I wrote an essay a few years ago, I'll have to see if I can find it,
discussing the enlightenment of discovering I am a Marxist. Not the commie
bastage type, but the agreeing there is social conflict type. It is one of the
few essays I wrote that I kinda liked, at least at the time, and if I can find
it I might change my mind.
Realistically, I have categorized myself as a liberal since, well, pretty much the point when you start to see that you have political leanings. Over the years I have realized that in addition to being one of those horrid liberals I am also a (wait for it, I'm about to use a dirty word) progressive. (That's right; cover your children's eyes.) Sadly, in my opinion, progressive has become a dirty word. Progressive now equals socialist, which equals un-American, which equals all kinds of evilness.
I have seen many generalized opinions of the broad view of my stance, including progressives are jobless, living with (mooching from) their parents, and determined to destroy Christianity and this fine Christian nation. Now, I don't work, instead I go to school and participate in the extremely "traditional" role of housewife and mother. Realistically I should say I don't have paid employment because if you stay home with kids you are aware there is work, and it is 24/7. We don't live with any of our parents; our kids live with us and the little mooches claim they're too young to get jobs and move out. (Sure, all are younger than 13; excuses, excuses.) I also consider myself a Christian, by the definition that I believe in the teachings of Christ, so I'm not really out to destroy Christianity. That said, I do not believe that America is a Christian nation based on the fact that our Constitution states the government “shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion” and the fact that all the references to God that are used as proof of our being a Christian nation (such as "in God we trust" on money, "under God" in the pledge) were not creations from the birth of our nation but add-ons from the fear of communism. (Now the logic of this slightly escapes me, there were plenty of evil, Cold War, communist Russians that followed Christian religions, yet Democracy stemmed from Christianity. I chalk it up as typical Cold War "they're so much different from us" crap, but what do I know? I was born in time to witness the last decade or so, not like I was at the beginning when Russians must have been evil, scaly monsters.)
Now, because I think Jesus was a pretty awesome guy with a really cool, generous way of thinking, I could argue that is a good reason to like the whole crazy socialist idea of we should take care of each other. Realistically, it isn't a horrible argument, especially when talking to someone that considers liberal and progressive foul language yet argues Christian prayer and teaching should be forced in all schools. (It really is one of my favorite confusing trains of logic. You don't believe in programs to help the unfortunate, yet the teachings of Christ should be forced on all kids. To me, it makes about as much sense as if someone were to say, "My favorite number is 'K'.") But, because I believe that the government should not sanction a certain religion, and I think religion should be taken out of the equation when considering government policies, I just can't agree that the teachings through Christ to love our fellow man can't be used as a justifiable excuse for crazy socialist ideals like healthcare, education, infrastructure...
Well then why could I possibly be in favor of such dangerous communist ideas as the government taxing its people and using it for projects to help other people? Basically, because a chain is only as strong as its weakest links. If you want a healthy society, you cannot ignore the needs of others.
Why should a person that has never had children care about funding for education? Public education, the system that used government funding, taxes, to educate the youth, was brought about by a society need for the population to have a minimal level of education to perform the jobs needed for growth and evolvement of the society. Can it really be considered that our country would have become a world leader if we had maintained a structure where it took a certain level of wealth to provide education for your children and a large segment of the population was illiterate? Absolutely not.
Why should healthcare matter if you're healthy, have insurance, and easy access to doctors and hospitals? Proper healthcare does help curb some disease. If we look at Third World societies, it isn't so much the lack of education that brings about death from illnesses that we in the First World consider treatable, but instead a lack of adequate healthcare. Of course it does take education to have a society with healthcare, but even in an educated society the availability can be skewed. The ability for all to be able to access healthcare matters because of two reasons. Proper healthcare can help keep communicable diseases in check. Even if you are willing to wear a hazmat suit whenever you leave the house to avoid the prospect of turning healthcare socialist, appropriate healthcare keeps the labor force literally healthy. Anyone can do blue collar work, right? So what does it matter if a few die of cancer that went undisguised for too long? They are still part of the labor force and it is more productive for society when the labor force is in good health, which means proper healthcare that might go neglected if is considered a luxury. As the baby boom generation, which is a rather large population, ages and begins to enter retirement, we will need healthcare to provide a healthy labor force to support our society (not to mention pay into Social Security!)
Do you enjoy loading up the family and driving to a park to spend an afternoon? Our infrastructures are socialist. Government funding pays for the ability to have paved roads, even if there may be quite a few pot holes. Our ability to cross a bridge with the expectation that it will not crumble as we drive over it is provided through government funds. Dams can create reservoirs that supply communities their water, all delivered through huge pipes. Our parks, from small city parks to large national parks, are also part of the socialist idea of using public money for the good of all. Our infrastructure, the roads, bridges, dams, and more, rely on taxes. The bad news is our infrastructures are crumbling. A growing number of bridges, dams, and water lines are becoming quite old, and with that age comes weaknesses that could spell disaster if ignored.
