It seems that every debate over the actions of President Obama is full of accusations that he is trying to turn America socialist. The great intellectual powerhouse that is Fox News is leading the lynch mob:

As far as Fox is concerned, socialism is the root of all evil in the world and that anybody with an idea tagged as "socialist" must be some combination between Stalin, Hitler and the Joker from Batman. The word is thrown around so much with such little thought put into it that I am left wondering if Glenn Beck has the slightest idea of what it even means. Did he even go to college? Oh, right, dropped out after one class. Who would have guessed?

Obama's programs are certainly not socialist, and America is not in danger of turning socialist. Socialism, by definition, is "collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods." The fact that Obama proposes a health care system that makes it easier for the poor to obtain health insurance is not socialist. In fact, if you want to keep the same insurance you have, you can. Nothing changes if you don't want.

The fact is that the current generation of Americans has been raised believing that communists and socialists are evil, but not why. We have been indoctrinated in American history, which is nothing more than good vs. evil. The Cold War was good guys trying to stop the bad guys from taking over the world, just like World War II. We were raised watching movies in which all the villains were Russian scoundrel terrorists (although now they are Muslim).

We have not, however, been taught the roots and ideas that spawned these ideologies, especially those of us with Glenn's limited education (as well as drug abuse problems and alcoholism). Maybe then we would find out that, although in practice these are clearly flawed governmental systems, they spawned from an unruly rich class bathing in their own wealth off the backs of the poor. They were designed with the rights and well-being of the population in mind, not just the small percentage of rich. It is one thing to fully comprehend the issues and disagree with them. However, I firmly believe that if all the working-class Republicans truly understood what they were voting for, the Republicans would never win another election.

The fact is that all this name-calling and false stereotypes cloud each issue to the point that it is difficult to know what is fact and what is fiction. Most Americans are not presented with an issue in a way that they can think, then decide on it. We are presented with extremes, and common sense is flushed down the toilet.

What ever happened to looking at an issue for what it is? If an idea or program is good, if it will help people and makes perfect sense, what does it matter if it is closer to one ideology or another? Instead of labelling Obama a socialist, communist (and, incredulously, racist, in Glenn's case), we need to examine an issue based on its actual substance. If someone disagrees with the new health care plan, that's ok, but argue rational points, don't try and scare the population into believing something that is plainly false.