Obama and Socialism

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The more I think about it, the more I realize that the accusations from those on the “right” against President Barack Obama regarding him being a Marxist are utterly ridiculous.  Searches on the internet will likely yield results concerning this association.  But the hysteria over Obama being a Marxist is completely unfounded.  If those on the “right” really did their homework rather than spouting recycled McCarthy text, they would discover that Obama falls very short of the definition of Marxist.  I believe a Marxist is one who is one who abides by the theories of Marx and desires to see these theories implemented in society.  In addition, we should remember the Presidential campaign of 08’ when Obama and his team disassociated themselves with anything remotely Marxist or Socialist in nature.  So America, you do not have your first Marxist President, so a sigh of relief can be breathed.  The “right” does not have to worry about Obama turning America into a “socialist paradise.”  Obama is not a Marxist.

But I do believe Obama has displayed some socialist tendencies, more specifically in his policy of taxing the wealthy in favor of the working class, easing the tax burden on the working class, his ideas for health care and education to name a few.  Why I do mention this?  Because it places Obama squarely in what Marx called “Conservative or Bourgeois Socialism” Communist Manifesto, Essentially, Marx stated this strain of socialism is a socialism that does not realize a means to an end – the overthrow of the bourgeois class by revolutionary means.  Rather, this type of socialism wants to poise itself as benefiting the proletarian but within the constraints of bourgeois society.  It wants some reformation but not at the expense of the overall system; the established status quo should remain firmly in place.  As a matter of fact, this socialism believes the principles of the bourgeois class as a benefit to the proletariat.  Basically, it wants some of the advantages of revolutionary socialism without the revolution; it wants change but with the bourgeois unchanged.  It wants some reforms to the bourgeois while allowing the proletarian to remain the exploited class, albeit with less burden.  Does this not describe President Obama to a tee? 

Now that we have established Obama as a conservative/bourgeois socialist, let us briefly look at the travesty known as AIG.  As recently reported, the executives of AIG received an excess of $165 million dollars in “retention” bonuses after receiving billions of taxpayer capital to keep it from folding.  AIG, before the government bailout, was suffering due to the very actions and mismanagement of these executives, who are now being rewarded for their incompetence.  The boiling anger of the proletarians has reached fever pitch as they are victimized daily by the wayward economy and bourgeoisie, who in turn prosper.  Not only does the proletariat sell themselves and their labor to the bourgeois but their little capital is taken to rescue this class of exploiters, while the exploiters, instead of facing punishment are unjustly compensated.  Even the dullest mind can comprehend that there is something deeply troubling here.  And Obama, already causing doubt among his supporters, enemies and public alike, has laid down and played dead.  He has feigned helplessness, as he and his administration state they are absolutely powerless to stop this injustice, because the capital bonuses are part of the contracts of the executives.  The best he can offer the proletariat is his empathy and outrage.  The President of the United States cannot intercede on behalf of the proletarian.  Despite Washington’s damage control, the tidal wave of anger is reaching Obama because he promised a difference in politics, policy, economics and society.  Well, the proletariat has not seen this difference; rather they experience the same politics of old. 

This situation is not surprising in the least.  President Obama’s role as executor of the state is to maintain the affairs of the bourgeois class and uphold their interests.  Promises, rhetoric, agenda and eloquent speeches stand empty in the face of the overwhelming capital power of the bourgeoisie class, which incidentally runs Washington.  Conservative/bourgeois socialism will not lift up the proletariat from the depths of exploitation and abuses from the hands of the bourgeois class.  Only a revoltion from the proletarians themselves will suffice, as this President and his administration shows they are not willing to go this far.  It has been only a matter of months into his presidency, but Obama is proving that the “dream,” at least for the proletariat, never was.

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