I remember as a youth jamming to the Steve Miller Band song “Jet
Airliner”. On my album, there was a line,
“I don’t want to get caught up in any of that, funky (kicks) going down in the
city.” I remember hearing my friends
version of that song where they used the word “sh—“ instead of “kicks”…it
seemed to my young mind a little scandalous! I remember wondering how my friend was able to
get this “scandalous” version …I felt a little slighted! I remember first hearing Nazareth ’s “Hair of the Dog” tune ... my
friends and I (perhaps feeling rebellious) at times emphasized the last couple words
of the line, “Now you’re messin’ with a ……..”.
A forbidden word we with youthful exuberance shouted because it shocked
the status quo. I didn’t see too many
older folks singing that line at the time.
Today it seems a song isn’t a hit unless it has one of the once “forbidden”
colorful words(even sung by older folks)…..a saddening turn of events.
I think “Socialism” is a lot like one of those old forbidden
terms. I remember learning in American
history class of our liberty and independence and what pride we had as Americans. America was proud of its “capitalism”
as the best form of government enabling us to become the wealthiest nation in
the world. If anyone claimed to be a “Socialist” we
wondered what was wrong with them. It
was one of those terms we were rather shocked to hear much as those old songs
that first began the now en-vogue swearing lyrics. Today many seem to be clamoring to socialism…perhaps
to shock the status quo.
Today with social media and with the elections here…we hear “socialism”
shouted with youthful exuberance….and why not?
Sounds great…free healthcare, education, $15 minimum wage. It’s like going to a restaurant with a group where
everything is put into one check.
Everybody pitches in and it sounds like a good idea. But inevitably, someone ends up eating like a
king for what they put in and someone else ends up paying way too much for just
having a soda. No one can figure out the
right math and how it went wrong so they just pitch in.
I have heard so many definitions and arguments for how “socialism”
is now good for us. I believe I know what all the socialist governing
philosophies are and I still think it is not the best way to govern a country
as large and diverse as ours. We have
hundreds of millions of people in the US ,
with 50 states and 50 different governing bodies and you cannot, in my opinion
govern the large US like you can a smaller Sweden
or Denmark . It is like comparing a car with a train. There are many things a small car can do that
a big train cannot do. Conversely, there
is protection in having many cars and you have abilities to do things when you have
the protection of the large train.
The US
needs to be the large economic power in order for all the smaller socialist
nations to survive and thrive. These
socialist countries need a capitalistic machine somewhere churning out
innovation, food, trade, wealth and military might. Every country must account for the US before
tackling any fiscal equations.
Size does matter.
What works in New Hampshire may not
work in Arizona . If Vermont
wants single payer medicine…they can pass it…good for them. If you don’t like it…you don’t have to live
there. But if we nationalize Vermont ’s healthcare in Texas
or Hawaii …it’s
a different matter. This is why we have
the 10th Amendment. Once
something is centrally planned there is no opting out. This is how a Democratic Socialism slowly
becomes the dreaded Communism (last I looked I believe that is still one of the
forbidden words). You are given one
option. For socialism to work, mandates
must be placed on the population and you are given NO choice. At least for now, nobody wants Communism in
the US
I realize as we continue to give people fish instead of
teaching them how to fish, those people will be more and more convincing to
accept socialism and we will get more candidates like Bernie Sanders getting
popular. Capitalism built the US
into the super power that it is. We are
the greatest nation on the earth. As the
British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher pointed out (to paraphrase), “the
trouble with socialism is that you eventually run out of other peoples money.”
Socialism is an enticing debate but, “I don’t
want to get caught up in any of that, funky sh—going down in the city”. Thank you for your sales pitch but, to use a
Capitalistic term….I ain’t buying it.
