Americans are capitalists. We all know that. Some people even believe that capitalism is in our Constitution. Now, you may hear that President-elect Barack Obama is going to change us to socialism ("socialism" must be pronounced with same pursing of the lips as when whispering the word "disease.") But the reality is that we are and have always been a mixed economy. So, it's necessary for everyone to understand that while we'll remain hard-nosed capitalists, we do embrace socialism where appropriate.

If you doubt that, consider these common government services:

Armed forces (the "common defense")

Roads (building, maintaining, snow removal, etc.)

Police (nobody depends on self-help)

Firefighting

Ambulance

Schools and universities

Agricultural research and experimentation

Cleaning up (picking up and disposing of trash and garbage, sweeping the streets of leaves in the fall, etc.)

Heating (steam from electrical plants circulated to heat homes and businesses)

Inspections including construction; homes for sale; elevators; amusement rides; restaurants; packing houses; trucks; airplanes; etc.

Old age assistance (Social Security and Medicare)

Health care including almost full coverage for veterans and the elderly; investment in medical research; public health - fighting infections and communicable diseases; health and safety standards for many consumer products; and public hospitals

Common transport (bus and light rail in cities)

Recreation and public parks (public parks with complete facilities)

Regulation of business (to provide a level playing field)

Water purification plants and piping (nobody has to boil water to make it potable)

Sewage disposal plants and sanitary sewers pipes

Snow removal (you only have to shovel to the street)

Tourism support (to create more business)

Levees and other flood control (you're not on your own when the rains come)

Interceptor sewers (everyone's yard gets drained)

Street lights (so you're not home-bound at night)

Electrical power

Disaster preparedness and post-disaster aid (run competently)

Business development loans

United States Postal Service (Part of the Libertarian anthem exempted from "get out of my life"

Family services (aid to struggling families)

Cemetery maintenance (most cemeteries are publicly administered)

Emergency services (in case of flood, hurricane, cyclone, or other mass disaster)

Use of the National Guard in emergencies and disaster

The weather bureau

Weather warning sirens and broadcasts (the government stands watch for you)

Bike and walking trails

Everyone is familiar with all of those services. But few recognize them as socialism. But they really are. Consider that:

1) They are provided to all of us for each of us to use as we need; and

2) Each of us pays according to our ability to pay (through progressive tax rates).

Consequently, we have socialism here and that all of us use those socialist services, and that's while we remain firmly capitalist.

We have some socialism because we live in a society that is complex. It is self-evident that it is more efficient sometimes to band together, through government, to provide some services in common. The dividing line between what services are provided to us on a private basis and what are provided on a common basis has always been changing. It will continue to change. And government can provide the service through national, state, or local governments depending on the best way to provide it.

It is now proposed that we should have health care supplied with some kind of public involvement rather than a purely private system. The only way that it can work economically now is on some kind of common basis. The inevitable response to that proposal by some has been, "that is socialism."

Our reply should be, "so what?" Our society has always and will always depend on common services, socialism, when it works best. And we have regularly moved the demarcation between public and private services. It is proposed now that health care be at least partially be supplied in common. And, all that would do is move the demarcation line one more time.

So, debate all we want on whether health care is provided best right now on a private or public basis. But, it is not a valid argument to simply charge, "That is socialism" with the required tone of horror. That argument just isn't valid because we already use socialism extensively. Yet we remain basically and firmly a capitalist economy. On economic matters, it seems, we can have our cake and eat it too.