That was then, this is now

I can report, with considerable pride, that I have never once read a column by Cal Thomas (or George Will) -- until today. Well, actually I didn’t really read all of Cal Thomas’s column, which is often featured in our local conservative rag. Today the headline caught my eye, “Obama’s policies are socialist.” Is that not a pathetically predictable Brafia (the Republican party before it morphed into a full-blown criminal conspiracy) claim? Why is it that anytime anyone, especially a Democrat, suggests doing something for the public good the Brafia cries socialism? There is, I believe, an historical explanation for this. Basically, it has to do with the fact that the Brafia is still living in the “then” rather than in the “now.” First, there were/are different versions of socialism, some of which are much more authoritarian than others. You notice that when Brafia speak of socialism (or communism which, in their view is apparently the same thing), they always mention Russia, China, or Cuba. They never mention Socialist Democracies like Norway, Sweden, Germany or France. The term socialism, for Brafia, doesn’t really need any meaning as just the word itself seems to send everyone into a panic. This is, I suggest a carry-over from the past. You will recall that in the late 19th and very early 20th centuries socialistic and communistic organizations were widespread. They were at their strongest, and all fighting for workers’ rights against the robber barons and other corporate entities that were completely opposed to such rights. Socialists joined with unions and strikes were widespread. These were met by government spies, goon squads, and even troops, which put them down with a vengeance. Many were killed and many more arrested. It was a violent time. Even here in Idaho striking miners blew up the Bunker Hill in Kellogg and even assassinated the Governor. The unions won out on some of their demands, like an eight hour working day and other benefits but only after years of battling with the corporations and the government itself. When the current Brafia speaks of socialism this is what they want you to think about. But it all boils down into the simple conflict between the demands of the people and the desires of the corporations, and the attendant conflict between capitalism and socialism. Some progressive and sensible nations, such as Norway and Sweden, for example, have blended capitalism with socialism into a system where excessive capitalism is regulated for the public good. These are Social Democracies and they function very well. Here in the U.S., however, we have evolved in a different direction. Not only does our government not regulate in the public interest, they actively collude with the corporations to do away with as much regulation as possible. This is excessive capitalism carried to an extreme. It probably should be more properly labeled “corporatism. (which some have likened to fascism). ” Goering is reputed to have said, “when I hear the word culture I reach for my revolver.” That is what we should have been doing all these years when we heard the words “privatization” and “deregulation.” We have now seen what privatization and deregulation has done to the oil industry, the banking industry, the stock market, and such. The Brafia continues to push these destructive ideas on a gullible public, to try to break unions, and to turn our country into nothing but a cheap labor pool for our corporate masters. Market capitalism, as the Brafia practices it, is no more than primitive “Social Darwinism,” which was discredited by decent people long ago. Things are, of course, somewhat different now than they were in the early 1900’s. We do, at least, have an eight hour working day (although they would change that if they could). We have credit cards (with usurious rates of interest), not much different than the functional equivalent of slavery. All in all I suppose one could argue that things are not as bad today as back in the days of the true sweatshops (we have moved these overseas) and vicious strikebreakers. Marx and Engels did not anticipate that you could buy off the poor “with a six-pack of beer and a long-legged whore on Saturday night” (someone else’s comment, not mine). Don’t forget, however, that Americans are working much harder than Europeans with much less time off, wages are stagnant, gasoline is approaching five dollars a gallon, more and more people are going hungry because of food prices, most families now have two or more people working to keep up with what one person could provide in the past, many millions are without health care, and some 84% of Americans think we are on the wrong track. People are depressed. There seems to be a glimmer of hope in Obama. What a burden he will have to bear! It is not depression that leads to suicide, but, rather, hopelessness. If this latter becomes more widespread, watch out!
McCain was a war hero. That was then, this is now. Socialism then was a bad word. This is now. Some things are far too important to be left to the private sector: clean air and water, medical care, education, basic superstructure, energy, global warming, and financial institutions. I welcome any socialistic ideas Obama may have, they are badly needed. I hope they truly exist.

LKBIQ:
“We have among us a class of mammon worshippers, whose one test of conservatism or radicalism is the attitude one takes with respect to accumulated wealth. Whatever tends to preserve the wealth of the wealthy is called conservatism, and whatever favors anything else, no matter what, is called socialism.”
Richard T. Ely