Sierra Mountain Times

I freely admit I’ve been duped all my life thinking I was living in a capitalistic, free enterprise, democratic country. I see now that the Tea-Party people were right. We are loosing our rights to some sinister, left wing conspiracy, bent on taking our freedoms away, little by little.

I was so upset as I dropped off my grandchildren at the PUBLIC SCHOOL. 

My mind was racing as I thought of all the ways socialism has entered our lives. As I traveled down the U.S. HIGHWAY on my way to pick up my dad, I grew more and more outraged. Picking up my elderly father, the two of us headed for his appointment with the VETERANS ADMINISTRATION hospital for a check-up. Then it was off to the bank so he could deposit his SOCIAL SECURITY check (he doesn’t trust the government with direct deposit).

As we drove, a radio news program told of a FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION recall of a drug that was just prescribed for me by my MEDICARE doctor through MEDICARE PART D. On the same program was more information coming from the CENTER FOR DISEASE CONTROL about the H1n1 flu pandemic. I wondered if there was any connection with this flu with the environment. Was the ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY doing its job?

I had promised my grandkids I would take them to our nearby NATIONAL PARK for a days visit. I began preparing for the next day’s excursion. 

Did I have my National Parks SENIOR PASS, good for any admittance to national parks? Yes. Now I needed to check with my contact with the OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION about their investigation into my and fellow employees claims of workplace violations of health conditions that lead me to retire earlier than I planned.

I knew I didn’t want to look at my savings plan summary, but I had to know how much, if any, my stocks in my 401k have recovered. It would be tight making retirement work, knowing that my nest egg was now an omelet. At least what liquid cash I still had in INDIVIDUAL RETIREMENT ACCOUNTS was insured and safe through the FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE CORPORATION. What was the government thinking when they let banks and insurance companies, mortgage brokers and speculators play with our lives? With the economic fall, my daughter lost her job and her health insurance. My son-in-law had changed jobs and previously been covered by her insurance. His new employer offered insurance but the deductibles were way too high, yet they had to have coverage. I had hoped to help them financially but my own situation isn’t good. At least she can collect EOC unemployment benefits while she searches for another job.

My last stop for the day was a rally on the steps of our city hall. I was handed a sign that read, “Take Government out of my life!” Right-on, I thought. We’ve got to send a loud and clear message to Washington that government was what got us in this economic mess in the first place, right? Free enterprise and free markets weren’t the culprit – never mind that some were greedy and government regulation was relaxed long enough for this catastrophe. A few opposition members against our rally carried their own signs, some of which declared it was the previous administration that led us to the brink of another Depression. A few of my members carried signs denouncing Obama’s health plan as socialism while the opposition called for “public option or single payer healthcare”. Poor fools, don’t they realize that with a market-driven economy, we don’t need government plans? Sure, healthcare needs some incentives to bring costs within reason, but I’m sure by requiring everyone to have insurance that the insurance companies will control their executive payouts without competition from the government. Didn’t the pharmaceutical industry promise to bring their prices down? I’m sure they’ll get around to it soon.

The above is a fictionalized depiction. The references to federal agencies used represent some of the departments and agencies of both federal and state that Americans call on to provide the services and protections we expect. Perhaps the biggest accusation currently is that President Obama and the Democrats are pushing us further along the path to Socialism with a government run healthcare option. If offering a non-profit choice to compete with insurance companies is considered Socialism, then the granddaddy of all federal programs, Social Security, by reasonable deduction must be considered a Socialistic pawn of President Franklin Roosevelt. How many seniors or handicapped citizens are willing to do away with that program? I didn’t see any hands raised. 

Then there is Medicare and Medicaid found necessary because older citizens were having a tough time getting health care at a time when they needed it the most and the poorest among us had no where to turn.

At what point in American history would the strict Constitutional constructionists draw the line at going “too far to the left”. I, for one, am grateful that public schools, paid for with tax dollars from the public enable all children and young adults to secure the education they need for life. I give no thought or recognition to the vast network of highways built upon this land from not private-owned, but federal or state financed systems, supported by tax dollars. As I enter a National Park or National Forest, sometimes I think about what might have been had not government acted to protect these treasures. It might be acceptable for stadiums to be called Minute Maid Park, etc., but if Yosemite National Park had been in corporate hands, purchased decades ago, we might be visiting “Budweiser Park”, replete with billboards and neon signs. That just doesn’t work for me. I’m happy to spend some of my tax dollars to keep things the way they are.

For those in need of a refresher course on the meaning of “Socialism”, let me give an abbreviated definition that most scholars – and socialists agree upon. According to Wikipedia, “Most socialists share the view that capitalism unfairly concentrates power and wealth among a small segment of society that controls capital and derives its wealth through exploitation, creates an unequal society, does not provide equal opportunities for everyone to maximize their potentials.” It further goes on, “Widespread Republican criticism in the USA takes the view that welfare reforms on healthcare promoted by President Barack Obama constitute socialism despite the fact that the economy remains entirely in capitalist hands…core concepts for socialists clearly include: (1) worker control over the nature and conditions of their work; (2) collective ownership of the major capital assets of the society, the means of production; (3) an egalitarian distribution of the wealth of a society. For these commentators, the Republicans are confusing minor welfare state reform with a socialist state.”

As recent events unfolding over the past two years have shown, Capitalism has been given a black eye. Americans celebrate the fact that free enterprise allows anyone to work hard and achieve material gain. 

Our country was founded on those principles found in Capitalism. When Capitalism fails us is when WE allow ourselves to believe that human nature can always be trusted to do the right things for society if left on its on. Like a child tempted to break into the cookie jar while mom is away, without rules and consequences the human vices like greed take over. Was power and wealth concentrated among a small, but powerful segment of society? Was exploitation part of the moral decay that brought down the great banks and investments houses on Wall Street and ultimately the downfall of millions of our citizens as they lost their fortunes and their jobs?

No, we’re not even close to being a Socialist nation. The fears of the populace are genuine when they see the national indebtedness growing. It doesn’t mean we are entering socialism in place of democracy. Democratic principles as well as Capitalistic ones are securely in place. Ask the surviving big banks and Wall Street Investors – they’re better off than those who trusted the “system” to work for them.

For those decrying “Socialism” at town hall meetings and tea parties, they would be wise to take a warning from the pages of history that gave birth to Socialism. For in those pages of the disenchanted, socialists marched against what Capitalism is also capable of giving us: inequality and exploitation.