Socialism and Solutions
So I’m in the pool today, doing laps in a large lane on the edge of the pool. Sharing with three older ladies doing their water wing workout, which is basically just floating and rotating your arms every once in a while as you gossip and discuss world affairs.
The topic du jour is socialism and how Obama is going to raise taxes and spend our money like there’s no tomorrow. The end result being socialism.
“I know what socialism looks like,” exclaims one.
“Yeah, me too. And they’re opening the borders to Mexicans who aren’t even going to have to pay taxes but will get tax refunds.”
As I caught bits and pieces of this blather, I couldn’t help but think of the irony of the situation, as they splashed about and enjoyed themselves in a well run community owned facility. Owned by me and the other citizens of Germantown. Kind of a socialist setting, but I guess I shouldn’t really tell them that. They might think the place was going to be overtaken by jackbooted thugs dressed in olive drab uniforms. Or worse yet, Mexicans. Oh my!
There seems to be a lot of this paranoia floating about, fueled in part by a not-so-clever propaganda campaign from the far right. Rush Limbaugh and that nitwit Senator of ours, Marsha Blackburn. Do whatever it takes, including telling blatant lies, to discredit Obama and anything “liberals” try to do to fix the mess Bxxx and his high rolling Wall Street buddies got us into.
It started in the campaign, of course, all this ridiculous, baseless labeling and name calling, and it’s continuing today. It’s designed to create fear, because as Herman Goering once stated all you have to do is create fear in the populace, and you can then do about whatever you want.
Not that I totally agree with all that Obama is doing. I don’t. Spending more, taxing more and fueling Wall Street in an effort to get credit flowing again, is a myopic strategy that simply won’t work, and the reason it won’t work is because the fundamental premise of how our economy should function is flawed. Deeply flawed. Those Chicago School boys ain’t done us any favors.
But eventually, man will learn that nature is the final arbitrator of things. Not Wall Street, not Washington, not the Democrats nor the Republicans. And no, not “god” either. God, if there is such a thing, doesn’t care about our economic system.
I pose this challenge to anyone that fancies themselves a seasoned debater and knowledgeable about economics. Please tell me how the “growth economy” can continue ad infinitum? Just do the math. Simple math. Apply a little biology and geology, and your argument is cooked.
Getting back to the problem at hand, though. Is Obama a socialist? What is a socialist? Someone that believes the means of production should be owned by the producers? An employee owned company? A cooperative? Yes, those are socialist enterprises, and there are many, many examples of where they work very well. Much better than our current investment community. Better than many banks.
But Obama is no socialist. Obama raised an incredible amount of money from Wall Street. Far more than McCain did. He’s got some very powerful, wealthy, mega-capitalist friends, so let’s not go off the deep end and start believing he’s another Hugo Chavez. Please. Spare me and stop embarrassing yourself by saying this stuff. You look like you get all your information from Rush Limbaugh and didn’t spend a second studying anything outside of business school.
My guess is we’re headed for even deeper serious economic troubles, and the right will jump on Obama. They’ll say he’s not fixing the problem their side created, and honestly, there may be some truth to that argument. However, he’s doing far more than Bxxx did to help everyone, not just the rich and powerful. And he can at least deliver a solid speech without slaughtering the English language.
Obama also obviously knows a lot of things I don’t, so I’m inclined to sit back and hope for the best. Perhaps he’s right and this is the best short term strategy. He’s smart, seems to really care about people, and he’s very likable. The bottom line is the jury is still out. Let’s give the guy a chance.
My solution? Oh….
I think we do need a stimulus package, but I want to retrain workers and put them in public works projects committed to developing alternative energy and expanding the passenger rail system around the country. That, and a public works project focused on rebuilding local communities and making them sustainable. Perhaps a new and more hip version of 4-H that teaches kids real life skills. Craftsmanship, gardening, food preparation, personal finance, how to build and maintain bikes, how to form and run effective community organizations, etc. Skills that will teach people how to really solve their own problems without depending on Washington or even their local governments.
Suck a billion or so out of the military (does anyone really think that any country is a match for our military, even with a massive cut…oh, and the Marines are another example of a government run program that works pretty well), and put it into education. A complete rework. Let’s fund the hell of out of it and do something worthwhile for our kids. Would you rather educate them or just keep sending them off to fight economic wars so they can get shot to pieces?
Why is that such a difficult choice? I mean, do you really feel threatened by a foreign power? I don’t, but what keeps me up at night and worries the hell out of me is millions upon millions of functional illiterates roaming our streets, many of which end up turning to violence after they’re left off the cruise ship.
And no, we don’t need to don citizens suits and start marching lock step through the streets reciting manifestos. We just need to roll up our sleeves and get to work.
ONWARD
Categories: Community
Tags: economics, Obama, socialism
Comments: 2 Comments.
LOL on the floating ladies perspective.
Just an additional thought on the government stimulus package.
Macro Economics is based upon growth. In the 35-50 age group, the group that invests, there is a huge drop. They do not exist in the same numbers as the previous generations. Meaning there will be less capital flowing into the stock market and banks as the 55+ crowd retires and pulls out of the market.
Given the multi-trillion dollar spending spree of late, there is really not enough people coming of age to pay for it.
Solution? Well long term we need more children, short term, tighten the belt on all levels and invest in real things, ie: real estate, food, metals, etc.
Just today’s thoughts….
More children? How ’bout just less spending?
Having more children, and thereby placing even more pressure on ecosystems, public works, already overcrowded schools and an inadequate public healthcare infrastructure, makes no sense to me.
That’s the white man’s version of an old well known welfare joke: have more babies so you can get more money from the government!