Free Money?

The ideological whiplash that I have seen recently regarding the maybe-could-be stimulus checks that are possibly being sent out is dizzying. Back up a few steps to the labeling as "socialism" any program that helps ordinary people by the political right, (with the assumption that socialism is bad). I think most of us can agree that a command economy yoked to an authoritarian government with all industry nationalized (Soviet-style Communism) is bad. No one, literally no one, is proposing anything like that. The most radical ideas being talked about are (1) Medicare for all and (2) Free college. There are valid arguments to be made pro and con about the workability and cost of these proposals, but the man-on-the-street objection is usually some variation on “I don’t want my tax dollars to pay for ‘free stuff’ to people who don’t work for it”, usually followed by an allegation that it’s socialism (which “everybody knows” is bad).

So now fast forward to this past week, where Trump and the Congress are in favor of a stimulus package that includes checks of $1000 (the amounts discussed varies) to every taxpayer. Now, there are, like most things, arguments pro and con about this proposal and the details thereof, one thing is clear: this is the government giving money to people who didn’t earn it. As you can imagine, most Democrats and other liberals would have no objection to this, with the only arguments being about the size of the payouts and over who should get it (not millionaires). This is right in line with what the left has always believed: that sometimes government needs to step in and provide a safety net to assist people who are struggling. It’s in opposition to what conservatives and Trumpists say that they believe: that giving people money that they didn’t directly earn is socialism and socialism is bad. So, what has changed? One, they are benefitting from it. Everyone who benefits from programs like this think that they’re deserving while everyone else is a freeloader. Second, Trump suggested it first.

I’ve seen a lot of rationalization by Trumpists lately, trying to explain why this really isn’t socialism and how it’s the Democrats and liberals who are hypocrites. One that I have seen numerous times is that it’s not socialism because it’s actually our money that’s coming back to us. Not really. Once you pay your taxes, it’s not your money any more. We may not always agree with what the government spends money on, but once it’s collected it belongs to the nation as a whole, not the individual and is allocated as elected officials see fit. To be consistent, it can also be argued that Medicare for All wouldn’t be “free stuff”, but our money coming back to us.

Somehow the Trumpists, who are being inconsistent about accepting money from the government, are saying that it’s the Democrats and liberals who are hypocritical. One of the most common memes on this subject features a man agonizing over what button to push and has Republican and Democratic versions side-by-side. The Republican side has him dithering over “$1000 check” and “Socialism Bad” buttons. The Democratic side has as the two choices as “$1000 check” and “Not My President”. This meme seems to be suggesting that one can only accept the stimulus check if one is loyal to Trump. Aside from the fact that Trump and Congress are proposing a partial remedy that has been part of the Democratic platform for years, I find it more than a little alarming that there is a point of view that only Trump loyalists should be assisted in times of national emergency.

No one on the left is actually saying that the stimulus checks are socialism, what we are saying is that the right has been fear mongering about social programs being socialism, with the implication that socialism is bad, but when a social program benefits them it’s perfectly fine and therefore not socialism, because if it’s good (and if it benefits them, it has to be, by definition good) it can’t be socialism! Circular reasoning at its best.