Look behind the survey

A Gallup Poll reports that a majority of Democrats, 53%, have a “positive” image of socialism, which includes independents who lean toward the blue party. Only 17 percent of Republicans and GOP-leaners hold socialism in a positive light. In total, more than one-third of Americans, 36%, have a positive image of socialism. Also viewing socialism positively: 61% of liberals, 39% of moderates and 20% of conservatives. If you’re confused, you should be. Remember, a survey is useless. The devil is always in the details of daily living and surveys. Behind, into, through or under this survey lurk questions. How many citizens know the ideology and goals of socialism? Or care? Even asking whether higher taxes are good or bad, depends upon whether the person surveyed pays taxes ( and how much). So surveys serve an agenda. Surveys fudge and skew numbers. Employment studies, global warming data, school successes or failures, you name them - suspect that information somewhere in the details is false.

How to look behind the words can be exemplified by a recent statement by President Obama that a woman who worked for him in his campaign, who didn’t have health insurance, lost her fight with cancer. Boo hoo? No, no! Implicit in Obama’s tale of woe is the fact that the poor woman had no health insurance because it was not provided by his campaign budget to its workers. No no! Impossible? Yes, yes, predictable. Nothing says contradiction, hypocrisy and double standards like a liberal. Obama denies being a Bolshevik, a member of the Communist party or radical Communist because hidden behind the B word is the ‘s’ word. Socialism means public collective (government) ownership or control of the basic means of distribution and exchange with the aim of operating for use rather than for profit and of assuring each member of society an equitable share of good, services and welfare benefits as a system of social and economic organization. Socialism under this ‘guise’ seems desirable to too many people. A survey will prove it.