:

   
   

   The Public School system; Some 130,930 elementary and secondary schools in the United States, paid for by taxes by all to be affordable and usable by all at little or no cost (the latter because some Charter schools do charge for some services).
   

    

    Public roadways and bridges; Paid for by taxes by all all to serve the uses by all. The alternate would be paid for use otherwise known as privately owned "TOLL" roads.  Imagine if the ownership of roads changed every mile or so. Come to the end of your street and pitch a quarter into the basket. Then do it again every mile or so along your morning commute.

   
   

   Police and fire departments; Again paid for by taxes and not subscriptions.  There was a time that if you did not subscribe to a particular fire service, they would arrive and watch your house burn to the ground and sometimes even interfere with your subscription fire service because they were the competition.  (And yes that actually happened).

   
   

   All public systems and buildings; City Halls, Court Houses, Museums, parks, sports stadiums, theaters, roads, bridges, schools, street lights, sewers, clean water, all the things that you enjoy that receive local, state and federal tax dollars collected from everyone and spent for everyone. 
   

   
   

   That's Socialism. The group providing for the welfare of the group. Sharing the cost, sharing the benefits.
   

   
   

   Lawmakers have started to reverse some of these social costs calling them tax saving measures.  Federal parks and forest areas which used to be free for everyone to enjoy, now carry fees and even memberships to pay the shortfall due to reduced tax support. And those fees are rising. 

    

   And you may not remember, but public and "community" colleges used to be free except for your personal supplies. Now they are only the beginning of your student debt.

   
   Imagine all of these public works projects and systems now pay for use at full cost and your problems if you don't have the cash.

    

   That's capitalism. You use it, I don't, you pay for it. Every private business works that way. The price you pay includes the entire overhead, salaries, and profits of that company.
   

   
   

   I'm not a crazy communistic socialist. There are lots of things that need to be run on capitalism rather than by the state and we pay for the use.

   
   

   But I don't think healthcare is one.  Any system that can charge you over a thousand dollars a month for health insurance that doesn't kick in until you've paid out $4 -5000.00 in deductibles can hardly be called efficient or even functionally sustainable.

   
   

   And that brings me to cost. The popular argument seems to be that everyone's taxes will go up to pay for Medicare for all. That is right. They will. But you will no longer be paying the health insurance company premiums. That's the trade off. 

   
   

   I paid into Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid for the entire 54 years of my working life. I retired from my city job at age 60 to move back to a private sector job and my health insurance ran me $900.00 per month. That's just covering me.

   
   

   When I turned 65 I was eligible for Medicare and my rates are now less than $300.00 a month, and for much better coverage. But that still only covers me. I paid in, but the money was used for someone else. Now someone else is paying in for me. Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security all work like this already.
   

   
   

   There are plenty of examples in the world where Socialized Medicine is working, affordably, medically sound, clean, and free for all.  In Canada, you are covered in an emergency even if you are just visiting from another country and never paid a dime into the system.

   
   

   There are a lot of arguments about how the system would or should work, and most of them are outside the scope of my tirade here, but don't let the politicians use the word Socialism to scare you out of the conversation. Remember some of their biggest donors are heath companies that like the rates you are paying now.
   

   
   

   Socialism is just a word, and you are surrounded by it and enjoying the benefits of it already. 

   
   

   And the next time you chip in for that pizza with your pals? Your being a socialist!