Moonhearth's Circle

What is Socialism: Is the US a Social Democracy?

moonhearth — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 12:44:08 +0000

If you listen to conservative radio on AM or the Tea Baggers or Republicans, the Obama administration and Obama want to turn this country into a socialist country. Is this true? How do we judge? If we are a government for the people and by the people, are we not already a socialist country?

What exactly is socialism? Without going to a dictionary, socialism is an economic theory that speaks about worker ownership of the means of production and the profits that are generated from that production. Instead of using the word worker, let’s use the word people. In a factory the workers are the people, so I think we could use that word interchangeably without changing the sense of the definition of socialism. Generally speaking you might make a case that direct democracy is a socialist style of government. The preamble to the constitution begins “We the people of the United States…………do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America”. This established the idea that the power to join and form a country was derived from the people themselves. It was not conveyed by a creator, a church, the king, an army or any other top down entity. Isn’t that what socialism is really about if you take the overarching idea of socialism and apply it outside the context of economics? For the people and by the people.

Within the US, the people themselves have decided over time to create many socialist institutions. It was decided that an educated populace would be more successful at self governance. Do we not have a socialist educational system. We levy taxes to raise the money required, and educate the citzenry based on our own beliefs and ideas. This is bottom up socialism. We have fire departments that are paid or volunteer that in both cases fulfill the idea that the people do for themselves what is required for their own safety. The police forces within this country, whether on a minicipal level or the state level, are formed by the citizens to keep the peace. The military of the US is another example of a socialist institution in that it has been formed by the congress which represents the people of the US. There are large subsidies paid out to farmers to support food production in this country. Is that not another example of socialism? The US postal service works for us the people. Of course we have to buy stamps and pay for the service, but really isn’t that a socialist proposition? We decide what we need, we work together to solve the problem and we do it.

If you believe in government for the people and by the people, do you not really believe in socialism to some degree? I believe in our government. I believe the success of the United States is due to the belief that we work together to solve our problems. I believe that we are all in this together here in this country. I do not believe that we should shrink government and I don’t think government is inherently evil. We the people are the United States of America and we must work together to meet each new challenge that faces us. Please! Stop the negativity and trying to paint the federal government as the big bad evil socialist government. By definition we are already a social democracy; get over it and let’s get going trying to solve all the problems and issues that we face today and in the future. Go People!

Catholics and Christians are Hypocrites

moonhearth — Sun, 17 May 2009 12:40:45 +0000

I find it so interesting that abortion, which is not mentioned in the bible anywhere that I can remember, is the rallying point for the self proclaimed religious. There is no mention of abortion in the bible. There is, however, a very clear prohibition against murder and killing in the bible. In fact one of the founding principles of the Judeo/Christian traditions is the commandment ‘Thou shalt not kill’ . Apparently, the religious right has decided it’s ok to support the NRA, the death penalty and pre-emptive war. What kind of hypocrisy is that? Pro-life members support the idea of life before life, but once a child is born, as usual ‘you’re on your own’. Oh Look! It’s the yo-yo religion.

Where were the pro-life protestors when over 100,000 innocent Iraqis were killed by the American military because of Bush’s illegal war. Where were the pro-life protestors when Bush 43, as governor of Texas, had the highest rate of executions in the US? Where were the pro-life protestors when Bush addressed the 2001 graduating class at Notre Dame. I guess in the eyes of the religious right, it’s ok to pick and choose which forms of murder they will support and which they will protest.

That the pro-life movement has suddenly awoken to protest Notre Dame’s invitation to President Obama to give the commencement address this year, after sleeping through 8 years of Bush’s support of killing and murder is so laughable. I call it hypocrisy. Those youngsters at Notre Dame are lucky to have someone of his stature to address them. They will probably remember that day for the rest of their lives. I would rather hear from the students of Notre Dame, than the hypocritical religious right. Apparently, they can pick and choose which kind of murder is acceptable, and which is not. I call that ‘Cafe Christianity’. I am proud to call myself non- religious. I have a greater developed sense of morality than any religious person that I know, and I would be proud to be at Notre Dame’s commencement to hear our president speak.

Wow! I just listened to the President’s address on food safety

moonhearth — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 22:49:52 +0000

He was talking about food safety as a precursor to introducing his new head of the FDA, Margaret Hamburg, and the new Deputy administrator Joshua Sharfstein. Food safety has long been an important topic of conversation in my house. Listening to the President talk about how the FDA under the Bush administration has failed the American people, was like listening to what we have been saying in our home for few years now. It was especially interesting because it made President Barack Obama seem like one of us, like one of the family. See the video on the left of the President’s weekly address for 3/14/09 to hear him talk about his new appointments and about food safety.

