Robert M. Payne

I know I wrote a post like this recently, but I feel like I am going to explode if I hear another Republican misuse the word "socialism." For my Republican friends out there, let me explain what socialism actually means. Socialism is an economic system in which the means of production are socially or publicly owned, including through state ownership. Universal healthcare is not socialism. Social welfare programs designed to prevent homelessness and poverty are not socialism. Free public education is not socialism. In fact, it is entirely possible to have a highly capitalist economy alongside an extensive social welfare system. Even Milton Friedman, one of the most influential advocates of free-market capitalism, supported a negative income tax to provide a basic income floor for the poor. So please stop with the BS accusations of socialism every time someone proposes a social welfare program. Ironically, some of the most conspicuous examples of state intervention in private enterprise in contemporary America come from the Trump administration itself. Its increasingly dirigiste economic policies include acquiring ownership stakes in private companies, asserting government control over corporate decisions, and imposing economically damaging tariffs on American businesses and consumers. If you are genuinely concerned about government interference in free markets, perhaps you should start there.