Wednesday, October 01, 2008

Socialize This


Every time I hear someone going on about how this or that necessary no-brainer, long over due legislation cannot be passed because it would be socialism! GASP!, I know I'm talking to someone who has either never thought things through or is a dufus.

What do you call an entire country getting soaked for something called taxes and that cumulative money is supposedly used for every single thing this government does?

What is the difference pray tell, between people being forced to fund our endless war machine, and people being forced to fund a free national health care system? I'll start the clock ticking down here and give you a minute to come up with the answer that's supposed to make it okay to use our aggregate funds to make rich war mongers richer and kill innocent civilians in other countries while it's hold-yer-nose horrible to use a percentage of that dollar amount to ensure all Americans have health care and dental care.

I'm waiting.

The difference seems to be two fold. First, all of the money goes to rich people. Second, a lot of people suffer and die. Now apparently, this socialized war machine is a good thing and is not socialism because the wealth is not spread around to benefit those who chip in. If the benefit was spread around so all would be better off, that would be socialism and a very bad thing.

I think it would do us all a lot of good to realize that the dark and ugly PR job done on our heads about spreading around the wealth is a product of the rich. People like Paulson (with a reported 700 million in personal wealth) and the richer Texan oil crowd, the spoiled mega wealthy types, these are the ones who are all for socialism as long as it works out that it's our money they get to use and spend and take home in caravan loads; AND when they don't get their 2000% returns on investments and corporate ventures and there are actual losses on the books, then socializing the losses, i.e. spreading those losses around to the entire public, that's okay. That's a good thing.

It absolutely is a good thing if you're a rich MF. But here's the fact that cannot be uttered lest the rich and useless shall faint dead away. It sucks for the whole rest of the country. That's the truth.

The thing that makes rich people's skin crawl is the idea of our money being used to benefit us. That's something they see as evil and they've tagged it with a word, socialism. The intent is to send chills up and down our spines and make us feel very afraid. We can't have socialism here, it's downright un-American.

Well that's all well and good but the bottom line is, we've already got socialism here. Rich people's socialism. Our money is taken from every last one of us, and is given to the rich. It's even taken from people who turn a couple hundred dollars profit in some teeny home or garage business enterprise where nothing but their own hard work earns them a thousand bucks or so in a year. Even they are forced, by law, at gunpoint, to cough up some of those earnings and give it over to dear Uncle Sam for the rich.

Uncle Sam is a bit of an idiot if nothing else because if Uncle Sam really was interested in getting his hands on some real money, he wouldn't be wasting his time on people who don't have any. At budget balancing time he wouldn't be slashing sorely needed social programs for the poorest people in America. He would be knocking on the doors of the 20% of people in this country who have 80% of ALL of this country's wealth.

Rich people's socialism is based on the principle that our money is taken from us and given to them. And by strict definition, that's not socialism because it's not spread around. It starts out as socialism as every pocket is picked, but then immediately transforms itself into oligarchy, elitism and greed at gunpoint, because we're legally required to cough up our hard earned dough and let them have it to do whatever they like with it.

What they like is welfare for the rich, bail outs for the richest Wall Street tycoons in the world, fat subsidies for themselves, no taxes for themselves, in fact, nothing for themselves but our money. All of our money. All of the wealth, all of the privilege, all of the free lunches, all of the prime real estate, all of the self-serving laws that force us to buy their stadiums and R&D and pave their golden roads for them; but none of the responsibility, none of the work it takes to earn a dime, and none of the realities of life the rest of us have no choice about. It's all about getting and never, ever about giving anything back. Calling it a trickle down theory is apt. It's the bread crumb theory. They feast on lavish lifestyles that we pay for, and when the waiter shakes out the table cloth afterwards, the rest of us may divide whatever crumbs are left behind on the dirty floor.

How very nice of them.

Let me shatter their lovely little daydream with some ideas we must never have. It's time to have lots of those ideas. In fact it's time to out do ourselves thinking about this whole stupid, outrageous set up. It's time to change the way we do things in this country and the first change goes right to the top of the food chain. I think it's time for the fat cats to catch their own mice, the hard way, just like the rest of us alley cats.