How refreshing to hear a president put the American people ahead of business interests. With the last administration, any changes that the food corporations wanted blocked, was blocked. Any time the American people asked for labeling changes, such as country of origin, or whether a product was derived from a cloned animal, or even whether or not a food was the product of genetic engineering, it was denied or held up by the last administration. The reasons given were that it would be cost prohibitive to the manufacturers and food producers. But, I ask you, what about the cost to the American people who are sickened by bad food?

This is one of the ploys that the Conservative movement uses. They get themselves elected to office by talking about reforming a broken government system. Once in office, they starve those agencies that are there to serve the people. The systems that have been starved of funding ultimately fail, and serve as evidence of what they were saying all along. They can say, “See, government is a bad thing and it doesn’t work”. Pretty slick aren’t they?

It’s amazing to watch the new president unfold his plans and changes. Each time he introduces a new subject, I feel like here is someone who is finally representing my interests. From education to health care to food safety. Each day I find myself logging onto news sites or turning on the TV news just to see what he will do next. I am so proud of him. Recently, I received an e-mail from his team to go to his pledge site at http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/pledgeproject. I did and I pledged. Please take a few minutes to visit the site and take the pledge. All three topics, Energy, Health care and Education are sadly in need of reform, and most importantly, will help us to solve the our biggest problem, the economic crisis.

Now That the Election is Over, Get Ready for the Next Battle

moonhearth — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 01:22:19 +0000

I just can’t believe what I am seeing and hearing. Between radio and TV, every pundit with a microphone is trying to tell Barack Obama how he HAS to govern. For goodness sake he is not even the president yet, and they can’t wait to tear him down. The punditry is trying to box him in and force him to govern as a conservative. That would require him to go back on everything he said he would like to accomplish as a president. When asked what programs he wanted to scale back secondary to the economic mess we are now in, he said that he felt there were things he cound not put off. He claimed that he wanted to move ahead on clean energy and the related jobs creation. He wanted to work on health care also. He of course needs to deal with the economic disaster that he is going to inherit, but infrastructure revitalization is just as important.

This really kills me with the conservatives. They create a disaster, run up the debt with their insistence on tax cuts for the wealthiest of Americans, all while they are spending like drunken sailors on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, then claim that the next president can’t work on his promised programs because we are so far in debt. Hopefully, Obama will keep his eye on the ball and continue with his plans. I say full speed ahead. I can’t wait to see how he actually governs and what he thinks are the most important things to accomplish.

Everyone is breathing a sigh of relief after the election. I say, ok, relax for a minute, but get ready, this is just the beginning. Now is the next battle. And this battle will be much more subtle. It will be the battle of ideas. Get ready, because the conservatives are already ramping up for a fight. I know this because I listen to AM radio when I have to commute for work. I have very little choice but to listen to the likes of Liimbaugh and Hannity, considering Clear Channel owns most of the AM radio stations. If you listen to them, you can hear them line up their arguments. They can’t help but telegraph their intentions, and from what I can tell, they are ready for a fight.

Well, if that’s what they want, it is a fight well worth fighting. It will be the battle of ideas, and I am ready to engage. The future of our country is depending on us; we can’t lay back thinking our jobs are done. We can’t shrink from our responsibility; that’s how we got here in the first place. We are poised on the brink of a new century and a new America. We can’t let them drag us back into the past. I am ready to meet this challenge; are you?

I Am So Happy and So Proud

moonhearth — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 00:14:57 +0000

I am beside myself with happiness that in electing Barack Obama the next president of the United States, we can finally move into the next century. Seventy five years or so from now, people will talk about this time as the ‘turn of the century’, and speak about this historic election as our step into the future.

Too many times Republicans and conservatives wanted to drag us back into the last century and the old arguments for keeping things the way they were. Joe Scarborough on ‘Morning Joe’ this morning said he thought it was offensive that it was considered ‘voting your hope’ to vote for Obama, and ‘voting your fears’ to vote for McCain. But, let’s look at this realistically. Conservative ideology is based on maintaining the status quo with reference to the wielding of power. Be afraid, be very afraid (of change). Progressive ideology is based on the word progress. What doesn’t work for the least of our people, needs to be looked at and changed. We need to not fear change, but to embrace it.

