May I RANT??

[_q_]

Okay, first off, hi all!! I usually hang in the KOEB clubhouse, and don't always have time to read all of that, so please excuse me if this isn't the right forum to post this in. (Just moved this to General Discussion from the Lounge.)
Also, this is going to make me sound like a big fat commie, but oh well. I've got a bone to pick, and I'm curious what you guys think of these issues. Apologies in advance to the progressive faithful, but I think that Marx had a valid point about the potential for religion to be used to mollify the underclasses.

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Why create socialist programs? Why not just let unadulterated capitalism be it's own moral ideal, and let charity take care of the needy? This is the conservative viewpoint that I've been exposed to, and here is my answer.

Charity is nothing more than a fairy tale to distract the masses, like stories of a glorious afterlife for the meek (Marx said it first, but it rings true to me) or Oprah lavishing expensive gifts on a handful of regular Janes (as the cameras roll) while enjoying a personal fortune that makes most Saudi princes look poor.
"Look! We see your pain! We see the problem! We're working on it, but there's just so much that we can do! The solution is too overwhelming. We can never educate ALL the children, give health care to ALL the citizens, feed ALL the poor. But here. Have $5 and buy yourself a cup of coffee."
Bullshit. There is a solution to mass misery and pain, and it's within our grasp!
1. Birth control should be subsidized for everybody who wants it, and distributed anonymously. If there's ANYTHING that pays for itself in the long run, it's Depo-Provera!!
2. Social programs are the most valuable thing, short of _genuine_ national security, that a government can offer its citizens. High quality public education creates a high quality society that we all can enjoy. Helping fringe populations slow the spread of viral infections via needle-exchange programs protects the mainstream population. Federally funded scientific research advances mankind, and will be required to effectively protect the rest of life on this planet.
3. The continued redistribution of wealth into the miniscule upper classes dissolves the educated, moral, productive middle class. Who creates wealth? Paris Hilton? Linda Lay? Really?? Or the guys who work at the factories, drive the trucks full of food across America, put hours of effort into creating intellectual property like architectural blueprints, medical software and scientific studies? How do the conservatives get away with saying that unlimited personal wealth is a requisite motivator for innovation? What is it about this tiny handful of folks that stops them from showing up at work if they don't make more than $6 million a year?? Are they really the hungriest innovators by virtue of being the best-fed?

Meanwhile you've got people like Ben Shapiro (is that a recent picture?) whining about how Paris Hilton looks pretty skanky in that hamburger ad, and dammit, if the goverment had its priorities straight they'd outlaw skanky celebrities.
Hey! Here's an idea! Why don't we outlaw the conditions that create these rich-bitch brats in the first place? Let's start with an inheritance tax that leaves the children of extremely wealthy parents with every conceivable advantage in the world - top-notch healthcare, education, social network - EXCEPT enough money to live and die without raising a pinky finger. Let 'em go compete for a job for cripe's sake.
-q
(Quanlin, that is. Come flame me at Olbermann.org, my KO fan site.)

[Ruffhowse]

1. I very much agree with your sentiments here. I'm finally to the point,

after doing enough reading and studying and living, that I'm ready to call myself a socialist as well. Marx DID have a lot to say that was right on accurate about the inequities of capitalism. He's been demonized by the Right so thoroughly that it seems impossible these days to quote him and not get slammed from both the Left and the Right. I also share your disgust at the obscene celebration of conspicuous consumption we have come to in American culture today. I'm just sick of it, when SO many struggle and go without. The Right is so powerful, wealthy and well coordinated that I really don't know what the answer is to turn things around. Our strength is in our numbers, but how to marshal that into an organized effort is a tough question.

[Kindigger]

2. If my body were in better shape...

I'd join the Peace Corps, and never come back. I actually get envious of countries where extended family, and helping your neighbor still exists.

Unfortunately, my body has been broken beyond repair from years of ingrained belief that the "American Dream" could be achieved through hard work.

When I was little, my Dad worked a union job with a janitorial service on the side at night. Beginning at age twelve, I never noticed the dream moving further away faster than I could lug my mop.

[xchrom]

3. i call myself a socialist --

i don't mind that there are rich people -- i mind that corporations are extreme political organizations and the american public are ok with what they are doing to their everyday lives.

corporations and their relationship to being publicly held{it's one of the engines that makes them exert their political shadow over an ever increasing piece of the land scape} -- it seems to me -- is the single biggest threat society here and abroad faces today.