Like it or not, we now have an ingrained system of permanent taxation. None of us can make a cent without Uncle Sam showing up with his hand out telling us how much of what we earn belongs to him. Nothing about that makes sense, at least not in terms of being a free country. Because face it, if someone else has the legal right to force us to spend our money according to their say so, we aren't free. We are no more free than we are free in what to do with our hard earned money.

If we really wanted to reclaim our freedom, we'd abolish federal taxation completely because we don't need all that federalness. We just don't. It is separated from our daily lives and more and more has become a voracious consuming brat and monster that runs our lives whether we like it or not. If we stop feeding the beast it will die. At the very least, it might learn how to behave itself and remember what a "servant" is supposed to act like.

But abolishing the entire tax mechanism is a bit advanced right now, and getting there would require some logical steps. Those are what we should start talking about today, and as much as possible.

First of all, it's high time we the people got our full share of what anybody should be able to get anytime they lay their dollars down. They should get what they pay for. There needs to be a specific thing purchased, and there needs to be a receipt. AND it needs to be something we want and have asked for. It's bizarre in the extreme that none of the above applies to our current system of socialism for the rich. We don't even expect to get anything in return for our money, we don't even think to ask what it's being taken for. We don't get a receipt. And generally speaking whatever we ask for is fought to the teeth by the rich because they don't want what we want. They just want our money and they want us to shut up and get back to work so they'll have more money coming in, for themselves.

I say, hog twaddle on that. Let's propose a new idea, one that they if anyone, can understand perfectly well. Instead of you and I being called taxpayers, I say let's take on a new title. Investors. Because indeed, we are turning our money over to be invested in this country. And as such, we expect something to come back to us not just in kind, but with a profit. This is the whole idea behind free markets, isn't it? To get out there and shake some hands and get things done and invest your dough, and get more back than what you put into it.

What we should be doing is exactly that. Demanding returns on our investments. And when the quarterlies come in, we need to see that our investments are earning dividends for America. Now, what's so odd about that? It's a virtual no brainer. Of course that's what we should be doing.

And we should be able to pull out of any investment that's not pulling its weight. Wouldn't that be a much better system than the one we have now, this socialism for the rich where we just hand it over and shut up and let them have their way with our money and our lives? I think it's a much better way of seeing our part in this equation. After all, we don't owe them their wealth. And we don't owe them our wealth either.

Many countries in Europe are socializing their banks, which we should do too. Understand something, we can choose to socialize certain things without this country going into full bore socialism. We can use a little of this and a little of that, we don't have to go 100% all the way into any kind of "ism", including capitalism. We can use anything we like to make America better and stronger. Why not? Who has a problem with better and stronger?

There is more to life than rich people hogging everything. Some things aren't supposed to turn massive profits and be commodified, like our health care. Doctors should not be out there to get rich, they should be out there to help people get well and stay well. They don't need to be multimillionaires, they just don't. In fact, who "needs" to be a multi-billionaire for that matter? There is no such need.

What do we need more? This fantasized ideation that this is a free country that lets 200 people use our system to become billionaires? Or might it not be better for all of us if instead of that, some things were not there to make a few people rich, but instead were there to provide services that vastly increase the quality of life for everyone in this country?

For me, I think the latter makes more sense. It's also more logical, more humane, and more necessary. We've all been sold a nasty bill of goods wherein we look upon those who cannot work or who cannot make it in this cut throat capitalist controlled greed based system of "all for me and screw you", as evil. I've actually heard a famous religious leader lecturing his brain dead congregation along the lines of "if somebody can't afford to eat, they should just go hungry!" He even said Christ would back this.

I would say that man is Satan's best friend. I would further say that Christ never said any such thing, nor would He back it. It's stupidity in the extreme. Be careful out there, ye who sit on church benches and believe every lie you're told. Get your brains functioning, and get your hearts back to snuff. It's not about winners and losers. It's about making this world a better place.

