Although these types of statements have been fairly habitual the past couple of years, a couple of recent ones have prompted me to devote a few posts to debunking these claims.
Now, for the purposes of this blog, I neither support nor oppose Obama (and honestly, that comes pretty close to my personal feelings as well). I am not writing about this because I am an ardent follower of Obama. I think it is relevant to my blog because the unspoken premises on which these claims are based form an important part of the ideological fabric which cloaks the forces of domination in this world.
I will start, in this post, with "Obama is a Marxist."
I wish.
Seriously, I wish.
On what grounds is this claim made?
-Actual policies? Obama has continued, without hesitation, the economic strategies of his predecessors. If Obama is a Marxist, then so is Ronald Reagan.
-Government take-over of healthcare? Healthcare is probably the one area where Obama has appeared to do something different. Appearances can be deceiving. I will definitely devote a post to healthcare. But, assuming Obama did make significant changes to the relationship between the state and the healthcare industry, considering that state subsidization and regulation of industry is endemic to capitalism, and considering that Marx envisioned a stateless society, this would still not make Obama a Marxist.
-Stated beliefs? I never heard one thing come out of Obama's mouth that sounded the slightest bit Marxist.
-What about redistribution of wealth? Obama may have made statements that directly or indirectly referenced this principle (though the accuracy of these quotes I cannot verify), but it certainly has not been a component of his platform. Furthermore, redistribution of wealth is NOT A MARXIST PRINCIPLE! Marxists are not so concerned with distribution of wealth per se as they are relations of production. On the other hand, under the aegis of capitalism, a significant redistribution of wealth occurs every day - from the poor to the rich. The excesses of millionaires are financed by the Third World.
-I am afraid of black people, especially when they attain positions of power? Now we're getting somewhere...
So I say to all of you, as a proud Marxist, Obama is not one of us!! Please don't call him a Marxist!
No comments:
Post a Comment