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Just another word for... Socialism?

by: Mike Hoefer

Fri Nov 19, 2010 at 00:19:21 AM EST


Really?!

From the Concord Monitor

At the Epsom Central School's Veterans Day assembly, Gordon Ellis asked students to repeat five words: socialism, communism, progressivism, totalitarianism and liberalism. He hoped to illustrate what he calls "enemies of the Constitution," but instead Ellis confused the kids, angered townspeople and ended his tenure as the head of the school board.

This-ism, that-ism, ism ism ism

"Different people have different meanings of the word 'liberalism,' " he said. "Mine is that it's just another word for socialism. The end result is the same against the Constitution

Mr. Ellis you can have your own opinions but you can not have your own facts.
Liberalism (from the Latin liberalis, "of freedom") is the belief in the importance of individual liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but most liberals support such fundamental ideas as constitutions, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights, capitalism, fair trade, and the separation of church and state. These ideas are widely accepted, even by political groups that do not openly profess a liberal ideological orientation. Liberalism encompasses several intellectual trends and traditions, but the dominant variants are classical liberalism, which became popular in the eighteenth century, and social liberalism, which became popular in the twentieth century.Wikipedia

Imagine that! Ideas like constitutions, democracy, free and fair elections & capitalism! That is quite different from...
Socialism is an economic and political theory advocating public or common ownership and cooperative management of the means of production and allocation of resources. As an economic system, socialism is a system of production based on the direct production of use-values by allocating economic inputs (the means of production) and investments through planning to directly satisfy economic demand. Economic calculation is based on either calculation-in-kind or a direct measure of labour time, output for individual consumption is distributed through markets, and distribution of income is based on individual merit or individual contribution.Wikipedia

This seems to go back to something that was allegedly said by Norman Thomas, picked up by Reagan and I'm sure Glenn Beck.

Mike Hoefer :: Just another word for... Socialism?
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Teaching partisan dogma to schoolkids is wildly inappropriate. (0.00 / 0)
The substance of that partisan dogma is an important but secondary issue.

--
@DougLindner


Epsom has some really strange ideas. (0.00 / 0)
Did you ever have members of the school board come and and give speeches to you in public school? Not me.

It would never occur to me that this is part of their job.

And this hate monger is still on the Board.


Missing Ism (0.00 / 0)
He forgot about Capitalism!

Socialism is doing things that are good for society-- (0.00 / 0)
meeting social obligations.  The antithesis are the anti-socials, the gang of vandals.

Anyway, an example:



Socialism as economic theory (0.00 / 0)
means something a little different, and I'm pretty sure that the loans provided by the taxpayers to the automakers did not reach the threshold of socialism.  But I do understand your broader point about collective efforts to create a better society.

I like the white board education efforts, and think this is what should be being presented in schools.  Why is there not more of an effort to promote these by the WH?

One thing that scared me a little was the quick turnaround in market value for GM.  What goes up that quickly...


"Physical concepts are free creations of the human mind, and are not, however it may seem, uniquely determined by the external world." A. Einstein


[ Parent ]
Socialism (0.00 / 0)
My argument when people call President Obama a socialist is always the same.  It does not pass the common sense test.  Pose this question;  What does a multimillionaire with a limited time in power have to gain from socialism?  

McCarthyism (0.00 / 0)
McCarthyism is a term used to describe the making of accusations of disloyalty, subversion, or treason without proper regard for evidence.  

i still can't get over this. (4.00 / 2)
He told schoolchildren that liberalism--one of the two co-dominant political philosophies in this country--is an enemy of the constitution and that George Soros was the most evil person on earth.

But wait for it...

I had no clue it would come off so badly. I had no intention for it to come off so badly or cause the ruckus it did.

REALLY?
(somebody call Seth Myers and Amy Poehler)

--
@DougLindner


Another public official (4.00 / 1)
spectacularly unencumbered by the thought process.

Nice example to set for kids.

Republicans believe government is bad - then they get into office and prove it.


Genius is a label we should never (4.00 / 1)
use for politicians.  It should be reserved for really smart people like Norman Einstein.  (paraphrase from Joe Theismann)

:>)

"Physical concepts are free creations of the human mind, and are not, however it may seem, uniquely determined by the external world." A. Einstein


[ Parent ]
Or his brother Izzy. n/t (4.00 / 1)


Republicans believe government is bad - then they get into office and prove it.

[ Parent ]
and by educating the kids (0.00 / 0)
on his definitions of those terms, he unwittingly taught them the meaning of another word.

Fascism.  

member of the professional left  



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