Bill Quigly Deconstructs Right-Wing Myths About U.S. "Socialism"

Bill Quigley has written a very well-received op-ed at Truthout, Nine Myths About Socialism in the US. The entire article is worth reading. The right-wings huffing and puffing about the socialist actions of the U.S. government are laughable, if they weren't also seriously deranged. Here's the list of myths, but you'll have to go to the article itself to see how thoroughly Quigley debunks them.

Myth No. 1: The US Government Is Involved in Class Warfare, Attacking the Rich to Lift Up the Poor.

Myth No. 2: The US Already Has the Greatest Health Care System in the World.

Myth No. 3: There Is Less Poverty in the US Than Anywhere.

Myth No. 4: The US Is Generous in Its Treatment of Families With Children.

Myth No. 5: The US Is Very Supportive of Its Workers.

Myth No. 6: Poor People Have More Chance of Becoming Rich in the US Than Anywhere Else.

Myth No. 7: The US Spends Generously on Public Education.

Myth No. 8: The US Government Is Redistributing Income From the Rich to the Poor.

Myth No. 9: The US Generously Gives Foreign Aid to Countries Across the World.

What's amazing is that the truth is the diametric opposite of each of these statements. The right-wing and their media puppets have done a great job in selling a bill of goods to the American people. But it's difficult when every day one wakes up and looks around and sees that the accepted wisdom is so different from what one has been spoon-fed.

The American people will not remain indifferent to such deceit forever, and that is why I offer Myth No. 10: The United States is the freest country in the world.

Fact: According to the New York Times, the United States imprisons one out of 99 of its people. One in nine black men, ages 20 to 34, are incarcerated. Approximately 1.6 million people who live in America, live their lives in cages.

The United States imprisons more people than any other nation in the world. China is second, with 1.5 million people behind bars. The gap is even wider in percentage terms.

Germany imprisons 93 out of every 100,000 people, according to the International Center for Prison Studies at King’s College in London. The comparable number for the United States is roughly eight times that, or 750 out of 100,000.

Accepted wisdom promulgated by the mainstream media, and particularly (but not only) by its right-wing components, such as Fox News, is mostly a pack of lies. My thanks to Bill Quigley for writing such a concise and informative expose of the mythology of a self-deluded group of ideologues.