Forum Post: In Defence Of The 'Broad Church of Socialism' against the Ignorant, Prejudiced & Plain Mean Spirited !!!
Posted 1 year ago on Nov. 11, 2011, 12:28 a.m. EST by shadz66
(12795)
This content is user submitted and not an official statement
Like many millions of people throughout The World - I subscribe to Socialist Precepts and Principles because I realise and accept that Socialism has an Ethical Basis and Dimension, above and beyond "The Dog Eat Dog" and "The Devil Take the Hindmost" attitudes of crude laissez-fair capitalism.
Indeed Modern High-Finance Capitalism (cf Corporate Banksterism / 'Hoover-Up Kaputalism' ) is a Busted Flush and any honest person in possession of the most rudimentary ethical compass can clearly see that.
Please do NOT confuse and conflate Socialism with 'State Capitalism' or 'Totalitarian Stalinism' (as is the wont of avowed and abject 'anti-socialists' {ahem!}) and do try to understand why very many 'Economists' and 'Social & Political Commentators' with anything pertinent to say about our Global 'Debtocracy' ( http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/debtocracy/ ) are increasingly referring to Karl Marx ( http://www.marxists.org/ ) for analysis if not solutions.
Socialism is a Philosophy, World View, School of Thought & Morality and its a very 'broad church', from Social Democrats, Fabians, Christian Socialist (inspired by that Proto-Socialist, 'Jesus Christ'!) through Dialectical Materialists, Internationalists and Libertarian Anarcho-Syndicalists - to Revolutionary Maoists advocating armed resistance and violent proletarian revolution.
Ignorant and prejudiced opinions are no place for anyone to objectively assess Socialism, so step back from The Corporate MSM (ABCNNBCBS / FUX SNEWzzz etc.) induced apoplexy and prejudices and look to make your own mind up. Thus, further to the links above, I also append the following :
a) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialism , for Some Fair Facts,
b) http://www.internationalgramscisociety.org/ , as Theory Matters,
c) http://www.lucyparsonsproject.org/ , for a True US 99% Heroine,
d) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOP2V_np2c0 , for An Animated Analysis,
e) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satyagraha , as Re. 'OWS' - Gandhian Ideas Matter Too.
Recently a poster (jpaul05), on another thread on this subject wrote : "Socialism is the belief that Production should be Democratically controlled ; NOT in a hierarchical sense but in a decentralized, lateral sense. This way the dominant value guiding society is not maximization of profit, but a plurality of values aimed toward human need.", which I thought was very well put.
In conclusion, either we meekly accept The Usurpation and 'mutation under duress' of our Democracies into 'demoCRAZY deMOCKERYcy' & de facto Fascism ... or WE reclaim our Dignity, Liberty, Prosperity and indeed Sanity, as The Only 'Class War' is the one that has been waged by a Parasitic 0.01% (The 1% of the 1%), using the 1% against The 99% Working Class because if we need to work to pay our bills, that IS quite self-evidently what we are, ipso facto !!!
Please also read :
- "The War Against the Poor : Occupy Wall Street and the Politics of Financial Morality" : http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article29649.htm .
Finally, some words from Albert Einstein from over 60 years ago :
- "Why Socialism ?" : http://monthlyreview.org/2009/05/01/why-socialism .
iVIVA LOS INDIGNADOS Y VIVA LOS 99%!
per ardua ad astra ...
I know i am a bit away from the subject at this post, but since we are talking about socialism, i'd like to refer to a song known as "The internationale"(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcXNXKtu8z4) Two phrases of the lyrics drive my attention. "Don't cling so hard for your possessions/ for you have nothing if you have no rights" and "For though they offer us concessions/ change will not come from above!" No matter what i think of, can't deny those two statements.
Obrigado 'leandro' and working link re. "The Internationale" = http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcXNXKtu8z4 (your parentheses were too close ;-) adeus !!
Oh, thanks for that... I was wondering why my links don't appear in blue... Have a nice day :-)
Excellent post, thank you.
PttP : FYI, "Republican Socialists, Democratic Capitalists GOP Pols Exploit Anti-Wall Street Rage", by Ted Rall : http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article30227.htm . fiat justitia ...
Yes I think people need to get away from the connotation of socialism. Is there a way to mold socialism with republicanism. I think so. http://occupywallst.org/forum/republicanism-and-the-constitutional-republic/
@ 'invient' : Thanx for your succinct reply. I think that your post is very thought provoking indeed.
