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I have a friend who identifies himself as a libertarian-leaning Republican. We engaged in many heated debates during the election season, and he’s not happy with Obama’s presidency thus far. He keeps calling Obama a socialist. And I keep asking him to quit it with the name-calling. Name-calling is knee jerk. It stops conversations and limits our capacity to work together and create solutions. And it’s childish, too. President Obama is called a socialist because he wants to prevent our economy from collapsing into a depression and thus is investing taxpayer money into what has previously been privately funded. It’s legitimate to challenge this, and we should do so. But name-calling isn’t a challenge, and it doesn’t further answers. It’s small-minded, and carries no vision. President Obama is called a socialist because he wants to provide health insurance to all Americans. It’s legitimate to challenge health care in the U.S., too. Our health care system is replete with so many problems, and whether health care is a right is a topic that should be debated, but we get nowhere when we hurl a charged expletive and take sides based on a word. Obama is called a socialist often simply because he’s progressive-minded. Or he’s called a socialist because it’s a bad name to many, and some people have gotten on the bad-name-bandwagon because they don’t like Obama.
Next time you hear any name-calling, challenge it. Ask the name-callers questions. Challenge them to think more deeply and to come up with better answers to the actions they’re criticizing. Do it without judgment or hostility. Do it as a humane educator eliciting critical and creative thinking.
~ Zoe
Image courtesy of purpleslog via Creative Commons.
Filed under: compassionate communication, critical thinking, politics Tagged: | Barack Obama, communication, critical thinking, economic policy, framing, health care, name-calling, politics, socialism
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If the term socialist leaves a bad taste in people’s mouths, does that mean we should refrain from using it? The progressive ideology is socialism, centralized government control and the redistribution of wealth as determined by government. What your friend is saying is truth, like it or not. Mr. Obama leans heavily towards Marxist principles and surrounds himself with people who proclaim Marxist ideology. I think your argument against “name-calling” is visceral rather than rational. You don’t want people to turn against Mr. Obama and therefore do not want people to use terms to describe Mr. Obama that, even if accurate, are negative to many. Should we refrain from calling ourselves Americans because there those in the world who dislike Americans? A spade is a spade, and a rose is a rose. Not calling something by its name does not change what it is. Calling socialism by another name does not promote peace. It is purposely misleading, which is otherwise known as lying.
If you support the policies Mr. Obama is implementing but don’t think he is a socialist, you should examine more deeply your own political leanings because you are supporting socialist, Marxist, progressive policies. If you do in fact stand for centralized government control and the forced redistribution of wealth, be courageous enough to admit it and call it what it is.
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