Got Socialism? Take This And Call Me In The Morning (by Corey Thompson)
By Corey Thompson, filed in Corey Thompson, General on Mar.03, 2009
“Got Socialism? Take This And Call Me In The Morning”
By: Corey Thompson, “The Thirsty Quill”
Last week I posed a question to our readers regarding the future of the United States. Specifically, I asked whether or not you believe that our great nation is headed toward a rendezvous with Socialism. My intention behind asking such a question was not to rouse fear or anxiety, but rather, to seek feedback from our audience before we begin using such terminology in future articles here at ‘The Quill.’
Make no mistake, “The Thirsty Quill” stands strongly opposed to any form of government that breaks from our foundational principles of Democracy and Capitalism. As a publication, we will not condone, nor will we support legislation, programs, or elected officials who promote ideologies that stray from those supported by our Constitution. And while we will publish articles from a variety of political views and beliefs, please do not confuse those dissenting opinions as being anything other than what they are (dissenting opinions). We remain steadfast in our “open invitation” to writers, articles, and comments from all sides, yet we will always stand firm in our stance as a Pro-Conservative publication.
You hear a great deal of discussion these days about the potential “nationalization” or “socialization” of certain programs and establishments within the American landscape. From banks, to the auto industry, to healthcare, the Democratic ‘Trinity’ that is currently in place has proposed countless acts (and committed hundreds of billions of dollars) to raise its stake in the daily lives of the American people. And while some government intervention may be necessary during an economic downturn like the one we face today, a complete overhaul of the system will tear away at the very fabric that has made America who she is.
We are a people who have obtained our stature in the world not by crawling on our proverbial bellies among the serpents and vermin of the earth in search of scraps. Rather, we did so by learning to fight tooth-and-nail against those tough times and obstacles that stood in our way along the path to prosperity. We are champions in search of a chance to throw that left hook, not cowards waiting for the next cheap-shot to knock the wind out of our lungs…or our sails. We are brave and cunning, not dependent and unworthy. We are innovators and explorers of vast frontiers, not destitute beggars, bound for little beyond the reach of our current alleyway.
Just imagine if the Pilgrims had packed up and fled back to their homeland, tails hanging between their legs, as that first harsh winter set in at Plymouth. What if Washington’s men had refused to march any further, their bare feet bleeding in the snow, to the woeful beat of a drum emblazoned with the image of a rattlesnake and the motto “Don’t Tread On Me?” What if Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, or Alexander Graham Bell had tossed in the towel when life threw them a curve? It was Ford who once stated: “Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off of your goal.”
Out of the ashes of adversity rise the kites of prosperity, battling the gale force winds of ‘tough times,’ ultimately evolving into the Space Shuttles of our future, and giving credibility to Thomas Paine’s famous lines: “The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly.”
Right now, we’re staring down one of those “obstacles” in the midst of one of the most difficult “conflicts” in our national history. Yet, what will be the story, the parable, or the quote that is long remembered after our current perils have subsided and are nothing more than a memory?
Many of our leaders in Washington today want us to feel victimized. They want us to believe that we are paralyzed by problems that were “inherited,” and that only a government rescue can save us from our plight. They want us to be dependent upon them, not ourselves, thus sacrificing our own ‘ability to overcome’ upon the altar of helplessness. They promote a veil of “hope and change” under the guise of government ownership of our institutions, our creativity, and our innovation. This will lead to the ultimate enslavement of our people to a system that keeps us downtrodden as a society, never allowing us to stand up and make a name for ourselves as individuals who can, if given the chance, hoist the neon sign that is “America” high into the night sky for all the world to see.
March 3rd, 2009 on 2:04 pm
Your last paragraph is what keeps me awake at night and is the subject of most of my arguments with my friends. Why would I want to depend on a government that can’t run a country correctly. I want them running my life?
I lost my job and lost my health care, but do I need to be rescued. No, I need to rescue myself, that is why I don’t feel victimized. I should have planed better, I should have saved better. Its a hard lesson to learn but Ive learned it. And next time I will be better prepared. A lesson that is going unlearned by most Americans because they believe that the government should help me out even though I’m not willing to help myself.
March 3rd, 2009 on 2:37 pm
Wow! Rodney, you hit it right on the head my friend.
I feel the same way. My wife and I could be laid off tomorrow, and many of our debts would probably go unpaid. Not because the government put us in a hole, but because we dug a deep hole for ourself. If that happens, it isn’t their responsibility to bail us out of our poor planning, lack of saving, over spending, etc….it would be our own.
Excellent response. Glad to have you on here!
March 3rd, 2009 on 9:58 pm
Corey, as always I love your passion for this country. I stand there right beside you in proclaiming that we can and have done what it takes to keep this idea of liberty going through thick and thin. Help me out here my brother. You know I am a little slow
Do you view President Obama and his administration as the dictator and Gestapo who are going to enforce this socialism?
And who are these vermin of the earth that you fear we as Americans are close to becoming? Is President Obama so cunning and sly that he would build up this vision that he has shared so many times as propaganda to buy time to tear down a free market and infuse our democracy with limitations to the American Dream?
