SOCALIST

SOCIALIST!  (Originally posted 8/10/12)

an Andrew rambling tirade

“Socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires.” 
- John Steinbeck

Politically, I have been called a lot of lousy names over the years.  Back when I was a deluded young man and erroneously thought I knew something about the world, people called me a Republican.  Then the day arrived when I realized that I’d probably live and die in the same class I was born into.  This was when I came to be called a Democrat.  When I started thinking about the necessity and enormity of the American government, a government that realistically will never get any smaller, I started to say; “since we have this amazing resource, that we pay a fair share of money for, we should demand and expect great things of it.”  For this I was labeled a Liberal.  However, the most offensive label ever to be hung over me came about as the result of a simple question; “Why is my monthly health insurance premium more than my mortgage?” 

After asking this question a few times, I also found myself saying things like; “Maybe it would be a good idea for the bloated slobs on and around Wall Street to receive the same level of government oversight that the food manufactures, the airlines, the fishermen, the farmers, the builders, and the doctors endure.”  This has resulted in several of my peers fondly referring to me a Fucking Socialist!  Well, I don’t know about that, but I’m willing to look a little bit further.  Maybe they’re onto something?

Back when my parents were children and the Blitzkrieg Raged (Thanks Mick & Keith), being called a Socialist wasn’t the worst political jab a person with opposing beliefs could hurl your way.  Back then the biggest, baddest political label one could acquire was Fascist.  I can say with a high degree of confidence that Fascism was a one of the lesser gifts that the Italians have given to the world, but then again, anyone who ever owned a Fiat would surely beg to differ.  Regardless of its birthplace, I never really had a good handle on exactly what Fascism was, so I did something that a self-proclaimed “know it all” like myself almost never does.  I looked it up!

Government marked by centralized authority under a dictator exhibiting strict socio-economic control.  Governing marked by suppression of opposition through terror and censorship also 

demonstrating belligerent nationalism and racism.

Sounds Lovely!  Well, to put it mildly, it never really caught on in the long term.  Its’ chief advocate and spokesperson Benito Mussolini (Il Duce or The Duce), really wasn’t a “people person.”  (What a cool nickname though!)  To this end, his people executed him.  This happened while Mussolini, his girlfriend, and some other members of The Duce Fan Club attempted to sneak out of Italy in July of 1943.  After shooting the whole bunch of them, their Fascist carcasses were promptly hung on meat hooks outside an Esso station and beaten like piñatas.  As a final salute to Il Duce, his genitals were severed and stuffed into the mouth of his chicky, Carla Petacci, who was hanging out beside him.  This, as well as the innumerable atrocities committed by the Fascists, left the world with a bad taste for this type of government from that time on.  (Pun completely intended)

But what about the Socialists?  Well, it seems like they started materializing in America during the Great Depression.  Sure, it’s widely believed that WWII was the deathblow to The Great Depression, but the reality is that America was actually almost out of it by the start of the war.  However, during the depression, F.D.R had this massive Socialist program called The New Deal, which really saved the day.  Hell, even my grandfather worked for some of these socialist programs (The WPA among others). (I’m not going to elaborate here, but look it up if you’re interested.)  So in a sense, Socialism is partially responsible for me being here today.  I don’t know if the New Deal style of Socialism has a place in the world today, but it sure helped put food on the table during the hard times before “The War Effort” truly put America back to work.  Thank you Adolph!

GRANDPA WORKED HERE

In those desperate times these government-sponsored programs fed my mother, her sister, and all of my uncles.  Additionally, they built a lot of the infrastructure that we take for granted today.

Up until the time I was an adult, the Soviet Union was alive, if not so well.  Starting soon after the Communists helped us wipe out the Nazi’s, they became the new bad guys.  From what I can gather, as the Cold War heated up and dragged on, Communism came to ultimately be defined as the engine which drove an “Evil Empire.”  Just to make sure the “Reds” never got totally out of control we would kick their ass’s every few years.  Not really kick their ass’s, but rather make a movie about kicking their ass’s.  We sent in Rambo to take them down with a bow and arrow on the long lost battlefields of Viet Nam.  Then after taking a nasty beat down from the Italian Stallion, they had the unmitigated gall to attack the (now long forgotten)serenity of small town Colorado, in Red Dawn.  Little did they know that

Swayze, C. Thomas Howell, Lea Thompson, Charlie Sheen, and Jennifer Grey, among other lesser Brat Packers, were just waiting for them, cocked, locked, and loaded with a can of 1980’s Whoop Ass!  Take that Comrades!  Score one for the Wolverines!

YOU GOIN DOWN COMMIES

But who were these Communists and what made being a Communist so bad?  Again I had some vague notion, but nothing really concrete.  So once again, I looked it up!

Communism is a system of government in which the state plans and controls the economy and a single often authoritian party holds power.  They claimed their goal was to make progress toward a higher social order in which all goods are equally shared by the people.

