Here we are in the last fervent days of the Presidential campaign, and the Republicans are attempting to paint Obama's "change" platform with the broad brush of "Socialism".
Socialism is a word that in the United States that brings to mind images of Lenin, Stalin, Mao, unattractive clothing, and the third word in "USSR". Not the kind of lifestyle that John Wayne lovin' Americans aspire to.
Well, my friends, it turns out we've had a growing list of socialist tendencies for a long time, and most Americans haven't seen it that way.
Remember the New Deal? Most Americans these days think fondly of FDR and the alphabet soup of projects that helped pull us out of the great depression: the NRA (no, not that NRA) the CCC, the WPA to name a few. And we've got the FDIC, Social Security, welfare, and a bunch of other government managed programs that are inherently socialist in nature... only we don't call them that.
These past few days, we've seen a wholesale collapse of our financial markets, and our government has stepped in with infusions of capital. Nothing has been more socialist than our government saying it is willing to take ownership positions in banks and insurance companies. Don't believe me? Go look up the definition of socialism. Go ahead, I'll be right here while you do.
I don't see the average Joe Sixpack complaining about this, because he's saying "Damn, I hate to see the feds spending all my tax dollars, but if it's really necessary, OK. But there better be some better regulation or control, so this crap doesn't happen again." Logical, yes. And socialist.
Barack Obama is promising to reverse what's left of Reaganomics; our friends on Wall Street having proven to us all that the trickle-down economics generally means that the middle class gets pissed on. Plus, they've largely enjoyed getting pissed on, up until now.
The white middle class has always been suspicious of the demands of the blacks, the Latinos, and the working poor. These groups have always wanted greater government intervention in order to provide a more level playing field, affirmative action being the greatest irritant to the white middle class. The middle class has always believed that someday they will be rich; they've made rock stars of Warren Buffet and Bill Gates and indebted themselves heavily so that they, too can have a (mini)mansion, a BMW, and designer handbags, just like the rich folk they read about in "People". Providing for the poor, it seemed, would take away the wealth of their heros, and therefore, themselves.
Liberal Democratic guilt, combined with Neo-conservative greed, have led us to where we are today. In times of a government controlled by the Democrats, we've seen social programs that cost the country billions and contributed to the national debt with little reward.
The Republicans gave us freewheeling speculators at the top of the economic food chain who in the end did the same -- pile our country massively in debt through personal greed. Alan Greenspan, the guy who led the Fed for 19 years and to whom middle America has to thank for their mini-mansions and 401K's, said it best last week when he stated that his perception of 40 years was wrong -- that people running the financial houses would always work in the company's best interest.
The real irony is that a program both parties could get behind caused our current crisis: Allowing people with no stability, no ability to pay, acquire houses for little or no down payment. Liberals loved the idea of offering everyone a house, and the Neo-cons saw nothing but dollar signs.
So, get used to a more socialist government in the Western European flavor. The pendulum has swung once again; the Republicans will resume their accustomed role as vocal minority, and the Democrats will tax, and spend, though without the thoughtfulness I'm afraid that our European neighbors tend to manage with. Hopefully, if Obama wins, he can rein in his party's tendencies to provide socialist change we can all really believe in....without the ugly clothes.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Monday, October 13, 2008
Why I Took September Off...
Having not blogged in well over a month, I thought I'd explain why I haven't been typing my little fingers off to my vast legions of loyal ADIR readers.
Well, It's been too much fun sitting back and watching the world spin seemingly out of control. Start with the Olympics, with its faked footprints in the sky, the kids who weren't pretty enough for TV, and David Beckham kicking soccer balls from a double decker bus. How was I to top that in my little sarcastic blog? Then there's the Presidential race, the debates, Sarah Palin (!) et al. Finally we come to our current Three Mile Island of economic disasters, for which I could have written volumes. Instead, I'll let Ron Paul tell the truth in another blog entry for today. Read it and weep.
So, I quote Abe Lincoln and take his advice:
It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt.
Well, It's been too much fun sitting back and watching the world spin seemingly out of control. Start with the Olympics, with its faked footprints in the sky, the kids who weren't pretty enough for TV, and David Beckham kicking soccer balls from a double decker bus. How was I to top that in my little sarcastic blog? Then there's the Presidential race, the debates, Sarah Palin (!) et al. Finally we come to our current Three Mile Island of economic disasters, for which I could have written volumes. Instead, I'll let Ron Paul tell the truth in another blog entry for today. Read it and weep.
So, I quote Abe Lincoln and take his advice:
It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Things I'll Never Understand...
For reasons I won't go into here, I spent a day watching people attending a close-out sale of high quality shoes and clothing, priced at 20 cents or less on the retail dollar.
I'd always heard stories about the behavior of people at events like this, and, sad to say, the stories are true. Rudeness and skulduggery are the norm, and civility ends at the front door.
I am not a misogynist. Honest. But I'll never understand the behavior of women who are intent on getting a deal. Here's what I witnessed:
Tag switching -- So here's this leather skirt. It originally was $200. It's now $20; an amazing bargain. Yet some woman still attempted to remark the price to $5. Said woman is a high-powered executive in the entertainment industry.
