For https://steemit.com/freewrite/@mariannewest/day-224-5-minute-freewrite-thursday-prompt-40-off
Happy Memorial Day Everyone!
I mean, happy Thursday after memorial day.
Have I spoken yet on my sentiments about Memorial Day?
I'm going to write some things that I hope don't make you hate me, but I think honesty is the best policy.
Here, I'll tell you a story. So, this past Memorial Day I was in an Improv show, and we wanted to honor a veteran. We asked him his name, and how he served, and what he liked to do for fun. He gleefully told us that he shot commies.
We didn't miss a beat and honored him in song. But I felt icky about it. You see, my father and I and many of my friends are commies. We're not the commies he shot at, but we nonetheless believe that a world of peace and that takes care of its most vulnerable and in which working-class individuals wield real political power and can define the space that they live in is not achievable under capitalism, and communism is a step to getting there. Misconceptions about communism promoted by capitalist propaganda is for another post.
And, it's not even that. He is gleeful about shooting at human beings.
And all the pomp and circumstance seems just a little off.
I'm all for acknowledging sacrifice, but that's not what we do anymore. We celebrate soldiers. We put this idea of going to war up on a pedestal and it becomes something to desire.
Memorial day should be a day of mourning. Of crying over the fallen bodies that died on all sides of armed conflict. There is much talk of fighting for our freedoms, but ... I guess some people believe that? I don't. I don't think any of our recent conflicts have anything to do with protecting freedoms.
This is longer than a 5 minute conversation. And it needs to be a conversation, because I can hear the voices of those who disagree. I kinda assume @freedomtowrite does?
I'll go on a little longer.
War is antiquated. Unnecessary. Our world has enough resources for everybody at the moment. It really does. If the massive labor force that is the U.S. Military were instead used exclusively (I know they do this some) for building infrastructure here and abroad, just imagine the increase in living standards across the world. Building solar power plants in communities that otherwise aren't connected to the grid. Building schools and roads and hospitals (I know they do some, but MORE) Staffing those.
I am proud of the civil servants who teach and heal and grow food and build shelter and transport... all the things necessary to a functioning society. Let's beat our swords into plows and our guns into tractors.
YES, Let's have this Convo!
I see little to no material here that a reasonable Patriot would take offense to, if I am reading you correctly, and I believe I am. We (U$A) should not be the World Police, and our reckless spending is endangering the World Economy, and something needs done about that as well.
I am reading your "commie" commentary more as "communal living" and not as Leninism and Stalinism. I can strongly support Communal Living but I just as strongly oppose Centralized Control, and we also need LESS "Federalism" to a Large Degree!
Now let's talk, my friend!
(PS: I'm also a 2A guy, and I believe I can get you on board with that to some extent) ;)
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Let's talk foundations. I'll bet we agree on that.
"From each according to their ability, to each according to their need."
That's what Marx says, and I think it's a great slogan for providing for the material needs of everyone in society.
I also think the 2nd Amendment is important. I was even unaware of how usefully it had been enforced in its intended purpose during the civil rights era. Here's an article I read recently: http://www.thepolemicist.net/2013/01/the-rifle-on-wall-left-argument-for-gun.html
And I absolutely am not a Stalinist, but I am a Leninist. And I think people who equate the two don't understand Lenin.
I'm a Marxist, it would be fairer to say. I think Marx and Engels accurately recognized the problems with the capitalist state and provided a valid blueprint that would bring us to a statelessness that can still let humankind support itself and wrest the power from the very few and put it in the hands of the many.
But I don't think we can skip the step of the dictatorship of the proletariat on our way to that. I think trying to dismantle government without putting democratic decision-making into the hands of the working class leads us back to capitalism, fascism, and other forms of oligarchy/autocracy.
Here's what I think communism looks like:
You and your neighbors decide how the goods produced in your community are distributed. You make decisions together about the things that matter in your community and respond to the needs of other communities. You also elect a rep from amongst you to help decide things that need the decision making power of a larger group.
Those reps, maybe like a city or county board make decisions about what the city and county need. How resources from one community that, for example, has a surplus of grain can go to a more urban community: and that urban community is producing intellectual goods that everyone can use. This isn't based on trading value for value, but rather on who needs what. These are the first steps to providing everybody in society with what they need. These people also elect representatives... and so on encompassing ever more citizens.
The point is, there's still a need for people in Alaska to get fresh fruits year round like we grow in CA, and for people in Spain to get medicine invented by some laboratory that happens to be in India, and some coordinating agency to make sure everyone is getting what they need... It's not about centralized control, but it is about coordination. Putting power into the hands of the workers means that the excess that we call profit can be used, instead of to enrich and empower a few, gets used to increase the standards of living all around the world.
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I've been a Union Electrician since 1985, and the power of a unified group is very effective. You might be a bit put off to find that we don't "exactly agree" with your "foundational statement", at least as much in that I do not think we should be limited strictly to our "needs". I believe we should be allowed to work harder if we want more, but that does allow Human Nature back into the equation, but then again, no man-made system will ever be able to eliminate that. Plus, some folks are just better at acquiring wealth, and some are actually good at distributing to the poor, and workers. I really DO like the "gift economy" as it is constructed here, just enough elements of Communal Living, and wealth generation. I have No Problems with Whales, they do for a foundation for Steemit. if ANY FORM of "communism" can work, I suspect it will be very Digital.