'Socialism' is just a word which thanx to The (mis)Education System & The Toxic-MSM, seems to provoke all sorts of emotional, knee-jerk, negative responses in Americans in particular - whose internalised 'Cold War' Propaganda, still chimes in their Collective Psyche. I am not as particularly attached to The Word as I am to The Ideas.
For example and re. Germany ; The Marshal Plan ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshall_Plan ) was hugely important to post-war Germany - between 1948 & 1952/53 and indeed it could be easily argued (esp. by the likes of me ;-) that the U$A needs a Rooseveltian New Deal & 'Marshal Plan' right now, particularly for its crumbling infrastructure. However, the primary financial beneficiaries of The Cold War was ... The US Military Industrial Complex & The US 'Multi-National Corporations' !
The really interesting conclusion to draw is the way post-war West Germany rebuilt & moved its Society forward as a result of being freed from the expense & 'societal energy sapping' of The Military WAR Machine. The same is of course true for Japan. Finally it should be noted that Re-Unified Germany has rebuilt & integrated (& still continues to do so), the erstwhile East-Germany - with all the huge concomitant financial costs involved but still Germany continues to invest in its people & strengthen its Civil Society. Now many & indeed most Germans won't necessarily consider that their strong & compassionate society is 'Socialist' but try to dispassionately consider the nature & progression of their Society and I care not for what words are used to describe their system, all I'd like is for every country on Earth (US/UK et al) to have the opportunity for some of that !!
My final point is to draw attention to the fact that 'The Cold War' has been over for 20 years (a generation, no less !!) but how come The American Citizenry has seen NOUGHT ; NOTHING ; NADA ... of Any Peace Dividend ?! Or have massive efforts been made to replace 'The Cold War' with an Endless & Ongoing New 'Hot' Global War ... ON TERROR ?!
Cui Bono ?
I would have to say that you are right... in the sense that the cold war served to transfer power to the military-industrial complex, and to fuel its legitimacy to continue, a perpetual war needed to be started. It is always easier to give power than it is to take it away.
IF you fancy an uplifting & illuminating 15 mins. : Try 'Zizek @ OWS' ; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89Ck-5fHTnM ! He has a strong sLOVEnian accent so thank goodness for 'MIC-CHECK' !!
Furthermore, re. The Film "INSIDE JOB", about the 2008 'WALL $t. HEI$T, please see :
"It's a powerhouse of a documentary that will leave you both thunderstruck and boiling with rage."
pax, amor et lux ...
I would have to say that you are right... in the sense that the cold war served to transfer power to the military-industrial complex, and to fuel its legitimacy to continue, a perpetual war needed to be started. It is always easier to give power than it is to take it away.
A guy posted this a few days ago. I thought it was pretty awesome.
"Anti-Socialism. This is perhaps the stupidest thing I've ever heard. What do they think the public school system is? Or police? Or fire fighters? Or transportation and the roads you drive on? If they hate socialism, they clearly hate the majority of the functions that make their life worthwhile; not to mention the lives of everyone else who lives in our country. I understand that they've been constantly told to believe that socialism is bad and then referenced to people like Hitler (who, by the way, was a fascist, not a socialist), but for god's sake, educate yourselves on what economies actually work and why. The fact is, having a capitalistic society AND a socialist society is far better than having one or the other. Why? Because if you have a public option (say, public school), then all of the options that would require you to pay (a capitalistic option, such as private school) have to be that much more impressive, competitive, and effective than they otherwise would. Without that competition (again, these guys LOVE competition), we just apathy by those in charge who don't have to really bother competing. They can just do whatever moderate job they feel like, effectively becoming the free standard, but paying for it."
That is a great quote... as always the answer somewhere in the middle.
Yeah I post this all the time. I've said things like this, but nowhere near as well phrased as this. The guy's whole post was actually amazing.
Here's some other parts. The way it's written is directed toward the opposition.
"First, let me state a positive party point for you. Corporations are necessary for a world growing like ours. This is true. They can provide infrastructures and research to develop technologies that small businesses would not be able to effectively produce on their own (at least without a great deal of effort). We are not opposing this. We are, however, not ignorant to the atrocities that they have committed in order to further their monetary actions. There are select people of extraordinary wealth that have exploited the system for personal, selfish gain, at the expense of the American people (or, really, any country in the world). The morality of it is reprehensible. That is something that we do oppose."