"Is this cute?" One gal says to another, as she pulls a shoe from the shelf and slips it on her foot. "Oh, look at this one." Off comes the original, where it is kicked several feet away on the floor. Repeat this scene a dozen times by one customer, and then multiply that by another dozen women. No shoe is ever returned to it's original position on the shelf next to its mate. This never happens over in the men's shoe section. Why do women do this?
I'll bet you didn't know that women's shoes can magically transport themselves all over a store. I found them in the women's clothing department, which makes sense, I guess... trying to match shoes with a dress or something... but how do they end up shelved with office supplies, or even furniture? Again, men's shoes don't travel.
Moses forgot the eleventh commandment: Thow shall not covet thy neighbor's clothing pile. There were no shopping carts at this event, so every woman had a pile of clothes they shuffled around on the floor close to their feet, lest ye fellow shopper attempt to make off with one of their finds. It seems that if it's on the rack, it can't possibly be as good as something another shopper has already picked out. Go figure.
Lack of shopping carts does not deter the motivated female shopper from improvisation. Step one: Go to furniture department. Step two: Select sturdy office chair. Step three: Pile items selected for purchase as high as possible onto seat of chair. Step four: Purchase items, wheel chair to loading dock. Step five: Abandon chair.
I'd always heard stories about the behavior of people at events like this, and, sad to say, the stories are true. Rudeness and skulduggery are the norm, and civility ends at the front door.
I am not a misogynist. Honest. But I'll never understand the behavior of women who are intent on getting a deal. Here's what I witnessed:
Tag switching -- So here's this leather skirt. It originally was $200. It's now $20; an amazing bargain. Yet some woman still attempted to remark the price to $5. Said woman is a high-powered executive in the entertainment industry.
"Is this cute?" One gal says to another, as she pulls a shoe from the shelf and slips it on her foot. "Oh, look at this one." Off comes the original, where it is kicked several feet away on the floor. Repeat this scene a dozen times by one customer, and then multiply that by another dozen women. No shoe is ever returned to it's original position on the shelf next to its mate. This never happens over in the men's shoe section. Why do women do this?
I'll bet you didn't know that women's shoes can magically transport themselves all over a store. I found them in the women's clothing department, which makes sense, I guess... trying to match shoes with a dress or something... but how do they end up shelved with office supplies, or even furniture? Again, men's shoes don't travel.
Moses forgot the eleventh commandment: Thow shall not covet thy neighbor's clothing pile. There were no shopping carts at this event, so every woman had a pile of clothes they shuffled around on the floor close to their feet, lest ye fellow shopper attempt to make off with one of their finds. It seems that if it's on the rack, it can't possibly be as good as something another shopper has already picked out. Go figure.
Lack of shopping carts does not deter the motivated female shopper from improvisation. Step one: Go to furniture department. Step two: Select sturdy office chair. Step three: Pile items selected for purchase as high as possible onto seat of chair. Step four: Purchase items, wheel chair to loading dock. Step five: Abandon chair.
Three New Things To Worry About
Number 3 on today's list:
The Chinese. They just showed the world how a billion communists can put on a really good Olympics, while effectively squelching all dissent at home. Memories of their event will make the one four years from now in London look amateurish. (Remember when the Olympics were for amateurs, by the way?) If you don't think the Chinese will be the number-one nation in the world in a few years, you're kidding yourself. Or you live in India.
Number 2: Buried in today's news briefs: Iran launched its first satellite. Let that settle in for a minute: A country that is only a couple of clicks to the right of nutzo North Korea on the fanatic scale now can de-orbit a nuke (that we know they will have any day now) anywhere they want.
Number 1: Stalinist Russia is alive and well and in the hands of Putin and his lackeys. It only took them about 15 years to crawl back from total collapse, and this time they have the advantage of the West needing their oil and natural gas. Putin can put the squeeze on Western Europe any time he wants, and I'm guaranteed he will. I hope our boys ion the Army haven't forgotten how to fight a land battle that doesn't involve dodging random terrorists with home-made bombs, but will involve thousands of Russian tanks. And did you note that when they left Georgia, they took all the American technology we'd given the Georgians with them? Expect to see a Russian version of the Hummer in a few months...
The Chinese. They just showed the world how a billion communists can put on a really good Olympics, while effectively squelching all dissent at home. Memories of their event will make the one four years from now in London look amateurish. (Remember when the Olympics were for amateurs, by the way?) If you don't think the Chinese will be the number-one nation in the world in a few years, you're kidding yourself. Or you live in India.
Number 2: Buried in today's news briefs: Iran launched its first satellite. Let that settle in for a minute: A country that is only a couple of clicks to the right of nutzo North Korea on the fanatic scale now can de-orbit a nuke (that we know they will have any day now) anywhere they want.
Number 1: Stalinist Russia is alive and well and in the hands of Putin and his lackeys. It only took them about 15 years to crawl back from total collapse, and this time they have the advantage of the West needing their oil and natural gas. Putin can put the squeeze on Western Europe any time he wants, and I'm guaranteed he will. I hope our boys ion the Army haven't forgotten how to fight a land battle that doesn't involve dodging random terrorists with home-made bombs, but will involve thousands of Russian tanks. And did you note that when they left Georgia, they took all the American technology we'd given the Georgians with them? Expect to see a Russian version of the Hummer in a few months...
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