Thoughts about Socialism + Bonus Feature + Rants

Thoughts about Socialism

People of my generation of been accused, albeit mildly, of perhaps being just a tad bit too squeamish about Socialism. And I have to concede that we have become numbed to, perhaps even enamored by, socialistic programs such as Social Security. * Speaking in defense of my entire generation [always a dangerous move to make], I feel compelled to say this.

• There is a difference between socialized program & a systematic, socialistic government.
• Maybe what my generation came to learn about Socialism as practiced by Lenin, Mao, Pol Pot, the Castro brothers, just to name a few, should be warning enough that socialism as a political system is, how shall I put it delicately, disastrous.
• Government by the few inevitably becomes government on behalf of the few at the expense of the many. [If somebody hasn't already said that, I want credit for it.]
• Some have suggested that the early Christian church practiced socialism when believers sold private property & shared in a "commonwealth" for the benefit of all, particularly the poor & needy.
• What happened to Annas & Sapphira is an early indicator that human nature finds it difficult if not impossible to work within the bounds of this system.
• The early Christians really had no choice, since there was no government safety net for those widows, orphans, & poverty-stricken who desperately needed help.
• There is no evidence that early Christians were FORCED by each other to sell ALL that they owned, so that true justice prevailed because EACH was equal economically within the system.
• Search St. Paul's epistles & you find that he strongly, strongly suggested that brothers & sisters share with one another out of love for one another. Other apostles wrote about the need to share out of Christ's command that we love one another. 
• That's giving & sharing based on love, not legalism.
• Socialism is all about legalism.
• The book to read is Jonah Goldberg's Liberal Fascism. I've read this book. I highly recommend this book, but only if you promise to read it with an open mind.
• Since my blog entries are always "fair & balanced" **, here is a book review from the New York Times. 
• That's my political sermon for today.
• Oh, one more thing. Go ahead, vote for Bernie Sanders. He's an avowed Socialist. I've been known to say that a vote for Bernie is a vote for just about any Republican opponent.

* Which, by the way, may have been well-intentioned, but which has devolved into a giant Ponzi-scheme, thanks to lack of congressional oversight by both parties over the years. Most of my baby boomer brethren may yet escape its direst consequences. Most of you subsequent generations will most likely not.
**Who just laughed? I can always sense when someone laughs at something I write, but it's not a "funny ha-ha" sort of laugh. It's more like a "funny in the sense of 'SURE he is . . . NOT'" sort of laugh. ***
*** I have found over the years that as a conservative, I am much more exposed to liberal writers & pundits than most liberals. You dare challenge me on that? Let's have a debate! ****
****Example #1 from an unnamed liberal acquaintance:  HER: "I can't stand Rush Limbaugh." ME: "Have you ever listened to him?" HER: "No." Example #2: ME: "Sure, I listen to Rush regularly, & I also regularly read National Review, Cal Thomas, & Ann Coulter, too, but I also read Time Magazine regularly, also Newsweek, Maureen Dowd, EJ Dionne, & I also listen to NPR." HIM: "I listen to NPR. NPR's not liberal." *****
***** Just for the record, I also read Jonah Goldberg regularly, which you've probably already guessed by now, & I regularly check out Townhall columnists. Sorry, I "sample" Al Sharpton, Chris Matthews, & Rachel Maddow occasionally, but whenever I do, I seem to throw up a little in my mouth.

Bonus Feature . . . Which Includes Some Ranting

Excerpts from Norfolk Daily News (8/29), "Random Thoughts" column by Thomas Sowell.  "The endlessly repeated argument that most Americans are the descendants of immigrants ignores the fact that most Americans are NOT the descendants of ILLEGAL [These CAPS are in the original.] immigrants. Millions of immigrants from Europe had to stop at Ellis Island, & had to meet medical & other criteria before being allowed to go any further [The Leckband ancestors, I was told, emigrated from Germany to evade the Prussian draft, BUT, they entered the U.S. legally. Sometime I'll share what turned out to be a legend about the Hill ancestors.] . . . Do the people who are always demanding that there be more 'training' for police ever say that the hoodlums that the police have to deal with should have had more training by their parents, instead of being allowed to grow wild?" [I know more than a few educators, both private & public, who "might" also agree with this characterization.]

Also from NDN (8/31):  "Teacher who was late 111 * times says he was eating breakfast. An elementary school teacher who was allowed to keep his job despite being late for work 111 times in two years said that breakfast is to blame for his tardiness.
      "'I have a bad habit of eating breakfast in the morning, & I lost track of time,' 15-yr-veteran teacher Arnold Anderson told the AP. In a decision filed Aug. 19, an arbitrator in New Jersey rejected an attempt by the Roosevelt Elementary School to fire Anderson from his $90,000/yr job, saying he was entitled to progressive discipline. [My emphasis added.] But the arbitrator also criticized Anderson's claim that the quality of his teaching outweighed his tardiness . . . " [If he was a "typical" undergraduate, he could possibly, barely be classified as a "millennial," & we all know about THEIR issues, don't me." Dept. of Imaginary Conversations: TEACHER, "But I just wouldn't feel at the top of my game if I didn't start the day with breakfast!" ADMINISTRATOR, "So why can't he start his day by setting his alarm clock 20 minutes earlier?" ARBITRATOR/ALSO A MILLENNIAL:  I agree, but I feel that firing him would be a little too harsh. I'm going to uphold your right to suspend him for the rest of the first semester, but then I'm going to uphold his right to be reinstated with full pay, beginning Semester 2." ADMINISTRATOR, "Wait . . . what? TEACHER: "I don't feel that this is completely fair, but I love my students, & I feel that they love the quality of my teaching so much that I will look forward to being reinstated. I will also re-evaluate my breakfast choices & maybe switch to pop-tarts. **]
* Yes, you read that number correctly--111 times. One-hundred & eleven!
** My favorite pop-tarts are frosted brown sugar & cinnamon. Don't tell Lois. Maybe she'll have gotten bored & stopped reading this blog entry by now. But I digress.

Excerpt from Omaha World Herald (9/12/15):  "Marine unit with women less effective. Women in a new Marine Corps unit created to assess how female service members perform in combat were injured twice as often as men, less accurate w/infantry weapons & not as good at removing wounded troops from the battlefield, according to the results of a long-awaited study produced by the service . . . The Navy secretary took issue with the Marine Corps' controversial gender study Friday, saying that he questioned some of its findings & still believes that the military would be best w/all jobs open to women." [Because the last thing we'd want to do is let facts get in the way of our politics, I mean, feelings, I mean . . . whatever.] *
* Bet you anything he's a millennial.**
** Why do I feel like picking on millennials this morning? Maybe because I feel that my generation--Baby Boomers--were victims of an unwarranted attack. ***
*** There's a lot not to like about Baby Boomers, too. I'm just sayin'.