Dennis Mikolay: Socialists Find Fault with Obama Administration

Published on ivn.us on May 19, 2013. Dennis Mikolay is a Reform Party activist and writer/blogger based in New Jersey. 

n modern American politics, the word “socialist” has lost a great deal of its true meaning, robbed of its shock value by frequent overuse and naïve misapplication. Many a conservative pundit has warned President Obama and the national Democratic leadership seek to steer the United States towards a socialistic, or even worse, Marxist state, far from anything the Founders envisioned when they penned the Constitution. Rightwing shock jocks, still waging the early 1990s “culture wars,” have railed against Obama and his allies in the House and Senate. How surprised these pundits would be to learn that theirs is not the only criticism of the incumbent! Indeed, in order to find equally veracious condemnation of the White House and its current occupant’s politics, one need only look where the Rush Limbaughs and Glenn Becks of the world would be least likely to search: the Far Left.

It is on the fringe of the linear political spectrum that those who support the complete dissolution of capitalism rally their forces. Like Karl Marx before them, these activists dream of the day when American business will be controlled entirely by the workers; free education and healthcare will also be provided for all, regardless of income. Whether or not one believes these goals are feasible in the real world is a matter of personal opinion; however, all one needs to do is examine these ideals to see why America’s socialists have a few bones to pick with President Obama.

Though it wouldn’t be apparent by listening to talk radio alone, the platform of the actual Socialist Party USA, which was founded in the hopes of literally eliminating the capitalism system, has little in common with President Obama’s accomplishments or views. Few know this better than New Jersey activist Patrick Noble, who unsuccessfully ran for Freeholder in Monmouth County on the Socialist Party’s ticket in 2011. He later caused a minor controversy when, at age nineteen, he was elected to the Red Bank Regional High School Board of Education on an anti-capitalist platform. Like many Leftists, Noble, an avowed opponent of war and the two major parties, has often found himself misidentified as a supporter of President Obama.

“The policies and actions of Barack Obama are antithetical to the principles of socialism,” said Noble. “While socialists have called for socialized medicine, an end to United States imperialism abroad, and the democratization of the economy, to name a few points, he has gone in the opposite direction on all counts. Of course, this would be the same if the Republicans held the presidency. The problems that the working class face on a daily basis go far beyond which of the corporate-owned parties purports to be in power.”

To read the full article, please go to the following link: 

http://ivn.us/the-political-alternative/2013/05/19/socialists-find-fault-with-obama-administration/