There is so much money sitting in private vaults that honestly it would sicken you to know just how much is taken from those who work and is removed from the system to be hoarded by people who have no need for it whatsoever. They don't keep it circulating, they don't put it back into the system to improve our country or this world. They just keep it. And they just keep coming back for more.

The rich alone should carry the burden of all taxation. They are after all rich because they have our money. The wealth they earn gives them the responsibility to ensure that everyone is taken care of because there's no excuse to not do that. They can more than afford it. In other countries and through history, the rich have been taxed at 75% to 90%, because that's how rich they are. They can be taxed at that rate and STILL be rich. You don't really understand how all this works if you've never looked into wealth and taxes. Shoving taxation off on people who's only source of income is providing labor with the sweat of their own bodies, is criminal. It flies in the face of reason. We aren't profiting from our labor, we are surviving with it. There's a big difference. The wealthy don't labor, they just profit. Profits are what need to be taxed. After a certain point, before profits reach the level of obscenity, they need to be disbursed back into the society to benefit the people who make that wealth for those people. That's our share.

The rich hate that, and they have deeply propagandized our own society to despise and loathe those who can't find a way to make enough to get by. There is no crime in not being able to get by. Our system causes this. It shouldn't. It's a bad system. The rich owe us everything, that's the bottom line. Every penny of their wealth comes from our pockets, not from working for it.

When we see homeless families, struggling single mothers, people dying for lack of being able to afford simple health care, we should be outraged. We have to know at some level deep inside that it's wrong to have people struggling amidst all of this wealth and capitalism. The system does not work if there is any poverty. Poverty would be a thing of the past if there was any respect for our fellow man and any realistic acknowledgment that not everyone is cut out to make it in a capitalist nightmare world. There are children, they don't work, and they shouldn't have to work. There are elderly, and sick, and injured people. There are artists who should be doing art, musicians who should be making music for us all, and there are people who are simple, who are disabled, who are sad, who are broken, who are veterans, who are not evil for their inability to perform labor for someone. There's a place for all of us in this society, and we need to get off our high horses and quit acting like people don't deserve to eat if they don't have a damned 9 to 5 job. Says who? You? And who are you?

Life is precious. People matter. We are not all the same. That's a good thing. It hurts nothing for us to ensure that all are fed and clothed, all have a place to call home. Even if we have to just give it to them. Is there something wrong with taking care of those who cannot survive otherwise? Do we judge people by the amount of cash they lay claim to? Good Lord I hope not.

But the wealthy do that. And I don't want or need to be wealthy. I'd much rather be human and real. I'd much rather not be a predator and instead be someone who cares about things that go beyond my own greed and desires.

We can easily socialize an excellent health care system, and we should. Otherwise we will stay on our knees to insurance companies who dictate health care to millionaire doctors who in turn, are not interested in health care. It is absolutely possible. If we can socialize horrendously expensive wars that don't even do anything for this country, then we can certainly use less than half of that money instead to guarantee that ALL of us, young and old, can go to a doctor or a dentist any day of the week and our health will be seen to. If anyone can find fault in that, I'd say the fault is in their own soul.

We can socialize our banks too, and we should. It's not quite socialization either when we own and operate and profit from our own banks. It's the same thing the rich do, only we retain the control and the profits. What's bad about that? It's only bad from their perspective because they don't want us having the same benefits they have. Well too bad for them. We deserve them and we should demand them.

Socializing things that are essential services in America does not make us a socialist nation. Not by any stretch. It makes us a stronger nation, a healthier nation, a more logical, reasonable, and humane nation. It's a good thing to have the flexibility to make creative use of money and available, proven systems that will increase the quality of life across the board for everyone who calls themselves an American. We can know that freedom belongs to the individual, tax burdens should go to profit making enterprises, and responsibility to our country and to each other means including joint public ventures where no one profits more than anyone else so that everyone can be better off. We can have it all. And it's high time we did.


4 comments:

  1. Anonymous8:32 PM

    Oh man...

