Socio (In Spanish it Means Partner)
I was channel-surfing YouTube the other day and I watched a piece on the merits of capitalism ("Pursuit," on Netflix). It seemed odd that we, living in a capitalistic society and supposedly well-off, would need to be instructed on the merits of our socio-economic system--but there it was. Mention was made of the great sub-continent and how capitalism had saved them from the bureaucratic inefficiencies of socialism.
If there is any beauty in capitalism, it's that those seeking to better themselves through entrepreneurial enterprises, only need cashola. Any government restrictions and dictates easily result in failure. After going "public," a company gets this massive influx of cash from Wall St. and well, what could you do with half a billion? The mere fact that you can hire the best means you are bound to succeed--at least in the short term. So, what's the big deal, huh?
Well, please consider that, if my premise is true, all you need is cash; but who has the cash? It's not the socialist society who is short on cash and applies all that it has on military uses and the oligarchs' support (just like supporting capitalism, I guess). My contention is that, if socialism has money to spare and applied it to social reforms, it would win over capitalism because the latter is mostly concerned with increasing the coffers of those who provided the money--ye olde investor class--while the former would like to decrease wealth disparity. If gross wealth disparity in India were lowered, would there really be a need for capitalism? No, of course not, but because of the class structure in India, none at the top give a gnat's ass about the poor--capitalism to the rescue via microloans!
I'm a cynic, I've seen too much to be anything else; with that said, I can envision the Rich gathering around in their smoking jackets and realizing that HORDES are at their doorstep just waiting to slice them up from ear to ear. What is to be done? Well, what you do is increase the number of capitalist success stories by giving out microloans. Sweet, isn't it?
But if you sense any dissatisfaction coming your way, you'd be right. Those microloans to the budding entrepreneur only serve to increase wealth disparity. The relative Rich feel a sense of entitlement. They had the smarts and other features (old money?) that enabled them to get ahead; so, why not stomp on those less fortunate? The world is, after all, very darwinian.
Well, survival of the fittest is true but what Darwin left out is that no one can predict who will be the fittest in the future. Will it be the rich man or will it be the poor man who has the right DNA sequences that enable him to survive the next plague? It's impossible to know. Ergo, everyone is important until we know better but we can never know better because the environment is complex way beyond any biologist's ability to predict survival in that environment.
Could there ever be democratic socialism in the U.S.? Certain preconceived notions need to change. My main difficulty this election cycle is that Blacks are seekers of the status quo and they are believers in "better the enemy that you know." They know Biden. They do not know Bernie. Most importantly, however, they fall victim to a false dichotomy that does not allow them to embrace the best characteristics of both capitalism and socialism. Bernie is keeping the banks and our economic system and he's not taking over companies like a communist country might. Unlike a fully capitalistic society, however, Bernie wants unions to succeed, he wants to save us from greedy corporations and knows that healthcare is a right and not a privilege. Furthermore, not everything that capitalists embrace is necessarily what we want in abundance: prisons, wars, volatile stock prices, usury, rampant consumerism, and the latter tied with what I call negligent obsolescence, etc.
So, to finally make reference to the title, let's partner with socialism instead of denigrating the whole on account of communist misadventures here and there. "Awake to the Possibilities!"
Media Kudos:
"Easy Chair" by Kevin Baker appearing in Harper's, Sept., 2019. Nice recap of lies that we unwittingly swallow; however, he doesn't tell us how to stop our stupidity--perhaps no one can. Nevertheless, such summaries of Big Brother shenanigans are always needed and essential if we are to gather together and one day overcome the insanity.
Harper's Magazine for their observation that 20 percent of active police officers use racist, bigoted, or violent language on Facebook, and that 45 percent of retired police officers do so. Now can you understand why it took 5 years to fire Pantaleo? We learn from Harper's Index that Canada has resettled the most refugees in 2018 but that the U.S. held that title for a minimum of 59 years until Cheetos came along.
