It's a word we hear thrown about quite a lot today, with fears of government takeovers and their increasing domination of private industry. Too often, people think of Socialism only in terms of regulatory practices–government telling private business what to do. What people often forget is that those who hold private power–those who have a lot of money–are also the same people who hold political power. They do not impose regulations that harm themselves. They impose regulations that harm their competition. That's the essence of socialism–when the politically powerful wield their political power to protect and promote their own personal profits.

It's also why the foremost principle of our great Republic must be a separation of private profit from public power. When a politician uses their position to pad their own bank account, we call it corruption. When a company uses their money to influence a politician, however, we call them a special interest. This double standard needs to end, as does the practice of using government to benefit private businesses. The idea that government exists to serve business is just as clearly wrong, and just as dangerous, as the idea that government exists to regulate business. Governments exist to serve the people they represent, not the narrow business interests of a few wealthy and powerful individuals.

It is with this in mind that our forefathers created the constitution–a document defining the limits of public power. This was not an idea that sprang up out of the clear blue. It was an idea that came about because they understood the dangers of letting a government become too powerful–especially a government that could be bought and paid for by the wealthy interests of the world. It's time to put that wall back in place; it's time to get the government out of business, and business out of the government. Let business do what's best for business, and let government do what's best for government.