If you live in the United States, then you've become accustomed to the logic-be-damned attempts to malign politicians and public policy through the use of fear and hate.
During the last presidential election, the use of a certain word by GOP fear mongers became huge. I am talking about the evil "S" word: socialism.
Although the word "socialism" is generally representative of an entire economic system, it has been repeated by politicians and ignoramuses alike to slander anything government-related that they don't like.
Left without an alternative means of defense, the blanket word "socialism" is representative of the more encompassing tactics of special-interest groups to sway the public against programs benefiting the American people. How else would they argue against programs designed to enhance the health of Americans by restricting the avaricious practices of insurance companies?
The mindless rhetoric has turned a saddening number of Americans against thinking.
Instead of attempting to ponder the conditions of themselves and their neighbors, these people are keener to visit the doctor, pay with Medicare, drive on government-commissioned roads, and then go to their government-funded library to post on the Internet that we need to cut taxes on the rich and that BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA IS A SOCIALIST.
Beyond this, the hate toward the mere consideration of socialism is maligning to American greats, such as Kurt Vonnegut, Albert Einstein and Martin Luther King Jr., who embraced aspects of socialism.
These brilliant minds understood something simple - that, as King put it, "something is wrong with capitalism." That "something" is that capitalism breeds corruption and poverty.
Yes, there is something wrong with the top 1 percent of Americans holding nearly 50 percent of all wealth when a significant amount of Americans are without jobs and health insurance.
Somehow, wealthy people wanting to maintain this punishing inequality persuade others to believe that it is right or just. They try to convince others to adhere to political ideologies at the expense of tangible injustices faced by fellow Americans whose contributions allow our society to persist.
Government has endured throughout history, and government action is needed more than ever in today's greedy corporate world. New research at Harvard and Princeton is investigating how financial scarcity may negatively affect psychology and, consequently, personal economics. Another study assessing Medicaid by the National Bureau of Economic Research clarified the benefits of health insurance for poor people: better health and enhanced ability to maintain financial stability.
Studies such as these impart a more profound idea: Austere economic policies lead to hopeless labor while reinforcing the destitution of the poor and the struggling middle class.
Like the aforementioned American greats, we must be aware of the inequalities within our economic system.
And that's not my personal belief. Americans agree. According to a study by the Harvard Business School, some 92 percent of Americans prefer the more equal wealth distribution of Sweden to the unequal distribution of the United States.
If we spend less on special interests and unjust wars, we can mend this disparity by adjusting policy and spending more on programs to lift the poor out of poverty and to strengthen our middle class.
Ah, who am I kidding? That's scary and socialist. Let's just keep cutting taxes on corporations and placing the burden of the debt crisis on the backs of the poor by cutting vital social programs.
Abdul Zalikha is a microbiology junior at UF. His column appears on Thursdays.