Nice idea!  I think John Lennon even wrote a song about this idea.  Imagine that?  However, there is a huge problem with Communism, and this is it; it looks good on paper, but when you start adding real life human beings into the equation, it just doesn’t work.  Homo Sapiens are truly creatures of individual achievement.  We fight to achieve, we fight to learn, we fight to build, and we fight to conquer everyone and everything.  In addition to of all this fighting, we are also the most selfish, self-serving, cruel, and completely corrupt group of primates on the planet.  These are not traits that are well suited for a communal government and social system.  Despite this, we gave all the credit for its demise to Ronald Regan and none to human nature.  So the walls came down and Free Trade Capitalism won, allowing the former Commies to wear Nike’s, Listen to Rap Music, and watch reruns of The Nanny on flat screen TV’s.  Hooray for us!  We won the Cold War!

But where were the Socialists?  If memory serves, the only time I heard about Socialism in my formative years was in relation to medical services.  Every so often a corduroy clad, knit tie wearing Liberal would pop out of the bushes squawking his Socialized Medicine mating call. Now I know that the majority of folks don’t like to hear this, but let’s not forget that Socialized Medicine has existed in the USA since 1965  (Look up The Great Society if you want to know more) when Medicare and Medicaid were introduced to lend a hand in caring for the poor and elderly.  Sure these are flawed programs, sure people take advantage of them, but the reality is that they truly help a great many more people than they hurt.  So in my mind, Socialism attached to medicine is kind of a nice thing.  The strange thing is that nobody seems to talk about the Socialism we already have, the Socialism that works, and the Socialism that could work much better.  Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and other Conservative Puppet Heads, just like to use Socialism as a slur, where no slur is really intended in the word.  It’s just like when I walk out of a room and all the Goyim turn to one another and exclaim, Fucking Jew!  (And to think, people say I’m paranoid.)  Really, it’s ok.  It’s only an insult when we choose to make it one.  So call me a Socialist all you want.  As an insult, it’s totally irrelevant.

These days I’m a former Moderate Republican.  This is to say that I am a Liberal Democrat.  Not a Welfare Democrat, not a Progressive, just an old fashion Liberal Democrat or as I like to say; “I’m a Liberal with sanity.”  The thing is, that these days having this political identity makes me a target for the “name callers” who like to call me a Socialist.  Again, I think I know what Socialism is, but I’m not totally sure.  So I looked it up!

Socialism is a system whereby the ownership of capital, resources, and production capability reside with and are controlled by the citizens. In theory, citizens have equal access to the products and resources and are compensated based on the amount of work performed. This form of economic control claims to have the benefit of allocating resources, services and compensation equitably among the population. In other words, the system purports to be fair to everyone and to provide everyone with an equal piece-of-the-pie.

Wait a second!  That just sounds like “ Communism Lite.”  That’s not my thing at all!  I’m a very independent person.  I run an private independent company.  I make my own decisions and blaze my own path.  I’m a “poster child” for Capitalism for Christ Sake!  Socialism as I read it here is just plain un-American.  I don’t want to be a part of this type of system and I don’t need to be a part of this type of system.  So why would anyone call me a socialist?

It all comes down to recognizing one simple question.  The question of need.  There is a growing list of things that a growing number of people in America the Beautiful do in fact need and don’t in fact have.  We can start with the “old reliable” affordable healthcare and go anywhere:  education, effective public transportation, elder care and the list just goes on and on.  And here is the real question.  Who’s going to fill these needs?  Bond Traders?  Investment Bankers?  Internet Entrepreneurs?  Film Makers? General Contractors?  Engineers?  Oil Companies?  No Way.  I’m telling you who’s got do it, the same folks who provide for our national defense, our federal law enforcement, our disease-control agencies, and even our space program.  Things that I personally don’t need at any given moment, but when I do need them, I’m certain that they will be a functional and essential resource.  This is what we have a government for in the first place.  To help us in times of need.  Not to provide nightly news entertainment, but to actually do something.  Government in general is really just a big insurance policy for its citizens.  Do I like paying insurance?  No way, but I know I need it.  Do I like paying taxes and paying to support the government?  No way, but I know I need it.  And as long as we have it and as long as we need it, let’s demand great things of it!  And let’s always keep in mind that if we ever get to the “tipping point” where the true need of the majority outweighs the fickle want of the minority, some big ugly changes will be headed our way!

So am I a Socialist?  I think I’ll answer that question with a big fat NO.  But the only reason I’m not, is simply because I don’t need to be… for now.  The day will come when I’ll be a 71-year old codger.  My prostate will surely be the size of a cantaloupe and my knees will be about as functional a rusty door hinges.   Most likely, I’ll be scraping to survive on a diet of Ramen Noodles and Crystal Lite like every other old fart of my generation.  And who’s going to take care of me?  Who’s going to fix my pains?  Some good old fashion Socialized Medicine and Social Security, that’s who.   No, I don’t buy into it as a system of government, but if some aspects of Socialism are someday going to help me eat, walk, and piss, just show me where to sign!

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