Sorry Kejtar - but I never make mistrakes! Seriously, thanks for catching me on that, it's been YEARS since senior year Civics, and something tells me that I might have had half of it mistaught to me anyhow... I guess I should check my own facts! Speaking of which, where was your source for that, I'd like to review it to correct my own mistake... Oh - I don't suppose you'd mind talking about your early years with me sometime? I'd just like to hear about your weltschanauug sometimes... (I probably spelled that wrong, I've not spoken German in a number of years...) Open or backchannel - your choice. I've always wondered where you're from, but I've not been able to place your name accurately...
Now for you, JB, why is moving toward "socialism light" such a good thing? You've made a statement, I expect you to be able to supply the supporting logic that lead you to it. Oh - and what's the genesis of "a year's service AWOL in the National Guard" - I'd just like to check that before I take the time to return fire, and make sure it's a worthy target (service in the national guard during wartime is nominally better than running entirely - it's a matter of volunteering before you "get volunteered," and indicates that one may still have been subject to military training and discipline at some point in his life.) Put simply - if you happen to be talking about me, be ready to "fill yore hands, pardner."
Socialism is, unknown to most, a corruption of Marxist Communism, and is commonly miscalled "Communism" by even those who practise it. The practise of Communism can only take place in "Utopia" - which is itself a word that literally means "nowhere."
And, if Socialism/Communism is so damn great, why it is falling apart everywhere it's tried? Most of the old Warsaw Pact was Socialist, and has undergone numerous regime changes in recent years. The Soviet Union (USSR - Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) has dissolved - does Commonwealth of Independent States mean anything to you? Frankly, the closest things to working Socialist States right now are England (really a limited Monarchy with recent Socialist developments) and Canada (whose Socialised medical programme is so piss-poor that it is common to find Canadian citizens in the US paying for health care that they'd get for free at home...) So what's so damn good about Socialism?
In the final analysis, Socialism is really nothing more than the Welfare State taken to its (il)logical conclusion. In order that we may prevent Socialism in America, the first things that must happen is the termination of government-subsidised existence - you know them as Welfare and Social Security. Privatisation of Social Security would be a step in the right direction. Scrapping and reconstructing Welfare programmes - or just scrapping them and having done with them entirely - would be another. I have my ideas for that, but this is not the appropriate forum for such discussion.
One more point - what is your moniker, sir, so that I may denounce you properly! I tire rapidly of arguing with an individual when he does not care to reveal himself... You currently have me at an advantage, as I exposed myself to lend credence to my opinions.
5-90
Damn... it's been a while since I heard that phrase 
