Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Socialism

Okay. So found this Fox news clip of Maxine Waters posted on Facebook today. One would automatically assume it was a recent comment, but it was a comment made in May of 2008. Since it was Fox news, I spent 45 minutes trying to find out if she really said it.

Well, after my 45 minute search specifically looking for "Maxine Waters Socialism Video Clip FAKE!" I found the exact "statement" I needed to believe the clip. Yeah, she said it. And even her statement didn't sound like she really regretted saying it half as much as she regrets that because of the misspeak, the other five hours of questioning was lost.

So, her almost offhanded dismissal of the word Socialism ("a scary term to most") made me think about the meaning behind the word even more than I have lately. Because, all of a sudden, I am noticing that we Dems are being referred to as "Socialist Democrats" rather than just "Democrats". And, to further complicate matters, the word she apparently meant to say was "nationalize" instead of "socialize". It didn't really help that the folks around her were cracking up in the wake of her blunder.

So, what is the difference between Socialize and Nationalize? Feel free to share your opinion as I do some more research on this neglected part of my knowledge base. I leave you now, with these two things:

1. The Clip


2. This article link that made me feel better about being tied by political party to an "ism": http://socialistworker.org/2009/10/08/the-socialist-answer