    I love your stuff you always make me laugh and you've got your eyes open... but this? Damn, it sucks, I TOTALLY disagree. The banksters are evil, pure satan. Its a total ponzi scheme, slight of hand, chains forged with paper, people debauched for paper, it gets me every time I think about it... paper.

    Fiat money or bills of credit is designed to rip the nation off, steal wealth and make serfs of the people. Take a look everyone is a dept slave, Russia, Italy, Britian, China you name we all bought it. A Government that can issue bonds, in encure a massive national debt, for loans the people can NEVER repay. Gotta to repay a dept? Gov. needs money, issue a bond, borrow the money, tack on interest, pay the interest got get a bond, money is issued oops more interest. Here is the kicker, the bank takes the bond and, the government provides the printing materals. Now the government is similar to a 13 yr old with a unlimited credit card. The people get the bill (trickle down economics) or paying your "income tax" part (dept slave). Here is the best part, lets use your "socalized" health care. Okay, so the pharmacutical, Phicisan Association, Nurse's Union, manufactures, hospital builders, insurance companies and every other healh care related lobby. Goes to preform for the 13 yr olds with the credit cards. They all want a fat pay day, they all want less competition. So, who every can court and shooze. Gets favorable regulation and excluse monopoly - no bid contracts. A huge pile of money for lobby #1. By the time lobby #1002 gets there huge pile the money has lost value then by the time it gets to the middle class more lobby groups have gotten a huge hand out. The poor, the ones who you want to benefit from the decient health care, not only get a small portion it is worth the very least because the volume being pumped out from the 13 yr olds delutes the value and accues interest.

    It's what we don't understand, inflation kills the value and interest eats away until your bankrupt forever spending more until it collapes. The poor suffer more and the quality goes down - every time when the government gets involved.

    Collectivism makes the bankers fat and happy, it doesn't make anything better. And then we die...

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  2. Anonymous,

    Paper money isn't anything in the first place but a marker. But our paper money isn't even that, it's just a piece of bank owned credit that we owe interest on. It can't be paid off because we'd need another loan to pay it off, but that would require another loan to pay IT off. It's quite a racket and it's outrageous.

    The only reason it's happening is because they lie about it. They have not made clear to the public what their wonderful scheme is. And they haven't done that because they know we would NEVER agree to it. Because it's stupid.

    The more you dig, the more you find out that literally everything we believe about this country is nothing more than a bag of smoke. We all believe our tax dollars are used to run the country when the reality is, they are not. The fact is that it all goes straight to the Bank of England, which has nothing to do with England any more than the Federal Reserve has anything to do with the United States. The government borrows what it needs to run the country. We don't have squat. I bet we don't even have any gold in Fort Knox anymore. These robbers have long ago robbed us blind of any REAL wealth there was around here.

    The IRS works for the Bank of England too by the way, they want their blood money and they'll get it if it means destroying your life.

    The rich people own and operate this set up. They perpetrate enormous frauds on all of us, including the election frauds and the phony presidents who they install to get laws passed that allow them to mow us down like the depraved crooks they are. The only thing that gives them pause is knowing they are definitely outnumbered and if we get wise, we'll get pissed. If we get pissed they may end up like King Louis and his honey Marie Antoinette, with their heads chopped off. It's all they deserve and I think it's kind of telling that they know it.

    Thanks for your comment, I'm glad I can make you laugh.

    Ang

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  3. Anonymous10:53 AM

    "Socialism for the rich" [or Fascism for the Masses;-] seen in top 400 wealthiest Americans owning more than 150 million Americans stuck in the bottom rung of our plutocracy-kelptocracy Angie is exactly how highly-regarded economics professor, Nouriel Roubini, put it best by citing US government bailouts as “socialism for the rich, the well connected and Wall Street; it is the continuation of a corrupt system where profits are privatized and losses are socialized.”

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  4. Anonymous12:17 AM

    If my thought-dreams could be seen

    They'd probably put my head in a guillotine

    But, it's alright, ma

    It's life and life only

    ReplyDelete