Socialism vs Capitalism written by a Black Author

>
> Back on Uncle Sam's plantation
> Star Parker - Syndicated Columnist
>
>
>
> Six years ago I wrote a book called Uncle Sam's Plantation. I wrote the book
> to tell my own story of what I saw living inside the welfare state and my
> own transformation out of it.
>
> I said in that book that indeed there are two Americas -- a poor America on
> socialism and a wealthy America on capitalism.
>
> I talked about government programs like Temporary Assistance for Needy
> Families (TANF), Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Training (JOBS),
> Emergency Assistance to Needy Families with Children (EANF), Section 8
> Housing, and Food Stamps.
>
> A vast sea of perhaps well-intentioned government programs, all initially
> set into motion in the 1960s, that were going to lift the nation's poor out
> of poverty.
>
> A benevolent Uncle Sam welcomed mostly poor black Americans onto the
> government plantation. Those who accepted the invitation switched mindsets
> from "How do I take care of myself?" to "What do I have to do to stay on the
> plantation?"
>
> Instead of solving economic problems, government welfare socialism created
> monstrous moral and spiritual problems -- the kind of problems that are
> inevitable when individuals turn responsibility for their lives over to
> others.
>
> The legacy of American socialism is our blighted inner cities, dysfunctional
> inner city schools, and broken black families.
>
> Through God's grace, I found my way out. It was then that I understood what
> freedom meant and how great this country is.
>
> I had the privilege of working on welfare reform in 1996, passed by a
> Republican Congress and signed 50 percent.
>
> I thought we were on the road to moving socialism out of our poor black
> communities and replacing it with wealth-producing American capitalism.
>
> But, incredibly, we are going in the opposite direction.
>
> Instead of poor America on socialism becoming more like rich American on
> capitalism, rich America on capitalism is becoming like poor America on
> socialism.
>
> Uncle Sam has welcomed our banks onto the plantation and they have said,
> "Thank you, Suh."
>
> Now, instead of thinking about what creative things need to be done to serve
> customers, they are thinking about what they have to tell Massah in order to
> get their cash.
>
> There is some kind of irony that this is all happening under our first black
> president on the 200th anniversary of the birthday of Abraham Lincoln....
>
> Worse, socialism seems to be the element of our new young president. And
> maybe even more troubling, our corporate executives seem happy to move onto
> the plantation.
>
> In an op-ed on the opinion page of the Washington Post, Mr. Obama is clear
> that the goal of his trillion dollar spending plan is much more than short
> term economic stimulus...
>
> "This plan is more than a prescription for short-term spending -- it's a
> strategy for America 's long-term growth and opportunity in areas such as
> renewable energy, healthcare, and education."
>
> Perhaps more incredibly, Obama seems to think that government taking over an
> economy is a new idea. Or that massive growth in government can take place
> "with unprecedented transparency and accountability.."
>
> Yes, sir, we heard it from Jimmy Carter when he created the Department of
> Energy, the Synfuels Corporation, and the Department of Education.
>
> Or how about the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 -- The War on Poverty
> -- which President Johnson said "...does not merely expand old programs or
> improve what is already being done. It charts a new course. It strikes at
> the causes, not just the consequences of poverty..."
>
> Trillions of dollars later, black poverty is the same. But black families
> are not, with triple the incidence of single-parent homes and out-of-wedlock
> births.
>
> It's not complicated. Americans can accept Barack Obama's invitation to move
> onto the plantation. Or they can choose personal responsibility and freedom.
>
> Does anyone really need to think about what the choice should be?
>
> "The trouble with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's
> money."
>
>Riegel