Barack Obama and the Meaning of Socialism

07 Aug 2009, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA — A new controversial poster seen around the Los Angeles area of President Barack Obama as the “Joker” from the latest Batman movie “The Dark Knight. The word “socialism” is printed under the image that was manipulated from a Time Magazine cover. — Image by © Ted Soqui/Corbis

by Richard Ebeling, Dec 23, 2013

Barack Obama is finishing his fifth year as president, and continues to try to move America further in the direction of increased government paternalism with the implementation of ObamaCare, a push for a higher minimum wage, more intrusive business regulation, a drive for higher taxes to redistribute wealth, and a persistent insistence that individuals must sacrifice their own interests for that of “society.” Nothing that Obama has advocated or had legislated by Congress or commanded through executive order should have come as a surprise. He was very straightforward about his conception of “change” long before he was even thought of as a contender for the White House.

Obama and “Distributive Justice”

For example, way back in September of 2001 when he was an Illinois State Senator, in an interview with Chicago public radio station WBEZ, he was asked about the achievements and challenges of the Civil Rights Movement in America.

Continue reading …