Everything that it takes to have a desirable society hinges on having a strong society. If we ignore the weakest points of our society it will affect everyone. If you like the style of life you are accustom to, heck even if you don't like it and just don't want to see it get worse, then it is worth considering some of those evil, progressive ideas.
Realistically, I have categorized myself as a liberal since, well, pretty much the point when you start to see that you have political leanings. Over the years I have realized that in addition to being one of those horrid liberals I am also a (wait for it, I'm about to use a dirty word) progressive. (That's right; cover your children's eyes.) Sadly, in my opinion, progressive has become a dirty word. Progressive now equals socialist, which equals un-American, which equals all kinds of evilness.
I have seen many generalized opinions of the broad view of my stance, including progressives are jobless, living with (mooching from) their parents, and determined to destroy Christianity and this fine Christian nation. Now, I don't work, instead I go to school and participate in the extremely "traditional" role of housewife and mother. Realistically I should say I don't have paid employment because if you stay home with kids you are aware there is work, and it is 24/7. We don't live with any of our parents; our kids live with us and the little mooches claim they're too young to get jobs and move out. (Sure, all are younger than 13; excuses, excuses.) I also consider myself a Christian, by the definition that I believe in the teachings of Christ, so I'm not really out to destroy Christianity. That said, I do not believe that America is a Christian nation based on the fact that our Constitution states the government “shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion” and the fact that all the references to God that are used as proof of our being a Christian nation (such as "in God we trust" on money, "under God" in the pledge) were not creations from the birth of our nation but add-ons from the fear of communism. (Now the logic of this slightly escapes me, there were plenty of evil, Cold War, communist Russians that followed Christian religions, yet Democracy stemmed from Christianity. I chalk it up as typical Cold War "they're so much different from us" crap, but what do I know? I was born in time to witness the last decade or so, not like I was at the beginning when Russians must have been evil, scaly monsters.)
Now, because I think Jesus was a pretty awesome guy with a really cool, generous way of thinking, I could argue that is a good reason to like the whole crazy socialist idea of we should take care of each other. Realistically, it isn't a horrible argument, especially when talking to someone that considers liberal and progressive foul language yet argues Christian prayer and teaching should be forced in all schools. (It really is one of my favorite confusing trains of logic. You don't believe in programs to help the unfortunate, yet the teachings of Christ should be forced on all kids. To me, it makes about as much sense as if someone were to say, "My favorite number is 'K'.") But, because I believe that the government should not sanction a certain religion, and I think religion should be taken out of the equation when considering government policies, I just can't agree that the teachings through Christ to love our fellow man can't be used as a justifiable excuse for crazy socialist ideals like healthcare, education, infrastructure...
Well then why could I possibly be in favor of such dangerous communist ideas as the government taxing its people and using it for projects to help other people? Basically, because a chain is only as strong as its weakest links. If you want a healthy society, you cannot ignore the needs of others.
Why should a person that has never had children care about funding for education? Public education, the system that used government funding, taxes, to educate the youth, was brought about by a society need for the population to have a minimal level of education to perform the jobs needed for growth and evolvement of the society. Can it really be considered that our country would have become a world leader if we had maintained a structure where it took a certain level of wealth to provide education for your children and a large segment of the population was illiterate? Absolutely not.
Why should healthcare matter if you're healthy, have insurance, and easy access to doctors and hospitals? Proper healthcare does help curb some disease. If we look at Third World societies, it isn't so much the lack of education that brings about death from illnesses that we in the First World consider treatable, but instead a lack of adequate healthcare. Of course it does take education to have a society with healthcare, but even in an educated society the availability can be skewed. The ability for all to be able to access healthcare matters because of two reasons. Proper healthcare can help keep communicable diseases in check. Even if you are willing to wear a hazmat suit whenever you leave the house to avoid the prospect of turning healthcare socialist, appropriate healthcare keeps the labor force literally healthy. Anyone can do blue collar work, right? So what does it matter if a few die of cancer that went undisguised for too long? They are still part of the labor force and it is more productive for society when the labor force is in good health, which means proper healthcare that might go neglected if is considered a luxury. As the baby boom generation, which is a rather large population, ages and begins to enter retirement, we will need healthcare to provide a healthy labor force to support our society (not to mention pay into Social Security!)
Do you enjoy loading up the family and driving to a park to spend an afternoon? Our infrastructures are socialist. Government funding pays for the ability to have paved roads, even if there may be quite a few pot holes. Our ability to cross a bridge with the expectation that it will not crumble as we drive over it is provided through government funds. Dams can create reservoirs that supply communities their water, all delivered through huge pipes. Our parks, from small city parks to large national parks, are also part of the socialist idea of using public money for the good of all. Our infrastructure, the roads, bridges, dams, and more, rely on taxes. The bad news is our infrastructures are crumbling. A growing number of bridges, dams, and water lines are becoming quite old, and with that age comes weaknesses that could spell disaster if ignored.
Everything that it takes to have a desirable society hinges on having a strong society. If we ignore the weakest points of our society it will affect everyone. If you like the style of life you are accustom to, heck even if you don't like it and just don't want to see it get worse, then it is worth considering some of those evil, progressive ideas.
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