Anti-kudos:
To the producers of "Cuckoo" for not finding a way to keep Tamla Kari on the set. Even though Andie's in the post-season one apocalypse, I'll not watch the hara-kiri that took place.
If there is any beauty in capitalism, it's that those seeking to better themselves through entrepreneurial enterprises, only need cashola. Any government restrictions and dictates easily result in failure. After going "public," a company gets this massive influx of cash from Wall St. and well, what could you do with half a billion? The mere fact that you can hire the best means you are bound to succeed--at least in the short term. So, what's the big deal, huh?
Well, please consider that, if my premise is true, all you need is cash; but who has the cash? It's not the socialist society who is short on cash and applies all that it has on military uses and the oligarchs' support (just like supporting capitalism, I guess). My contention is that, if socialism has money to spare and applied it to social reforms, it would win over capitalism because the latter is mostly concerned with increasing the coffers of those who provided the money--ye olde investor class--while the former would like to decrease wealth disparity. If gross wealth disparity in India were lowered, would there really be a need for capitalism? No, of course not, but because of the class structure in India, none at the top give a gnat's ass about the poor--capitalism to the rescue via microloans!
I'm a cynic, I've seen too much to be anything else; with that said, I can envision the Rich gathering around in their smoking jackets and realizing that HORDES are at their doorstep just waiting to slice them up from ear to ear. What is to be done? Well, what you do is increase the number of capitalist success stories by giving out microloans. Sweet, isn't it?
But if you sense any dissatisfaction coming your way, you'd be right. Those microloans to the budding entrepreneur only serve to increase wealth disparity. The relative Rich feel a sense of entitlement. They had the smarts and other features (old money?) that enabled them to get ahead; so, why not stomp on those less fortunate? The world is, after all, very darwinian.
Well, survival of the fittest is true but what Darwin left out is that no one can predict who will be the fittest in the future. Will it be the rich man or will it be the poor man who has the right DNA sequences that enable him to survive the next plague? It's impossible to know. Ergo, everyone is important until we know better but we can never know better because the environment is complex way beyond any biologist's ability to predict survival in that environment.
Could there ever be democratic socialism in the U.S.? Certain preconceived notions need to change. My main difficulty this election cycle is that Blacks are seekers of the status quo and they are believers in "better the enemy that you know." They know Biden. They do not know Bernie. Most importantly, however, they fall victim to a false dichotomy that does not allow them to embrace the best characteristics of both capitalism and socialism. Bernie is keeping the banks and our economic system and he's not taking over companies like a communist country might. Unlike a fully capitalistic society, however, Bernie wants unions to succeed, he wants to save us from greedy corporations and knows that healthcare is a right and not a privilege. Furthermore, not everything that capitalists embrace is necessarily what we want in abundance: prisons, wars, volatile stock prices, usury, rampant consumerism, and the latter tied with what I call negligent obsolescence, etc.
So, to finally make reference to the title, let's partner with socialism instead of denigrating the whole on account of communist misadventures here and there. "Awake to the Possibilities!"
Media Kudos:
"Easy Chair" by Kevin Baker appearing in Harper's, Sept., 2019. Nice recap of lies that we unwittingly swallow; however, he doesn't tell us how to stop our stupidity--perhaps no one can. Nevertheless, such summaries of Big Brother shenanigans are always needed and essential if we are to gather together and one day overcome the insanity.
Harper's Magazine for their observation that 20 percent of active police officers use racist, bigoted, or violent language on Facebook, and that 45 percent of retired police officers do so. Now can you understand why it took 5 years to fire Pantaleo? We learn from Harper's Index that Canada has resettled the most refugees in 2018 but that the U.S. held that title for a minimum of 59 years until Cheetos came along.
Anti-kudos:
To the producers of "Cuckoo" for not finding a way to keep Tamla Kari on the set. Even though Andie's in the post-season one apocalypse, I'll not watch the hara-kiri that took place.
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