Yeah, the representation of the bailout as "socialism for the rich" has
been driving me crazy too. I sent the following to the SF Chronicle:
This "socialism for the rich" phrase that's bandied about is driving me
nuts. "Socialism for the rich" makes as much sense as "orgasms for the
dead." The point of socialism is to forbid the psychopathic few from
grabbing 98% of all there is, while the rest of us toil endlessly to
make them even richer.
The transfer of public money to the rich is not socialism for the rich;
it's capitalism without the normal detour through the cycle of
production -- where labor gets the wherewithal to reproduce itself, and
capital gets everything else. Because we're in a crisis, we cannot
afford the normal detour, which seems to to work well enough in normal
times to convince everyone that those who work very hard make it to the
top. And, if it doesn't, there's always the endless reality shows to
teach us that 1) the goodies are scarce 2) there must be one winner and
many losers....while obscuring the fact that the real $$ goes to those
who own the station.
It's pretty crazy that just at a time when it is obvious to all how
bankrupt this system is -- literally bankrupt.... just at the time when
it would be fitting to talk about the possibility of socialism, the
media has chosen to counfound reason by suggesting that what is
happening is "socialism."
Joanna
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