I am so proud of this country electing Barack Obama. In some cases, people overcame their learned inclinations in order to vote for a black man. So many in my family, with a mix of racial attitudes, overcame those attitudes by understanding that this country is in trouble, and we need someone who offers real, bold change. We will need Obama’s brains, courage and audacity to rebuild the American Dream. That we were able to bridge the racial gaps that exist is a testament to Barack Obama and the American people. Congratulations to Obama and congratulations to us!

Now, be ready for the real battle, this isn’t over yet, and our future rests in the balance.

Governor Palin, Who’s the Elitist Now?

moonhearth — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 11:32:08 +0000

I am watching Morning Joe as I type, and they are discussing the new story about the $150,000 that the RNC has spent on Sarah Palin’s wardrobe. There are a number of threads to this story, two of which I will try to address here. One of the things Mika Brzezinski and Christia Freeland talked about in Palin’s defense, is the fact that women have so much pressure on them when they are in the public eye. No matter what they do and what they say, how they look will always be the first thing they are judged on. In a sense, you can’t really blame Palin for wanting to be picture perfect. If she were anything but, you would never hear the end of it. Naomi Wolf wrote a book called ‘The Beauty Myth’ that discusses what the male dominated media has done to women of power. Women are expected to live up to a very high standard of physical looks if they want to be successful. Where women used to be held up to a very high standard within their homes, now that women have moved out of the home, the control is now being exerted on their physical appearance. Whereas I don’t have much sympathy for Sarah Palin, because I find her to be a sarcastic and divisive person, I do have some sympathy for the fact that our culture has set her up to fail in this respect. If she doesn’t look perfect, she is damned, if she spends too much on herself she is also damned.

The second thread I want to follow is the anger that will be exposed against Palin for claiming to be a regular mom, and then spending that kind of money on herself. The ‘Good Morning Joe’ crew took a message from a viewer who was angry at Mika for defending Palin. The gist of the message was ‘how can you defend her for spending that kind of money’ (I am paraphrasing cause I don’t remember the exact words). Mika was forced to acknowledge that she has sympathy for Palin because of the enormous pressure on women to look perfect, but that it is also correct that Palin is equating herself with the average ‘Hockey Mom’. As someone said, if she is touting herself as a regular person, why is she shopping at Neiman Marcus (or wherever), why isn’t she shopping at Walmart as she says she does. I have a pretty good job, but I don’t make near half that amount of money in a year. The average American doesn’t make that kind of money. I bet if you did a survery you would probably find that the average salary in this area of NY is about $32,000 a year. It’s probably not much more in most of the country. I don’t have time to find the statistics right now, so I will stand corrected if I am not even close. The point is that today while the American people are facing rising food costs, rising medical costs, foreclosures, homelessness and job losses, how can you not be angry about someone spending $150,000 on clothing for themselves. Sarah Paling has just exposed herself to the anger of people trying to feed and cloth and shelter their families on so much less than what she spends on her clothing and make up. Sarah Palin! Who is the elitist now?

John McCain in love with the Joe’s; could care less about Women’s health

moonhearth — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 12:39:28 +0000

The real John McCain finally came out during the last presidential debate. Both McCain and Palin seem to worship the average white male as illustrated by ‘Joe six pack’ and ‘Joe the plumber’. But when it comes to the health of women, when discussing a life threatening circumstance that would make a late term abortion necessary, McCain used air-quotes to signify just how unimportant women are in his narrow world view.

This may be one of the reasons that McCain is losing almost every demographic in this election. If the only group that has any importance to him is white males, there is no way for him to create enough of a coalition to win this election.

Paul Krugman’s Recipe for Economic First Aid

moonhearth — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 12:19:26 +0000

I just read Paul Krugman’s column in the NY Times titled ‘ Let’s Get Fiscal, in which Krugman advocates government spending. I’ve heard many media types employ extreme sarcasm when using his name, mostly because he does not worship at the well of Milton Friedman and his free market crowd. Remember he is a recipient of the Nobel Prize in economics. I’ve always found that Paul Krugman invariably makes sense.

In “Let’s Get Fiscal”, Krugman prescribes government spending to aid the American economy out of what is now being predicted to be a long term and serious down turn. This reflects my thoughts after the first presidential debate. When asked what programs they would have to rethink or delay due to the down turn in the economy, John McCain’s recipe was cutting all spending except Military spending and entitlements. Of course we find out that even the ‘entitlements’ are not sacred, since he is planning cuts to both Medicare and Medicaid. Conversely, Obama stated that he will prioritize his plans, but intends to ‘invest in our economy. One example of investment is in green technology, which will serve to create much needed jobs, reduce green house gases, and help us to become independent from foreign oil.

