Yes, Jimmy, the Democrats Are Socialists

Of the limitless examples of American ignorance, claiming that the democrat party is nothing more than a socialist one and the scoffery that ensues is one that particularly angers me.  The average American (at least in my day and before) was brought up to see "socialism" and "communism" as pejoratives.  And for good reason.  Socialist economies grow slower.  Socialist economies produce less and have more poverty.  And if they go too far down the left side of the political spectrum into full blown communism, they have a tendency to kill hundreds of millions of their own people.  So when you make any accusation of a politician or person being a socialist you are immediately dismissed as crazy or a right wing lunatic because you're essentially claiming that person is a fool-near-murderer.

However, practically nobody in America bothers to take the time to understand, economically, what a socialist is.  And so when the democrat party champions nationalized health care, wealth redistribution, unions and worker parties, bailing out companies, and investing in solar ones, the average American ignoramus does see "socialism" they see a party that "cares" and is "for the little guy."

I try to make things simple as possible, so simple the empirical data is right there telling you you're wrong about the democrats and the US not being socialist.  But even this simplicity, fact, and empirical data is not enough to overcome the stupidity and ignorance of most Americans (and thus why I no longer care and enjoy the decline).  But for posterity's sake I'm going to throw this old beaten up chart up one more time.  It shows government spending as a percent of GDP. 

A country where government spending accounts for 40% of GDP is NOT a capitalist one.  It is a socialist one.  And if the republicans had any balls they would start calling the democrats the "socialist" party because that is what they are.