First of all: Socialism =/= Communism,
Of course, although Marx said socialism was just a transition to communism. I'm not sure what to make of Obama's current ideology. I believe he's a socialist at the bare minimum ("I think when you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody"), but his willingness to appoint people like Van Jones makes me wonder if he harbors more radical views.
Ok, seems like you've made your mind up. Spreading the wealth around is a thought among MANY people, and that is a socialistic idea - I'll give you that. Appointing some guy like Van Jones as a political move was to bring in environmentalists to his camp as well, even though he's in bed with big oil as well. He doesn't want to alienate any voter block so he lets them have a voice in his administration even if it's just a front.
it's quite a stretch to claim that Ayres, Alinsky and Dohrn are communists.
I'm not what to call Alinsky exactly, but Ayers and Dohrn were most certainly communists in their Weather Underground days. Ayers expressed communist sympathies as late as 1995.
Ok, fine. I'll let you have that one, it's irrelevant to me anyway. It's realpolitik after all.
I would say they are proponents of certain socialist ideas, and most of the US are actually in favor of them.
This may or may not be true. Polls show that Americans are sharply divided over healthcare and very opposed to the stimulus and bailouts.
Yeah, they are sharply divided about healthcare. But no one is talking about repealing Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security or other socialist ideas. The most ironic thing I heard during the healthcare debates a few years ago was some town hall meeting where some old fella shouted "KEEP THE GOVERNMENT OUT OF MY MEDICARE". So there it is. Instead of calling it socialized medicine, you call it Medicare for all.
And stimulus? It's a Keynesian idea. Most economists today share the view that the economy must be stimulated during recessions through tax breaks and spending increases by the government and somewhat ignoring the deficit.
That being said, none of them are going to ever be proponents of dismantling private property for the means of production.
What do you make of the bailouts? The resounding message from the government was that we (meaning the American people) had some kind of collective responsibility to prop up these failing businesses. That's public ownership of the means of production, is it not?
I don't know what to make of myself, if I'm a minarchist or an ancap. Can't really make up my mind about that, so that ought to clear up any confusion about that.
As to the bailouts, you could make that stretch to say that it's public ownership, but it's not in the way a Marxist would want it at all, labor being in control of the production. When the government takes over an entity it does not empower labor - it saves the executives who ran the ship to the ground.
Furthermore, I want to point out that Hans-Hermann Hoppe is arguably one of the most fierce anarcho-capitalists out there, and he earned his Ph.D in Philosophy under prominent Marxist Jürgen Habermas in Frankfurt. So this guilt by association BS is not acceptable.
That's one guy. It seems like almost everyone Obama associates with has ties to radical socialism. Tell me jsem, would it be "BS" if I pointed out that everyone in Bush's company was a hawkish neocon? Where there's smoke, there's fire. Of course, I don't single out Obama as others are accusing me of. He's part of a broader picture of a totalitarian government encroaching on our liberties, both social and economic.
I have to say that I was wrong in expressing myself like that about guilt by association - I use it a lot myself, you've arrived at a different conclusion than me though - because he hasn't fought at ALL for socialist ideals, he's just busy getting himself reelected like any politician.
As for Bush? Dick Cheney was the biggest neocon in the administration anyway, and from I understand he kinda ran shop more than he should have. Bush's personal opinions I don't know about.
But if you're going to bring up Obama's associates where's Jack Lew's ties to radical socialism? Tim Geithner?
If Obama were a radical socialist, he would've stayed as far away as possible from these guys. Joe Leiberman was his MENTOR in the Senate. So I can bring that up to counter the claims of socialism. He's just like all other politicians really, he does what benefits him and makes backroom deals everywhere. It's how you get to be president.
He's part of a broader picture of a totalitarian government encroaching on our liberties, both social and economic.
I would agree 100% with this.