McCain reflects the conservative ideology that has in many ways contributed to our situation today; conservative ideologues are unwilling to analyze where we are and how we got here. Instead, we find them putting all their energy into finding liberal and Democratic scapegoats. Unfortunately for them, and for us, this is not helpful in getting us out of this economic disaster. Obama, like Krugman, recognizes that the only way to rebuild the economy is in a partnership with the American middle class. His programs and policies are structured to invest and invest heavily. Some call this (gasp) government spending, I call it an investment in our future.

Who do you think is most likely to really bring the flagging American economy into the 21st century?

I Just Saw Rudi Giuliani on MSNBC

moonhearth — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 12:16:47 +0000

I won’t try to capture everything he said here; the gist of the conversation was that ACORN is under investigation in many states for illegal voter registration. ACORN, a community organizing group that tries to get minorities and the poor into housing, is active in voter registration in many states. What Giuliani doesn’t tell you is that they are under investigation at the instigation of the RNC. In other words, they are suing in many states, claiming that ACORN is knowingly trying to illegally register those who should not be registered. (How interesting that this is taking place in the battle ground states only.) The fact is, ACORN turns in ALL registrations, because by law they have to. They flag ALL registrations that they believe may be questionable, because by LAW they have to. So, the RNC creates a lawsuit stating that ACORN is doing something illegal, and then their mouth pieces go out into the world at large and claim, ‘see ACORN is under investigation’. Talk about setting up your talking points. When Giuliani tried to describe what ACORN is, he used a scornful voice to describe ACORN as ‘a community organizing group’. What should we take away from this? Oh my God! No, don’t say it, they aren’t a ‘Community Organizing Group!’ Gasp! No wonder the Republican brand is dying. Everything they touch becomes toxic. Republicans really hate voters. I will state this once only. NO ONE HAS VOTED ILLEGALLY. Voter fraud, one of the Republican party’s favorite themes, is an urban myth and has never been proven, whereas, voter suppression by Republican led election commissions has been proven many times.

One last thought, are they trying to set up a scenario whereby if McCain loses the election, they can claim it was because of voter fraud? Let’s wait and see what happens.

Rivers and Tides

moonhearth — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 10:12:55 +0000

‘Rivers and Tides’ a film by Andy Goldsworthy
The film ‘Rivers and Tides’ was a fascinating, if somewhat long, look at the artwork of Andy Goldsworthy. As I was watching the film, I was trying to think how I would describe what the film was about. What I came away with was that Goldsworthy was trying to capture the connectedness of all things and his connectedness to the land through his art. He even said in the film that if he has been away from his work for a period of time, say a few weeks, he himself begins to feel disconnected.
I was especially fascinated by his ice sculpture early in the film. How really beautiful his ice sculpture was when it was complete. An overarching theme in his work, as illustrated in the title of the film, is rivers. You can see this in the ribbon like shape with its peaks and troughs that he uses repeatedly in his sculptures. Goldsworthy himself talked about the river or life, the river of time and rivers of water. The river pattern of the ice sculpture weaving in and out of the rock illustrated the concept of the passage of a river through a mountain, wearing down the rock and becoming a part of the mountain over time. The ice also embodies the connection between the water and the rock. As ice, the water is in a rock like state, solid like a rock, but still water. Although hard, the ice is also transitory; once the sun came out the sculpture had the potential of melting and changing back into its original shape of water.
There was this sculpture, out in the middle of nowhere, with no one to see it. It reminded me of what I said about my writing. It’s almost as if I were writing to myself. In this sense, Goldsworthy seems to be moved to create, not with the idea that he is creating for someone else’s appreciation; essentially he is creating because he is simply moved to create. I found myself envying him his life. In the film Goldsworthy captured his immersion in the environment. He moved through the landscape and became a part of the earth. Once familiar with a new place, he was moved to echo his understanding of his surroundings through his works of art. What a beautiful and satisfying life. For most of us, life is an exercise in conforming to what is happening around us. Goldsworthy has carved out a life that is wholly his creation. He has immersed himself in the physical world and spends his days creating so that he can relay what he senses to himself and to us.
This is really fascinating to me. I have been exposed, in the short time this class has been operational, to so many new types of art that I hadn’t known existed. In the film ‘Rivers and Tides’, Goldsworthy seemed to be showing me that all facets of his life were a work of art. Everything that we do throughout our day has that potential; I think I need to slow down and start appreciating my life and the work of art that it is.