There are a lot of powerful names being thrown around in our society everyday – but what do they all mean? Let’s have Merriam-Webster break them down for us.

Democracy: a government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections

Democrat: an adherent of democracy; one who practices social equality.

Republican: one that favors or supports a republican form of government. (not quite specific enough, so let’s see Republic as well)

Republic: a government in which supreme power resides in a body of citizens entitled to vote and is exercised by elected officers and representatives responsible to them and governing according to law.

Socialism: any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods.

Communism: a system in which goods are owned in common and are available to all as needed.

I chose these names because they are labels that are used every day in the media, and although it’s always nice to refresh our memories on the actual definitions of these words, it’s even more important to realize their similarities. But what do they have in common you ask?

They are all d-i-v-i-d-i-n-g terms. They all impede true progression because they create a system of good and bad, black and white, winners and losers. They don’t advocate free thought or original ideas – instead, they compartmentalize every thought and social action into these few, powerful terms. But are these terms truly all-encompassing? Are there no compromises in these rigid words we use? Our way of thinking has become so focused on where we fit within these ideas (and that is exactly what they are and nothing more) that we spend all of our time defending our “side” or our “category” that we slip deeper and deeper into the holes that these words have dug.

And if you disagree with the power of these terms, of their ability to spark an immediate and powerful image to your mind, have someone say them aloud to you. Americans, have someone say Communism and try not to think of the color red, the cold war and the 1972 Olympics. I’m sure for some of you, an Orwellian nightmare sweeps through your head as you try image a country that you have never visited or discovered on your own. It’s these images, and the symbolic power we give these words, that makes them so detrimental to our society’s growth.

Until we, our elected officials and politicians even more so, are able to climb from the tombs of social class and categories that we have locked ourselves in, this country will continue to face the same struggles every new term.

If you have not yet seen or read Obama’s address to congress about health care (or perhaps you better know it as the Joe Wilson “You Lie!” scandal) then please, do yourself a favor and look it over – beginning to end.

AP Photo of Obama addressing a joint congress on health care - Sept. 9, 2009

Obama’s Health Care Address to Congress

Until this afternoon, I had just read the summary and the hype surrounding Joe Wilson’s Tourette’s-like outburst. Big mistake. I didn’t realize how powerful and thoughtful that address was until today. Although I lean left (and not just to fit in with the acceptable swagger of the majority of IU’s student body), I like to believe that I have a level head — that I can (even if I don’t always agree with it) see the other point of view and balance my own opinions. That said, I just can’t imagine how the right has such a problem with Obama.

While I’m mostly pointing out the extremists, I know a lot of very unhappy (albeit misinformed) conservatives; but, Obama has come out with a health care plan that promotes business and economic development. His idea of a public option is well researched and actually a compromise to the extreme left’s desire for one, government-run option. While I can see why this would scare some into thinking that a larger government is going to control our nation and strip us of our freedoms (business and enterprise freedoms specifically) – a public option is hardly a socialist movement. I think that people get so caught up in the idea of a “free market” that they forget the need for regulation to stop monopolies from destroying the industry. Current health care providers have monopolized the system. They set the prices they decide (not the market) and they select the people to provide for (and believe me – it’s not the most sickly or needy individuals). Money and power dictate the market and frankly, allowing the sick to get treated for a reasonable price isn’t what gets leaders of companies like WellPoint big houses and nice cars.

A change needs to be made and Obama is not afraid of it. What’s more admirable is that he’s also not afraid to say that he doesn’t have all the answers. I hope people from both parties are able to take advantage of this opportunity to enhance the lives of Americans and profit from the health of our nation.

Obama said it best:

We did not come here to fear the future. We came here to shape it.