Socialism

it was the Founding Fathers' intent to have the federal government perform six fundamental functions. An excerpt from the U.S. Constitution that best expresses these purposes reads, "We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America".



To Form a More Perfect Union:While initially, the (former) colonies weren't united, they soon came to realize that there is strength in solidarity and as such formed an alliance with one another. Thus, the Constitution provide for such a union.



To Establish Justice: The most vital role in a successful democratic government is to ensure justice within the nation. Though the term justice is open to interpretation, the explanation most widely accepted is that the law must be fair, unbiased, and logical. While these standards we are not always met within this nation, the American people wish to strive for such ideals.



To Provide for the Common Defense: While the Constitution didn't necessarily allow for elite military operations, it did intend for the government to provide a basic system of defense against enemies of the state. The U.S. government has, over the years, broadened the definition of defense and has also utilized this role of the government most often.

To Secure the Blessings of Liberty: The American nation was built around the ideals of individual freedom and liberty, however, the Founding Fathers also came to the realization that certain boundaries must be set forth in order to ensure that such liberties would not breach those of other citizens'. While the government certainly makes it a point to promote such personal liberties, it is up to the American people to constantly challenge the government to provide for such freedoms.



To Promote (not provide) the General Welfare: A broad purpose of the government that is constantly open to adaptation and growth, is the role of the government to provide the Americna people with services and regulations that are for the public good. Such regulations may include health and food standards, public education, and consumer protection. However, in order to allow capitalism to flourish, the government leaves certain services available to private businesses (such as railroads and airline transportation), this allows market competition to thrive so that the consumer can receive the best services and prices possible.



To Insure Domestic Tranquility:This role of the federal government is relatively self-explanatory in name. The government must provide order in society and allow for domestic peace. It must also present the nation from ever ascending into anarchy.

I agree, but providing for the health, education, and welfare of its citizens is constitutional.

his ideas are though and so are some of the other sides. this is what our country is headed toward if American doesn't open their eyes and take a stand and start telling the government it needs to start fallowing the consitution.

Please don't be offended if I point out that Obama is no socialist, anymore than McCain is a fascist.

Socialism is a great subject regarding quotes grits.



"The function of socialism is to raise suffering to a higher level." ~ Norman Mailer



"You can't get rid of poverty by giving people money." ~ P. J. O'Rourke



"Socialism in general has a record of failure so blatant that only an intellectual could ignore or evade it." ~ Thomas Sowell



"A government policy to rob Peter to pay Paul can be assured of the support of Paul." ~ George Bernard Shaw



"Collectivism doesn't work because it's based on a faulty economic premise. There is no such thing as a person's 'fair share' of wealth. The gross national product is not a pizza that must be carefully divided because if I get too many slices, you have to eat the box. The economy is expandable and, in any practical sense, limitless." ~ P. J. O'Rourke, "How to Explain Conservatism"



"Socialism is the doctrine that man has no right to exist for his own sake, that his life and his work do not belong to him, but belong to society, that the only justification of his existence is his service to society, and that society may dispose of him in any way it pleases for the sake of whatever it deems to be its own tribal, collective good." ~ Ayn Rand



"To take from one, because it is thought that his own industry and that of his fathers has acquired too much, in order to spare others, who, or whose fathers have not exercised equal industry and skill, is to violate arbitrarily the first principle of association, 'the guarantee to every one of a free exercise of his industry, and the fruits acquired by it.'" ~ Thomas Jefferson



"How do you tell a Communist? Well, it's someone who reads Marx and Lenin. And how do you tell an Anti-communist? It's someone who understands Marx and Lenin." ~ Ronald Reagan



"The most fundamental fact about the ideas of the political left is that they do not work. Therefore we should not be surprised to find the left concentrated in institutions where ideas do not have to work in order to survive." ~ Thomas Sowell