By now, you should realize that corporations have lobbyists in government. There is one reason for this: to influence law. That is directly contradictory to a free market. So if you support a free market, then you should be assisting with the Occupy movement, because they are intelligent enough to realize that regulations in our system favor the corporate agendas to an extent where the entirety of what a free market stands for is impossible. In a free market, every competitor has a fair chance. As it stands, we do not have anything remotely close to a free market. The republicans say they stand for a free market, yet are supporting the very ideals that would push us further away from one. Allowing the corporations to go "unregulated" would just mean they retain total control over what regulations they can put on their competitors. And the result is that small businesses would be unable to compete, forcing everyone into a compliance of however corporations wanted to run things.
You seem to hate government for the qualities that corporations possess, but you don't seem to be capable of making that distinction. Tell me, what is health care? It's a fee that is spread between a collective pool to make sure that everyone can get treatment. And what is health insurance? It's a fee that is spread between a collective pool to presumably assist with medical costs. But what is the real difference between the two? Accountability. Whether it's corporations handling a major project or the government, the result is the same with one fundamental difference: who do you trust, and why. And if your instinct is to trust corporations, why? Are you blind to what has taken place? Are you really so unobservant that you can't see that health insurance has been committing atrocities to Americans and those that they are supposed to be helping? They don't have to be transparent or accountable in their actions, and they've been doing everything in their power to grow their wealth at the expense of the people that really need their help. There's so much more to this, but we move on Anti-Socialism. This is perhaps the stupidest thing I've ever heard.... and this part you've read. already in my previous comment.
"A debt-based monetary system, where money comes into existence primarily through private bank lending, can neither create, nor sustain, a stable economic environment, but has proven to be a source of chronic financial instability and frequent crisis, as evidenced by the near collapse of the financial system in 2008."
"Banks increased their value by lending money imprudently, which greatly inflated the value of bank holdings, exposing depositors and taxpayers to the risks of schemes like the bundling of subprime mortgages, and ultimately bringing undercapitalized banks and the entire financial system to the edge of ruin, creating circumstances where the taxpayers of the United States were called upon to save the banks from their own imprudent lending practices, misspending and mis-investments. The banks' ability to create money out of nothing ultimately became the taxpayers' liability, and raises a fundamental question about a practice of money creation which threatens the wealth of the American people."
"Our money system is not what we have been led to believe. The creation of money has been "privatized," or taken over by private money lenders. Thomas Jefferson called them “bold and bankrupt adventurers just pretending to have money.” Except for coins, all of our money is now created as loans advanced by private banking institutions — including the privately-owned Federal Reserve. Banks create the principal but not the interest to service their loans. To find the interest, new loans must continually be taken out, expanding the money supply, inflating prices — and robbing you of the value of your money."
Further to and in order to compliment, the above :
radix malorum est cupiditas ...
In a similar vein :
veritas vos liberabit ...
In order to better understand just what "The Markets" are up to :
http://maxkeiser.com/ ,
http://rt.com/programs/keiser-report/ &
http://rt.com/programs/capital-account/ .
fiat lux ...
@ 'TM' & 'i' : I too very much like what the "guy posted" and as such I sincerely recommend : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialism for cool and leisurely later reflection.
I do NOT wish for, desire or advocate State Ownership Of Everything ... FAR from it. I wish there to be a myriad competing entrepreneurs ; I want free and fair competition between the best ideas and many 'modus operandi' in many matters ; I want Equality Of Opportunity For All, especially for the younger generation - Irrespective of 'Class', Financial Standing or Familial Favours & Advantages and I want a Strong, Responsive and Effective Democracy.
In short I am not interested in 'dumbing down' and 'factoring people down' with any 'Lowest Common Denominators' - I want individuals, families and communities to rise up to their Highest Potential. I want an equal playing field and fair advancement to be available for all, no matter what 'class', colour or creed. I have a lot of time for Adam Smith, who often warns against monopoly and cartels and who I regard as a Moral Philosopher more than a 'Free Market Fundamentalist'.
I desire all this for Everyone Everywhere & I yearn for All of Us to be free of The Despotism Of The Banksters & emancipated from The Stifling Clutches Of The 'Permanent-War' Machine.
I want a Fair Society with good shared Healthcare For All and good Educational Opportunities For All. I want voting to mean something and I want Political Parties and Corporations OUT of Our Democracy - wherever WE are ... and I do NOT regard all of this as 'utopian' or 'idealistic' .. I regard it as eminently doable and desirable and well within our human capabilities.
pax, amor et lux ...