By now, we all know that there’s not much about America that Obama and his teleprompter like. The noises coming from that speechmaking duo continue to sound like slightly toned-down versions of Hugo Chavez or Fidel Castro. Barack leaves no doubt that he believes capitalism is bad, bad. He objects to being called a socialist, but his continual rhetoric of rich versus poor fits that designation better than any other. And, he believes America’s capitalist drive results in more to “apologize for” than “to be proud of.”
Obama’s political approach reminds me of my five years in Jamaica in the early 1970s. That beautiful island country enjoyed a strong democratic tradition with two dominant political parties. However, Jamaica was distinctly a third world country with most of the population living in poverty.
In 1972 Michael Manley ran a campaign for Prime Minister that was my introduction to the political appeal of socialism, particularly when its political message is used to contrast capitalism.
Manley openly acknowledged the poverty of the Jamaican people in his speeches. His basic message was, “Yes, you are poor, very poor, but it is not your fault. The system (capitalist, of course) is to blame for your problems. Elect me and I will change the system in your favor.” It’s easy to see how attractive that offer sounds to a poor Jamaican. By way of contrast, the opposition party’s message was, “all of us have to work hard to succeed.” For distinctly poor Jamaicans who had tried working hard for years only to remain poor, it was no contest. Manley was easily elected Prime Minister for two successive terms of four years.
In those eight years he openly moved close to Castro and Cuba as a socialist ally. He also denounced the aluminum companies operating on the island as greedy multi-national exploiters of Jamaica’s bauxite reserves. His government passed huge bauxite taxes that made the island’s main export uncompetitive.
Again, Manley’s message was always that the fundamental design of the capitalist system keeps you exploited and poor. Not only that but, socialism will take from the wealthy and give to you. The current “Occupy” movement expresses the same frustration as that used by Michael Manley. “I am deprived because of the system. The system must be changed.”
One has to note that American capitalism allows the “occupiers” to stay for days and weeks in nice tents and fancy sleeping bags without worrying about work or food. Many managed to get a college education along the way. You’d think they would acknowledge there must be something good about a system that tolerates such gross inefficiency.
Despite its total lack of substance, the “Occupy” movement is supported by the likes of Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Michael Moore, the American Communist Party, Fidel Castro, Hugo Chavez, and various other thinkers with good socialist credentials. It’s rather sad, though, that this is the best the liberals can come up with to match the power of the Tea Party movement.
By the way, Manley’s socialist experiment did not change the fate of poor Jamaicans. The Jamaican democratic system prevailed. Voters lost patience with his approach, and he was defeated after eight years in office. Manley’s eight years in office served as yet another failed socialist experiment. I predict the same fate for Barack Obama’s similar excursions.
