"Are you calling me a Marxist?"

After a passionate political conversation, one of my coworkers asked me that question.  He sounded horrified at the thought.  Now, it's important to note that I hadn't called anyone anything.  I simply asked a few questions.

Liberals don't like to have questions asked of them.  A question requires an answer, and those answers usually reveal more about the liberal answerer than he's comfortable with.  Liberals like to lurk in the shadows, pretending to stand for liberty, personal responsibility, and the free market.  They can, however, be easily exposed with nothing more than a few simple questions.

I asked my coworker how he feels about Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.  As it turns out, he sees it as the government's responsibility to pay for the living and medical expenses of senior citizens.  It doesn't matter to him that these programs are unsustainable.  It doesn't matter to him that Social Security is now paying more in benefits than it is taking in though taxes.  "Print more money!  Raise the debt limit!  Make the rich pay more!"  He believes that the rich don't pay their "fair share."  They have all of the money, so they should pay more.

If that was his answer regarding the so-called "social safety nets," how do you think he feels about President Obama's Job-Killing Health Care Act?  If you guessed that he approves of it, you'd be only partially right.  "It doesn't do enough," he claims.  "Why should anyone be forced to pay for medical treatment?"  He believes that the government should just take care of it.

It doesn't stop there, however.  The government, he tells me, should provide education, free to all.  Education, like health care, is a human right, he claims, and it's wrong to ask a person to pay for a basic right.

Can the government create jobs?  Oh, you bet!  It not only can, but it should!  Everyone should be able to have a job, so that everyone can help pay for health care, housing, education, and food for everyone who needs it.

That leads to the next and final question.  "Do you think that everyone should contribute to the greater good based on their ability to contribute and everyone should receive benefits based on what they need?"  Of course!

You see, he's been exposed.  With discussion on these few subjects, he's asserted his belief in no fewer than three of the Ten Planks of Marxism.  He's even agreed with a slogan that Karl Marx himself used to support his philosophy: "From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs."  He couldn't believe that this was "slanderously" pointed out to him.

My coworker doesn't believe in the free market.  He doesn't believe that individuals are responsible for their own welfare.  He doesn't believe that an individual should be allowed to keep the fruits of his own labor.  He, and those like him, believe that all of these things fall within the responsibility of the government.

"Are you calling me a Marxist?"  Yeah, I guess I am.