Che Obama

While reading a newspaper yesterday, something has caught my attention: last weekend, there was a huge protest in Washington, DC against Obama administration. The main topics of the protest were the so-called healthcare reform, some state interventions in the economic activity and the increase of public expenditures, raising the public deficit. Okay, they’re free to express their opinion; after all, freedom of expression is something that is utterly respected and followed in the USA. This is a very important value in a democracy and no head of government can take this away.

 

But there was an image that caught my attention: someone was holding a sign saying “Che Obama,  the march to socialism”, with a picture of Barack Obama looking like Ernesto Che Guevara, the famous Argentine revolutionary, who promoted “revolutions” across Latin America and Africa. I can say it’s an exaggeration comparing Obama to Che Guevara and saying his government is socialist.

Analyzing in a deep way, there are no measures taken by US government that are typical of a socialist regime. The state participation in the economy is just temporary, until economic activities resume growth levels. In a socialist regime, the state usually controls everything. About the healthcare, most of the health insurance market, as well as the health system, will continue to be in the hands of the private sector. The public plan will be only an alternative for the poorest ones, who can’t afford a private plan. A fully public health system is not interesting, because it brings more suffering and impatience for the population (as it is in countries like Canada, for example). There is a Congress and there’s an opposition; at the end, there will be a plausible proposal that will pass and become a law. As far as I know about American politics, socialism will never fit in the US…