Did you sign up to defend socialism?

2016-03-12T17:41:59-05:00

http://www.pjtv.com/series/poll-position-with-john-philips-821/poll-the-other-s-word-socialism-11849/
I didn't sign up to defend socialism. Did you? Now this isn't an invitation to attack or defend socialism. It's merely an opportunity to learn where we all stand.

Fortunately, the linked video opens with a definition of socialism for those (like Bernie Sanders) who don't know what it is.

Poll: Majority of Democrats Support Socialism

A new poll shows that Democrats think that Socialism is good for the nation. Will socialists like Bernie Sanders inherit the Democratic party?

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 12 at 2016 6:08 PM

2016-03-12T18:08:20-05:00

I signed up for freedom!

Response by LTC Stephen F. made Mar 12 at 2016 6:11 PM

2016-03-12T18:11:25-05:00

No CPT Jack Durish I have never embraced socialism and I never will. Many of my cousins live in the United Kingdom which has embraced socialism in many respects.
In the 1960's many liberals looked to socialism as a panacea for all of humanities troubles. Many of those radicals got involved in politics and some have risen to the top of the democratic party. I hope that a significant number of people who voted for hope and change in 2008 are now much wiser and will not vote for anything that smells of socialism.

Response by CPO Greg Frazho made Mar 12 at 2016 6:39 PM

2016-03-12T18:39:33-05:00

I don't think any of us signed up specifically to defend any particular ideology. That said, it used to be a question on the screening data you filled out at the recruiter's office, "Have you been or are you now a member of the Communist Party?" and "Have you ever been part of a group that advocates the violent overthrow of the U.S. government?" However, that was changed by the Clinton Administration in, I believe 1993 or early 1994. To my knowledge, the Socialist Party of the USA isn't illegal, although admittedly, I don't know much about them. I certainly don't favor 'from each according to his means, to each according to his needs', nor have I ever.

Response by PO1 Kerry French made Mar 12 at 2016 6:47 PM

2016-03-12T18:47:38-05:00

HELL NO!!!

Response by PO1 Kerry French made Mar 12 at 2016 7:40 PM

2016-03-12T19:40:34-05:00

Former Soviet Chess Champ Who’s Now an Advocate for Capitalism Has Some Pointed Words for Sanders and His ‘Socialist Policies’
Mar. 11, 2016 4:46pm Kathryn Blackhurst
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Garry Kasparov published a piece in the Daily Beast on Thursday in which he offered a follow-up to his Facebook status criticizing the socialism supported by Democratic presidential candidate Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders that went viral last week.
Kasparov, a Russian chess grandmaster and chairman of the New York-based Human Rights Foundation, garnered widespread social media attention after he published a Facebook post March 1 in which he stated that he was “enjoying the irony of American Sanders supporters lecturing me, a former Soviet citizen, on the glories of Socialism and what it really means!”
“In practice, [socialism] corrodes not only the economy but the human spirit itself, and the ambition and achievement that made modern capitalism possible and brought billions of people out of poverty,” Kasparov wrote on Facebook. “Talking about Socialism is a huge luxury, a luxury that was paid for by the successes of capitalism. Income inequality is a huge problem, absolutely. But the idea that the solution is more government, more regulation, more debt, and less risk is dangerously absurd.”
The original 113-word Facebook post has since been shared more than 58,000 times and garnered in excess of 3,000 comments and had a reach of 9.3 million, as Kasparov noted in his Daily Beast follow-up piece, much to his surprise.

“My goal was to remind people that Americans talking about socialism in the 21st century was a luxury paid for by the successes of capitalism in the 20th. And that while inequality is a huge problem, the best way to increase everyone’s share of pie is to make the pie bigger, not to dismantle the bakery,” Kasparov wrote as he discussed why he felt his original post resonated so deeply with many Americans. “There is a growing consensus that America has deep troubles, and no one can agree on solutions.”
Kasparov went on to discuss the need to restore a vision of America as a “positive force in the world” for “liberty and peace” following what he described as storyline flip in the decades since the Cold War ended.
“The essential complement to this is having big positive dreams at home as well, of restoring America’s belief in ambition and risk, of innovation and exploration, of free markets and free people. America transformed the 20th century in its image with its unparalleled success. American technology created the modern world while American culture infused it and American values inspired it,” Kasparov wrote, adding that in recent decades, American complacency has led to “slower growth, stagnant wages, and the steady shift of wealth from labor to capital. In such situations many people turn to the government for help and the siren song of socialism grows louder.”
Although he admitted that he liked and respected Sanders as a person, Kasparov firmly opposed his idea of a socialistic vision for America.

