Photo: Evan O'Brien
I’ve never understood why “socialism” is such a dirty word in America. After all, we’re such a social bunch. We form support groups. We come together around politics. We socialize around illnesses convinced that the mere force of our determination will squelch that virus, or annihilate the cancer that’s eating away at our social fiber. If there’s an opportunity for socializing, we do it, and we do it with gusto.
But Socialism??? It’s so un-American. It’s as un-american as being opposed to the National Rifle Association, which could get you shot on a dark and stormy night if you’re not a vigilante. According to Wikipedia, ”Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership and/or control of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy.” Cooperation is not a strong American attribute. It doesn’t come naturally. I can see why Americans could have trouble comprehending this concept. We’re much better at fighting. We fight over things that really don’t matter. Temper tantrums have become a way of life. We fight for the sake of fighting and those fights are glorified on the 6:00 news. They’re played over and over again daring us to take sides, while corporate America counts and recounts the piles of money they’ve managed to get their hands on while the little guys are busy biting each other’s heads off over insignificant ideas.
A cooperative approach to life in America as opposed to a corporate approach is a difficult thing for most Americans to fathom. It requires telling the truth, another thing Americans are not very good at; “President Obama is not an American!” “80 percent of congress is communist!” It would require new methods of problem solving and Americans are not open to new ideas. War is the approved method of “conflict resolution.” Men do it over and over. They’ve been marching off to war since the beginning of time. The fact that it has never worked, is not working now, and will never work means nothing to them. They go to war on an international level and they go to war on a personal level. We are all current casualties of a devastating war in Washington that’s been going on for the past four years. Things are worse than they’ve ever been, but the conflicts rage on. It seems to be all they know.
The CEOs are not particularly smart people. They just have lots and lots of money. We need to be careful to not confuse wealth with intelligence.. They’re stingy, self centered, money grubbing Neanderthals with their eye on the dime. The glorious dollar is their main concern, the only object of their affection. They show no concern or interest in the world on which they live and they feel no affinity to people who have less than they do. They’re cold and ruthless. They’ve stolen the cash and are patting themselves on the back with astronomical bonuses, while their customers struggle to keep their homes. The banking moguls realize it’s not in their best interest to lift a finger. They win when the customer fails. The property becomes theirs, another asset tossed into their personal treasure chest. But “socialism” is still a dirty word in America.
The American population has been duped into opposing socialized medicine. Even though a vast percentage of Americans are without health insurance, even though the insurance that exists is calling the shots on what’s covered and what’s not .Quality healthcare for everyone is un-american by its very nature. How could we even consider bypassing the insurance companies, reducing the costs and providing quality care for everyone? It works pretty well in Canada and it works pretty well in the UK, but Americans have allowed themselves to be convinced that it’s a terrible idea for America and they’re willing to fight about it. They’re willing to go to war over the imaginary pros and cons while the insurance companies are in the counting house, counting all their money.
Gas is now over 4 dollars a gallon and the debate over who’s responsible is like something out of Mad magazine, or Saturday Night Live. Is it the president? Or is it the Arabs? Maybe it’s the little mom and pops that are making 3 cents per gallon when we fill up our tanks. Maybe it’s us??? One thing is for sure, it couldn’t possibly be the oil companies who made a record breaking 36 billion dollars in profits in the second quarter of 2011. That’s 36 BILLION dollars in 4 months!
Corporatism is not good for people and it’s not good for the planet. It prevents us from participating fully in directing the course of our own history. It prevents us from celebrating our cultural differences and repeatedly attempts to put us at odds with each other. The diversity of the planet is fundamental in achieving balance. It needs to be celebrated instead of annihilated. We don’t need to insist that there’s a television in every hut and an iPad in every cave. Corporatism ensures that the rich get richer while the rest of us fight with each other and watch our dreams crumble into dust.
