First of all, I need to let you know that I am politically ignorant. I do not study politics, I do not follow politics, but I hear about politics. I hear the name-calling and accusations of political parties against each other and of the public against the government. I have even thrown out my opinions of some issues. They may be perceived as juvenile opinions by most, however, they are the opinions of the uninformed, and I am sure I am not alone.

So there you have it, my political confession and with my ignorance I ask, what is all the fuss about socialism?

Are we not already a socialistic country to a large extent? I ask this even with my limited understanding of what socialism is. From what I have read socialism is:

1. a theory or system of social organization advocating placing the ownership and control of capital, land, and means of production in the community as a whole.
(http://www.thefreedictionary.com/socialism)

With this definition, as far as California goes… the climate may be nice, but the government, from the State, to the County to the City meets this definition. Of course, all these governments refer back to the Federal Government in reference to; any statute found to be in contradiction of the Federal Government, the federal statute takes precedent. (This is paraphrased of course)

In California, if you own your own business, you have a mountain of paperwork for the city, the county, the state and the federal government, all asking the same thing but on a different form, which boils down to; how much of the money you earn do we get?

Let’s see, to operate a business cities require a business license, once that is filed, you receive a yearly form to fill out asking how much money you made in that city, of that amount they want their cut. Then the county steps in or if you are not governed by a city they are first in line. The county asks for their cut, not to mention the expense and forms during the year for permits for building, plumbing, manufacturing, etc. Then of course the State steps in. They ask for their cut of your profits, they also demand that you pay for government control of how you run your business. They have their own licenses that must be paid for and other requirements to be met, depending on the type of business you run; Contractors’ license, environmental rules and regulations, Vehicle registrations, smog requirements, gasoline taxes, rules on how the gas must be formulated, etc. All these rules and regulations give control to the government, then at the end of the year or quarterly, we give away a portion of out profits. So, do we really own our business or does the government? It goes even deeper than money in some cases, the governments set rules of operation, what times you can conduct certain types of business, which roads you may drive on, what types of products you may deliver and who you may deliver it to. Not to mention the rules governing whom you may sell to, other businesses or public, depending on the forms you fill out.

As far as land goes, you do not own it, you pay rent on it. It is called property tax and you may only do on your property what the government permits. Of course, then along came the homeowner associations, the “private communities” that have a whole new set of rules to follow and monthly “dues” to pay for living on the land within its dominion.

So, from a politically ignorant Californian, what is all the fuss about with socialism and Obama?

Sign up here to Post a comment