SOCIETY, CENTS AND SENSIBILITY

In a society it is good to be social and sociable. None of those words should stoke fear in the hearts and minds of human beings in a free country.

But add three tiny letters and watch out!

Socialism has become the catchword of the wealthy when they wish to deflect from their desire to control all the wealth in the world. They use it to stoke fear in the masses that individuals will lose control of all their worldly possessions. In fact the only losers would be the wealthy who do the stoking!

And to say they would be losers is overstating the effect as they would never be thrown into the poverty they cause among others or the demeaning manor in which so many must live as a result of it.

Yet I do not propose pure socialism. It would not work in the long run and would create more problems than it is worth. Nor do I propose pure capitalism for basically the same reason.

Somewhere in between the two absolutes there is a happy medium that works out good for all.

Currently we have leaders who are using patriotism as a catchword to vilify anyone not willing to toe the line, their line! They have grabbed power and fear losing it to the point of blaming those who do not agree with their methods of being power grabbers themselves.

It is an old tactic of blaming others for doing that which you are doing to deflect your true intent.

A couple of definitions are necessary before continuing.

Patriotism is the love of and commitment to one’s country or community. It is a social good and love of law and common liberty. It is the feeling that one’s private desires should be for the good of all and we must resist corruption and tyranny. The ultimate show of patriotism is the willingness to sacrifice one’s life for the protection of the common liberty!

Pure socialism, where everything is owned by everyone is not a good solution to inequality in the real world. As the saying goes, too many cooks spoil the broth.

Pure capitalism, by the same token is not good either as it will eventually create a self-propagating and ever-increasing wealth gap. It is a slow-moving juggernaut toward an eventual world of oligarchs and workers not unlike the feudal era of the dark ages.

Pure democracy would not work as it takes all the power away from representatives and hands it back to the people. And if you think the cooks of socialism would spoil the broth wait until everyone tries to fit into the kitchen!

In America we have an entire system of socialist principals at work every day protecting us from a myriad of ills. We have a nationwide system of highways, infrastructure and military, fire departments and police forces and on and on.

We also have a system of Democracy whereby every citizen gets a vote in how the country should be run.
Sadly, our voting system has been under a successful attack for decades by a minority of unscrupulous people hell bent on usurping and then keeping power.
As we know, power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

As most know, once a right has been given it is hard to take it back. Just ask those who wish to reverse such established laws as the Social Security act of 1935 or the result of Roe v. Wade in 1973.

So, what is the solution?

There isn’t one.
That’s because there are many.

But just like an ocean liner with a full head of steam cannot be turned around on a dime the solution to our current problems will take time and clear heads and a willingness on the part of the wealthiest among us that they have more wealth than they could ever use even if they lived to a thousand!

Nobody likes being sick.

Overpowering greed is a sickness.

The cure is knowing when enough is enough.

Giving back to the community is not a meaningless catchphrase.

Note the word ‘back.’

The community enabled you to get where you are.

Once you’ve arrived don’t forget that!

The idea of a good workable ever-lasting society must utilize the principals of Socialism, Patriotism, Capitalism and Democracy in a tasty broth that will not be spoiled. That means those with the means stop being mean and help those without the means to become productive members of society.

When the entire citizenry of a nation is healthy, able to work, earn AND spend, everyone wins.

And that is a healthy socially conscious sociable sustainable society!