I think much of the problem here is in the semantics. Americans have been educated to despise the word "socialism" as if it is some sort of a plague. We have internalized it to mean "those lazy bastards over there want something for nothing."
Yet nothing can be further from the truth. The so called high priests of capitalism are all gorging themselves at the public trough while getting us to believe "socialism" is un-American.
People in LA paid money for years to insurances companies. When Katrina happened, even though this was what the insurance companies WERE PAID FOR, they claimed they didn't have the money to cover such huge losses. The government bailed them out.
The folks on Wall Street, after living high on the hog and taking 100 million dollar bonuses annually when they MADE A PROFIT, decided THE GOVERNMENT had to step in and cover their losses.
If the government IS THE PAYER of LAST RESORT IT'S SOCIALISM, no matter who they are paying for. But if the MONEY PEOPLE can make us believe that "socialism is when those poor lazy bastards get un-employment from the government." We have someone to direct our anger at, instead of the people who are walking away with the bank.
