It has become the cliche phrase of the US credit crunch that somehow this amounts to socialism. Where do people get this from? If there is one country that crushed socialism almost a century ago, that's the USA. Here are two very simple introductory paragraphs on socialism from Wikipedia.

"Socialism refers to a broad set of economic theories of social organization advocating state or collective ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods, and the creation of an egalitarian society. Modern socialism originated in the late nineteenth-century working class political movement. Karl Marx posited that socialism would be achieved via class struggle and a proletarian revolution which represents the transitional stage between capitalism and communism.

Socialists mainly share the belief that capitalism by nature concentrates power and wealth among a small segment of society that controls capital, and creates an unequal society. All socialists advocate the creation of an egalitarian society, in which wealth and power are distributed more evenly, although there is considerable disagreement among socialists over how, and to what extent this could be achieved."

The key here is the collective ownership of the means of production in order to further an egalitarian society. Does this sound like the USA? Thought not. "Capitalism by its nature concentrates power and wealth among a small segment of society that controls capital, and creates an unequal society." Now that does sound like the US of A! It is precisely capitalism that is robbing the middle classes to pay off the inept capitalists and to placate the poor. It is capitalists who kept on leveraging their bets to make bigger and bigger profits. It is that leveraging that also results in huge losses if the bet goes wrong. It is that capitalist leveraging that means companies have lost more money than they are worth. It is capitalists who have lobbied - euphemism for bribed - politicians to bail them out so that the destruction of wealth we are seeing can at least be controlled and taken advantage of by a few. Where are socialist principles in all of this?

There is another saying that may explain the abuse of the word 'socialism'; that the bailout of the banking system is socialising the losses and privatising the gains. Now that does make sense, but is a different use of the root word "social". To go from "socialising losses" to "socialism" involves a basic misunderstanding of what the word means. I don't see this happening in Europe, which actually has some experience of socialism, communism, social democracy, and a wide range of political parties of all colours and ideologies. Socialising the losses is precisely the capitalist gun pointed at the head of governments.

So, to return to the original question, why has socialism become such a common word in the US lexicon? There is a Socialist Party USA; is anybody going to vote for them in the coming presidential elections? Let's look briefly at what they stand for.

"The Socialist Party USA describes itself as a democratic socialist party. It is opposed to both capitalism and authoritarian Communism. The Party's principles and platform call for the elimination of the power of big business through public ownership and workers' control, production for use instead of profit, and the establishment of a classless society. The party is also strongly committed to internationalism and the struggle against racism, sexism, classism, heterosexism, and homophobia. The party calls for the abolition of the death penalty and for the replacement of the prison-industrial system with restorative justice."

Now, if the bailout of the financial system was a permanent nationalisation of many companies then one might have a case for calling it socialism. But what we are seeing is not the nationalisation to create state enterprises to help the population, but the filleting of companies so that other banks get the prime meat and the public gets the offal and carcass. Yet again, this sounds like rapacious capitalism, not socialism.

The word socialism seems to be spat out by many Americans writing in various forums. Socialism is seen as the problem, not the solution. This gives us a clue as to why the media likes to use it. It is a diversion from the real problem, which is capitalism. For American citizens to question the very nature of their capitalism would be to potentially undermine their whole history. Many patriotic Americans are screaming that their constitution has been ripped to shreds by the capitalist corporations, but to call it socialism is a misuse of history and political philosophy. I don't see how one can cure an illness by deliberately calling it by the wrong name.

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