On Socialism

I find these recent accusations of socialism quite amusing. Living in Denmark, where the Conservative party would land somewhere to the left of the US Democrats on the political scale, the notion that the US is about to slide into socialism is comical. From my perspective, saying Obama is a socialist is kind of like accusing a Muslim woman of being a whore because she shows too much wrist.

But even if we pretend that the US is flirting with socialism, I get the feeling that most people don't even now what this big bad boogie-man is. Denmark is MUCH closer to socialism then I ever imagine the US could be (free health care, free education, extensive welfare, high taxes), and yet I don't recognize anything the Republicans are warning us about. People here still work hard, they can get rich, they can be poor, they start businesses, make a million, they go bankrupt, they choose their own doctor, use private hospitals, get breast implants, travel wherever they want, save money, spend too much, read and watch anything they want, get good educations, get little education, go to church, get married, have kids, enjoy life.

And the funny thing about it is, despite the fact that this socialist monster has apparently laid claim to Denmark, Danes are actually quite happy, and if you ask most of them if they think they pay too much in taxes, they say, "no" (I think the average person pays somewhere around 40% (but the graduated income tax goes MUCH higher)).

So, I don't think socialism is quite the boogie-man its made out to be. The ironic thing is, that most Danes would worry if you told them that Denmark is going to become like the US. This is actually something that can frustrate me living in another culture - that is that people seem to inherently think that their way is the best way (or the only way). Danes are often guilty of this, but I think in the States it has actually become a problem. We can learn from others, and we can learn from experience. If we are convinced that we are, without question and in all areas, the best, then we have only experience left. And as the saying goes, "Experience is a hard teacher..."

This isn't to say that the US should adopt anything from Denmark (or Europe) at all. I'm just saying, lets stop with the boogie-men, and try for a minute to look at what we are actually talking about.

All these words above, were really only meant to be a short introduction to this article, "Like, Socialism" , in the New Yorker.