“The problem is with the proposed solutions. A society that relies too heavily on redistributing wealth eventually runs out of wealth to redistribute. The historical record is clear. It’s capitalism that brought billions of people out of poverty in the 20th century. It’s socialism that enslaved them and impoverished them,” Kasparov wrote. “Of course Senator Sanders does not want to turn America into a totalitarian state like the one I grew up in. But it’s a valuable example of the inevitable failure of a state-run economy and distribution system. Once you give power to the government it is nearly impossible to get it back, and it will be used in ways you cannot expect.”
Kasparov also added, “To give credit, Senator Sanders supports breaking up the giant banking institutions that dominate American finance and politics in a way that would evoke jealousy from John Pierpont Morgan himself. However, Sanders’s socialist policies would replace banks that are too big to fail with a government that is too big to succeed.”
Ultimately, Kasparov championed the American free market with its innovation and hard-work ethic as the solution to the country’s troubles.
“Yes, the free market can be cruel and it is by definition unequal. It has winners and losers. It also sparks the spirit of creativity that humanity desperately needs to flourish in our ever-increasing billions. Failure is an essential part of innovation and the free market,” Kasparov stated. “The government does have a role in addressing rising inequality. I turn not to Denmark or Venezuela or, god forbid, to the Soviet Union. Instead let us look to the last great battle between labor and capital in America, between public and private power.

Response by SSG Gerhard S. made Mar 12 at 2016 8:07 PM

2016-03-12T20:07:00-05:00

I recall swearing an oath, on multiple occasions, to support and defend the Constitution.

Response by Cpl James Waycasie made Mar 12 at 2016 9:06 PM

2016-03-12T21:06:28-05:00

No I didn't. I signed up to defend my country and fellow Americans.

Response by Cpl Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 12 at 2016 9:13 PM

2016-03-12T21:13:50-05:00

Of course not! When you take an oath to defend the US Constitution which states what form of government the federal government guarantees to the States, you have to take that seriously. Anyone who denies (r)epublicanism while advocating socialism is a traitor to their oath.

They are different forms of government, period.

Article. IV. Section. 4.
The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened), against domestic Violence.

Response by LTC Trent Klug made Mar 13 at 2016 1:30 AM

2016-03-13T01:30:54-05:00

No I didn't.

But you know what's funny. Bernie Sanders swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution too. So you he never meant when he took that oath.

Response by SMSgt Tony Barnes made Mar 13 at 2016 12:29 PM

2016-03-13T12:29:51-04:00

No I didn't. And it's reprehensible that any veteran would vote for one.

Response by SCPO Charles Thomas "Tom" Canterbury made Mar 13 at 2016 2:23 PM

2016-03-13T14:23:51-04:00

Socialism is contrary to anything that our Nation stands for.

Response by PO3 Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 14 at 2016 11:42 AM

2016-03-14T11:42:13-04:00

... wonder how .... socialism can work with a libertarian ....

Response by 1LT Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 18 at 2016 2:10 PM

2016-03-18T14:10:21-04:00

Last time I checked, I didn't sign up to defend any specific ideology. I swore to support and defend the Constitution of the United States... It didn't matter what President was in office at the time, nor does it matter now. I wanted to serve my country and defend the freedoms protected within the Constitution.

Response by SSG William Jones made Jan 5 at 2019 11:27 PM

2019-01-05T23:27:57-05:00

Response by SSG William Jones made Jan 5 at 2019 11:29 PM

2019-01-05T23:29:57-05:00

Response by SCPO Morris Ramsey made Jan 5 at 2019 11:34 PM

2019-01-05T23:34:59-05:00

Socialism is a boil on the ass of humanity

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 6 at 2019 1:36 AM

2019-01-06T01:36:48-05:00

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-floats-70-percent-tax-on-top-earners-to-fund-green-new-deal
ESA loca of socialism

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez floats 70 percent tax on top earners to fund Green New Deal

Rising Democratic star Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., said in a new interview that she could fund her proposed "Green New Deal" in part by slapping a tax as high as 70 percent ontop earners.

Response by Lt Col Charlie Brown made Jan 6 at 2019 7:44 AM

2019-01-06T07:44:56-05:00

I am a believer in our Constitution our Representative way of Government and the Capitalist system for keeping that running.

Response by MSG Stan Hutchison made Jan 6 at 2019 11:00 AM

2019-01-06T11:00:21-05:00

For some reason the link is not working for me. I get a page full of articles but don't see anything about socialism.
But, to answer your question, I signed up to protect the freedom of all people, to defend the Constitution of the United States. I don't recall anything in my oath about socialism, capitalism, or any other system.

Response by Sgt Eric Plebuch made Jan 6 at 2019 12:37 PM

2019-01-06T12:37:26-05:00

Just the enemies of our constitution foreign or domestic.

Response by SPC Kevin Ford made Jan 7 at 2019 10:15 AM

2019-01-07T10:15:02-05:00

I served and swore an oath to defend our Constitution. Whatever programs are put in place due to legal Constitutional processes, even if I don't like them, are part and parcel of that oath I took.

Response by SPC Douglas Bolton made Jan 11 at 2019 11:21 PM

2019-01-11T23:21:31-05:00

CPT Jack Durish Not a chance.