It was just six years ago that Donald Trump declared that America “WILL NEVER BE A SOCIALIST COUNTRY.”
He was apparently correct. Oligarchy is about as far removed from socialism as you can get.
So, no, we’re definitely not headed toward socialism. Unless you count social security, Medicare, organized labor, worker benefits like health care, minimum wage, vacation and overtime pay.
We’re definitely not socialist if you toss out fire and police departments, group insurance, public streets and highways, incentive checks from the government, public education and those pesky homeowners associations where you pay a monthly fee to keep your subdivision attractive and enforce conformity of mailboxes, fences, etc.
No, we’re definitely a society built on capitalism. How else would explain the constant fluctuation in the cost of gasoline? And eggs? Bread? You name it, the cost has exploded and it’s all thanks to that wonderful system of free-market capitalism where corporate greed is the order of the day.
Trickle-down economics? Hype. A myth. When taxes are cut for the super-rich and for corporations, it is the stockholders who profit, not the workers. Those breaks have never filtered down to those who actually create wealth for their bosses. How else would you account for the ever-widening disparity in the income of the 1 percent and the rest of us?
Where else but in a capitalist society could you find landlords and realtors INCREASING RENT by more than 130 percent in the wake of a disaster such as the fires that hit Los Angeles? Where else would you find price gouging on eggs, bread, milk, steak, clothing, gasoline, etc?
Remember the name Vanderbilt, Rockefeller, Getty, J.P. Morgan, Andrew Carnegie?
They were the shakers and movers of the so-called “Gilded Age” of America and they pretty much had their way. It was a gilded age for them, to be sure, but for the rest of America, you had child labor, unsafe meat, no minimum wage, no vacation, no medical benefits, no unions. For the rest of America it pretty much a miserable time
Now, some say we are in a second “Gilded Age,” and they might be correct.
You know the names of Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, Sam Altman, Miriam Adelson, Vivek Ramaswamy, et al, but did you ever really stop to ask yourself what must they want in their unholy alliance with Trump? Didja?
Do you for one nano-second really believe that Musk and Ramaswamy are thinking about the best interests of this country with their Department of Government Efficiency? The efficiency will be for the new robber barons of the new Gilded Age. And you ain’t invited to the party.
Why do you think these guys and not Joe the Plumber will be sitting FRONT AND CENTER at Trump’s inauguration on Monday?
For the answer to that, just sit back and watch their bank accounts swell even more and their stocks increase in value. No matter what Bezos and Musk try to convince us otherwise with Space X and Blue Origin, it’s not rocket science.
Louisiana Voice 
Tom, surely you were NOT serious when you wrote this! Every name you listed (with exception of Viveck R) were squarely in the Democrat camp only 4 years ago. Were it not for the utter incompetence of Biden/Harris, they still would be.
I have not commented on this site for some time as I understand dissension is not tolerated by Democrats (you know, the party of tolerance) and I did not comment on the constant vitriol posted about the conservative side of politics, but seriously, when you support a man who just gave a medal of honor to Bloomberg and George Soros I almost choked. These two are the very definition oligarch. And clearly, George Soros is evil ( I trust you do NOT support him).
“a
: a system of society or group living in which there is no private property
b
: a system or condition of society in which the means of production are owned and controlled by the state
Contrast this with “Unless you count social security, Medicare, organized labor, worker benefits like health care, minimum wage, vacation and overtime pay”. Not a single item listed by you has anything to do with socialism. NOT ONE.
I do not expect you to agree or recant your article, but please do not sink to complete hypocrisy. Trump is hardly a saint, but then, neither are Joe or Kamala.
Or his predecessor giving one to Rush Limbaugh.
But I really gotta call you out on your claim. The Adelsons have NEVER been in the Democratic camp. Where in the world did you get that idea? And any support of Dems by the others was just the usual hedging of bets
Also, I really don’t think I made any distinction between Republican or Democratic oligarchs. They’re all after the same thing and it’s not our interests that they care about. Personal enrichment and to hell with the rest of us.
Dissension is welcomed. But if you want to be taken seriously it might benefit you to have an argument worth making. Before its demise the former Republican party long derided social security and medicare as “socialist” practices. They considered unions a socialist political party in disguise. And all the worker benefits Tom listed were constantly under threat from the party that refused to regulate health care, refused to raise minimum wage, and would not support paid vacation or overtime for workers. But those are lesser points. If it is your opinion that Biden or Harris are just as bad as Trump, just on the other side of the aisle, then you don’t have anything to say worth listening to.
Zoe10850, with respect to your comment about dissension, are you familiar with the concept of projection? It is the act of attributing to another the feelings or opinions you would have in the same situation. Psychologists consider it to be unconscious, but Republicans use it consciously to disparage people they disagree with. In fact, we will soon see what happens to people who disagree with Donald Trump.
Our system of governance has survived for two and a half centuries because we had a process we could all agree with and we agreed that the end does not justify the means. Donald Trump has done his best to kick down all the guard rails that protect our institutions. The next 4 years is not about public policy. It is about whether our country can survive the depredations of a despotic pagan libertine and his bleating, sycophantic sheep followers.
I agree with Mr. Spillman and Mr. Packman. Here’s my observation. From a neighbor in east Feliciana ” you give them n….. health care , they won’t work!” and from a pulpit, “Raise your hand if you trust our Government” thus I really like Mr. Packman “his bleating, sycophantic sheep followers” Our Constitution will hold. thanks ron thompson