That 2A link you provided, I just did a quick preview of that and it looks Fantastic! I saw the Orwell quote before, and I love it.
I also firmly agree with your Bottom Up, Local Basis example, that is really the best for any type of governance. I did live for 6 years in one of the most liberal localities in the 100,000+ populations in the USA, and it is Bloomington Indiana. They are RABIDLY Local, and they make it work pretty well! They will vote up taxes in a heartbeat, for a worthwhile project, and there is a higher level of participation and much less "apathy" than I have seen anywhere I have lived. Seems the students love the town, well, it WAS the USA's largest city w/o an interstate highway, until I-69 was finished. It is now growing by leaps and bounds. Lots of good folks there, I miss it for many reasons.
I see many possibilities if folks like us, seeming on 2 sides of a question, can work together. I am heading up a Steemit Community myself, and I'm sure this convo will help me to be a better "leader"... but I do try and lead by example, and promoting participation by all. Tha's the hard part LOL!!!
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@underground
Of course, "to each according to their need" doesn't mean that everyone should only subsist on the minimum needed to survive. It does mean that those who have needs will have their needs met. That if someone needs more healthcare, the determining factor of whether they get that healthcare isn't whether they've produced an equivalent amount of value, just that they need it. And from each according to their ability doesn't mean we all have to work as much as possible, but rather, if someone's in need, you help them, not because they owe you, but because you can.
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LOL yeah I saw that after I replied, then I figured you'd verify it. It changed tense or syntax or w/e, English was not my strongest subject ;) More of a numbers guy. I do see where it is tailored to our Abilities, instead of "because I said so" which is good. So yes, I can agree. Now that you cleared it up!
Many have said the Christianity has a lot in common with socialism. I do see some of the core principles being borrowed, but in a centralized government scenario, it is easy to pervert some things. That pesky Human Nature thingy again 😂 Unbridled (crony) Capitalism suffers from it as well, like I said before, no man-made system is going to be Perfect...
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@underground I don't actually think human nature is a net negative. I do, however, think, "a few bad apples spoil the bunch". If everybody is active, we can easily keep the very few folks who are going to harm humanity from gaining power.
The big difference between any capitalism and any communism insofar as power goes is, in capitalism, it is part of the foundation of the system that those with more have power over those without. That owners get to pay or not pay workers. That a few people wield the instruments of power. Under communism, the power is inherently in the hands of the workers, so it is inherently more democratic.
Regardless, though, the many must actively understand the workings of economic power and fight for the best interests of the many, rather than allowing themselves to be convinced by the ruling class that their interests lie in maintaining the status quo.
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Here's another article: https://www.socialistalternative.org/2017/12/05/gun-control-solution-gun-violence-socialist-analysis/
I don't entirely agree with its solutions... and as you'll see they don't even entirely agree with their solutions, but it's another thorough deconstruction of the issue.
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Hey @improv! Just checking to see if you tagged me on purpose?
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I thought you might have some thoughts about what I wrote in this one.
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That's so interesting to me...and I'm wanting to ask why without sounding rude, and I would like to stay in the realm of not speaking politics on the internet. I will say though that I'm on the side of love and compassion.
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Ah, no problem!
I guess I thought, and maybe I was wrong, that you and/or your hubby were military, and that you'd have some strong opinions about my opinions about the military. Somewhere I got it in my head that you were. And I wanted to mention you because I wanted to be respectful of those friends of mine on here who ARE military, but also to speak on the topic about my own feelings.
I may have entirely made up the idea that you're military. Just a wondering that happened across my brain and got stuck and labeled FACT.
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Ohhh that makes sense, and so thoughtful!
We are not apart of the military though. But I do see what you're saying. It is hard having opinions and wanting to able to talk about them, but still being respectful to the people you care about.
Thank you for thinking of me even though it turned out differently...you have a great heart!
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Thanks! I think it was because of the word freedom in your handle. Isn't it funny how that word has become so associated with the U.S. military?
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Ya know...I hadn't thought about it until today! But you are right.
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@freedomtowrite Let's reclaim the word!
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It is difficult for me to speak about the different systems in place since they were stolen from Afrika by people who didn’t understand the system they were “steal”/studying.
it takes all types of systems opperating cohesively to have a society working at its best, not just ONE system and not one not run by tyrants.
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@tristancarax I hope/assume you meant to say "not one run by tyrants" rather than "not one not run by tyrants"...
We agree that tyrants are bad?
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haha! The former far more productive. Yes, that is what I meant to type.
Tyrants are some crafty people. It is amazing how many of them get followers.
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@tristancarax But I love crafty people! They always have trail mix on set! (This is a joke about how the area where the snacks are is called "crafty" because the snacks are "craft services"...)
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Beware of the food! ahaha
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@tristancarax BUT SO MANY M&Ms!
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