Did you ever make a wish and have someone say, “Be careful what you wish for?” If so, did the wish come true, and if it did, was it everything you expected?
I ask because many people in the United States today wish for things that may not turn out well. Take some of my younger acquaintances, for example.
Many consistently post comments, rants, criticism, etc., on social media, complaining about everything from health care to the fact that many Baby Boomers still wear cutoff jeans. They regularly wish for Boomers to sit down and shut up and for our government to move toward the practices of other nations.
Though many are smart enough not to say it openly, one common theme is a movement toward socialism. Yes, socialism will fix everything wrong with the United States if we give it a chance. After all, we’re so much smarter here. We won’t end up like those countries where socialism led to conditions that have their citizens fleeing them by the thousands and risking their lives to make their way to the U.S. border.
Okay, that last bit was a little snarky. However, when I hear someone I know to be well-educated, intelligent, and well-meaning continually make comments that clearly show a lack of clarity, it saddens me. Then, when I see the numerous supportive comments from other well-meaning, successful young people, my faith in the future of our country is shaken.
So, other than shooting off my mouth today, what is the purpose of this post? It is to introduce a series of posts telling a story some folks need to hear. It is a true story, and hopefully, it will make someone who reads it think twice before they make a wish that might help fundamentally change the most successful democratic republic on the planet.
Stay tuned for the Saga of Rosy and June.
© oneoldcop.com 2022
@jacksonseric
Photo used for the image above by Enrique Meseguer from Pixabay
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Eric,
I guess you knew that your post would draw a few comments, so here is another one.
While what Michelle says has some merit, there is no such thing as pure socialism, or, for that matter, pure democracy. Those two systems do not exist in any pure way anywhere in the world. The problem with any system is the people operating them, with their selfishness and their greed. It gets in the way of any system operating for the benefit of the society they are supposed to represent. Overall, democracy is the best of the above two systems and every effort should be made to improve it, because it certainly is not working as it should in your part of the world.
By the way, many South and Central American countries politics vacillate from one extreme to the other, usually without any success regardless of what they call their so-called system.
I look forward to your next posts on the subject.
All the best.
Regards, Phil
Phil, Thanks for the feedback. Yes, I expected some comments, even more, as I move forward. The hardest part of discussions about matters such as this is the lack of clear definitions and understanding. Terms such as socialism, communism, democracy, imperialism, etc., mean different things to different people and groups. While working in Brazil a few years ago with some other guys from Texas, one of them asked what I thought about Brazil, and I said it was essentially a third-world country. He was not happy with my labeling the country in that manner, but given one definition of “third world,” it fits. It does not match the “Cold War” era definition, but in other ways, it does. Amusingly, I ran across a discussion of the “third world” label recently in a blog from National Public Radio. It discussed dealing with the question of what one should call such countries in the modern world. They tried developing countries and several other terms, with little consensus, at the time. Today, it seems Developing Country has won out in Wikipedia, at least. Take Care
The US is decidedly slightly right of centre, and no one has suggested any policies that are socialism. Socialize healthcare, for instance, isn’t socialism. Socialism is an economic and political philosophy that advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole. It’s most definitely not the government in charge.
The people in Latin and South America who flee their economic and social realities are most often victims of American imperialism. The fear of communism turned the US into a negative actor, and its wholesale push of Friedman economics created real and sustained harm.
I appreciate your comment and understand what you are saying concerning socialism, which matches the textbook definition. The reality in any political/social system has little to do with the textbook definitions. Also, if socialism means the government cannot be in charge, the possibility of pure socialism existing is infinitesimal. Someone, some entity, or some group will always be in charge. Socialism, as it is understood and exists today outside of academia, means a society in which the government decides what is best for everyone. Of course, that can be said about a pure democracy, dictatorship, or communism. The only difference is who thinks they give the government its marching orders.
That may be your understanding of it, but many understand it differently. I do find people objections to social democracy, which is simply helping others, interesting.
But I do find it interesting to read other people’s opinions and points of view. Thank you for continuing to share them. In the end, the only thing that is going to help us is getting to know one and another better. Otherwise, the world is tribal and doomed.
Dang! We may have more in common than we think. I’ve had a piece sitting in the draft folder titled Tribally Speaking for over a year. Given the “cancel-culture,” “you’ve offended me” world in which we live, I have been hesitant to publish it because some will see any mention of a tribe or tribal as discriminatory, racist, or whatever. That issue isn’t going away soon, and I am dealing with several things that keep me from launching a new blog site. I am part of a couple of “tribes,” if you will. One is highly diverse politically, religiously, and culturally. Appreciate the feedback.
I look forward to it.