Don’t Call it Socialism!

Jonah Goldberg makes several good points about the term socialism and its application to the economic and political situations we now face. Of course, as Goldberg points out:

The government effectively owns General Motors and controls Chrysler, and the president is deciding what kind of cars they can make. Uncle Sam owns majority stakes in American International Group, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and controls large chunks of the banking industry.

Our economy may not be completely socialist, but we are sufficiently socialist to make Hugo Chavez jealous. Facts are facts and we are moving rapidly in the wrong direction — at least if individual liberty is important.
My only quibble with Goldberg is that he attempts to paint socialism (or corporatism) as creatures exclusively of the left and the Democratic Party. He fails to appropriately castiate Republicans, particularly GW Bush for his massive spending and expansions of government into so many new areas of our lives.