subtitled: Who’s afraid of the big, bad socialist?

When I was in high school, a curriculum requirement for every single student was a class called “Communism versus Americanism.” The year was 1980, Reagan was President, and everyone knew that the USSR was the chief enemy of the United States, the World’s Greatest Democracy. We were taught that democracy could be equated with capitalism, and that any form of either communism or it’s cousin, Socialism, were just bad and anti-American. Why? Well because the Soviets are bad, they drive shitty cars, and they all live in hovels drunk on vodka.

Meanwhile, just look at everything we have: Porsche’s , Cadillacs, all manner of gas-guzzlers, and space to host a small nation in the wings of some houses. Sprawling malls and suburbs reaching across the land….We had hair gels and sprays to help our hair reach the stars and shoulder pads to make us all look like competent WWF wrestlers. Chain restaurant franchises for every kind of taste. Why ever would we give up our beloved capitalism?

In an educational digression, the public school system in the U.S. operates very much like a Socialist Nation. It is free and provided by the government (through taxes), everybody is entitled to attend and thrive, or even do less than thrive. The employees are all paid the same, regardless of merit. There is always an effort to make sure that all students receive the same treatment, the same investment of dollars, the same everything. On the other hand, private and charter schools have attempted to achieve a more “capitalist” model, with variations on all of the aforementioned items I listed.

For everyone who poo poos public schools, they still work better than private schools. And I said so! First of all, teacher security and benefits are far inferior in private schools, and parents have far too much influence, often based upon the amount of money they donate to the school. The private school systems are highly inequitable. Although I cannot show evidence of this, I am pretty sure that more drug (boutique and expensive types) use occur in private schools than anywhere. This I have heard from myriad student sources during my teaching career. In addition, the majority of the cheating scandals during the past twenty years have occurred in private schools.

An excellent education can be received in most American Public Schools, if the student is willing to make effort. If the student is accepting of diversity. If the student isn’t expecting to be treated better just because his father is crypto-rich, or made some fortunate investments.

So too can socialism work, if people are willing to make an effort. The first step is National Health Care–this we NEED. We already have socialism in education, as I’ve explained. And taxation should be done equally and across the board. Most importantly, REPEAL CITIZEN’s UNITED: the ruination of the American Democracy. In fact, Comrade Sanders is correct in saying that we do not have democracy, but oligarchy. The affluence of the top 10 % is so far beyond anything that the rest of the 90% can even imagine or dream to dream about. Can you even imagine how we could improve, let’s say infrastructure and/or schools if they were actually taxed fairly?? This economic division can be directly attributed to unchecked capitalism and the unbridled possibilities of the Rich Owning the Government, as provided by the horribly unfortunate passage of Citizens United (2010).

And so I say congratulations to Mamdani. Let him make his moves!! He certainly seems to have a brain. And I can’t see him being any worse than his predecessor!

The shitty old ways of the old mostly white men are broken. Out with the geriatric! In with new ideas and energy. Support the new Democratic Socialism.

Read about 15 tragic years of Citizen’s United:

https://rooseveltinstitute.org/publications/citizens-united-15-years-later