Or do you believe he is naïve to what is happening and has the best of intentions and that the wheels are already turning in this enemy within who is counting down the days to the end of our country?
Or is it possible that you are perpetuating the same rhetoric spouted by every AM talk radio host over the last five years? Is it possible that the wealthiest 1% does not want to go back to the tax code we had under Bill Clinton? Is it possible that they will use they’re unmatched wealth to beat the drums as loudly and passionately as needed to drowned out this message of fairness and transparency?
See, I don’t think this administration is looking for socialism. I don’t think capping CEO pay to a reasonable amount when there is all the proof in the world of abuse right here in front of us is socialism. I don’t think taking care of a 54 year old lady with crippling rheumatoid arthritis who cant afford treatment is socialism any more than I think saving her burning house from fire is socialism. If the fire department had been private up till now, would a call to have state and nationalized law enforcement or fire prevention be considered the birth of socialism?
Hot Rod, My Man! You throw down words like they were a leather “SPAULDING”. Great to see you here in cyber space. I hope you know how much joy you filled me with back in the day every time you would tomahawk that ball thought he hoop it made me feel a little cooler just to be your fan. I know you will find some good work soon. I see know reason to fear our country giving up democracy or capitalism.
Americans will not go for it. Our government will be dissolved before liberty or free market is taken away from its citizens. This is not to say that regulations (OH NO, HE SAID IT, PINKO…..) and transparency are not appropriate right now. It is like many conservatives refuse to admit the abuse that is right here and now for why we need these things. And instead of listening to a fresh new message from Steele, Jindal, or even that 13 year old dude,(all of whom I like a lot) they choose to cling to the talking heads that are running ever so dangerously to unleashing social warfare and mutiny into our once civil and United States.
March 3rd, 2009 on 10:15 pm
For the record today and I hate to admit this, I did not work because there was no work to be done. So what did I do? Do I sit around and wait for someone to come with work and money? Do I ask people around me for some money? Not just no, but hell no. How dare someone bail me out. I go out and I find myself work. I create opportunities for myself to work.
That’t the probem with the situation we are in, people and companies are becomming reliant on the government to take care of them, and that we are becomming complacent with not taking action ourselves. Basically becomming someone else’s problem rather than the solution. What needs to happen is that America needs to just tighten our belts and get back to doing what we do to the best of our abilities. It may hurt right now, but as SForbis so wisely said, “Capitalism stretches and shrinks, right now it’s shrinking”. It’s clearly the best governmental system in the world, propeling us as one of the youngest nations in the world to THE Global Superpower. But yet somehow that system is wrong? Give me a break.
March 3rd, 2009 on 10:28 pm
“Or do you believe he is naïve to what is happening and has the best of intentions and that the wheels are already turning in this enemy within who is counting down the days to the end of our country? ”
There is no way in the world that after seeing the people Obama surrounds himself with that you can call him naive. No way. You don’t think that all the hope that he talks about he means will happen in a more socialistic society? You don’t think that tearing down an economy like he is gives him an opportunity to build it back up the way he wants? You think he could possibly be naive enough that the creation of the positions to review the 54 year old ladies arthritis medications just sort of “fell into” the last stimulus bill? You sir are the naive one. This is systematic. This administration knows exactly what is going on, and they are making the American people believe that they are the only answer to the problem. That all Americans will have to rely on them. That we cannot get out of this situation ourselves, that we need to rely on these designated people to save us.
Because these people, who have never been intrusted with this type of money before, are supposed to know how to solve this problem which has never been so severe and make a solution which has never worked as intended. Tell ya what, show me an instance in which such a recession has been solved with throwing trillions of Government dollars at it, and then I’ll show you one amazing example of the power of Capitalism to get us out of many recessions.
March 4th, 2009 on 12:08 am
Is anyone sure, sir? My question was sort of a question. Do you have it all figured out? DO you mind questions, since you have it figured out? If I ask questions to assist me in understanding someone’s point is that naivety? Or should I just blather what other people (who make a good living doing so) blather and call it gospel?
And for the record, is it your opinion that President Obama is tearing down the economy to push a socialist agenda because he is a liberty hating, socialist, hell bent on being a ruthless dictator?
March 4th, 2009 on 7:14 am
Just because you won’t accept government aid in the form of money or health care doesn’t mean that millions of other Americans aren’t proud enough to accept help in the toughest recession of our lives.
“Do I sit around and wait for someone to come with work and money? Do I ask people around me for some money? Not just no, but hell no. How dare someone bail me out. I go out and I find myself work. I create opportunities for myself to work.”
Did you know in January alone, 50,000 people lost their jobs? That is in one month. I know you say that you go out and find work for yourself, but you aren’t unemployed. I know sometimes you guys have a stint where you can’t find work, but if your job went bankrupt now, could you bounce back as easy as you claim? Even if your answer is “Hot diggity dog yes! I’m an American!”, your answer is not typical of the 2.5 million Americans who are currently without jobs.
Pride should not blind you from the tough truth that people need more aid right now than ever before. Are some people playing the system? Of course, people have always played the system, that is to be expected. Are the majority of Americans who are accepting government aid in one form or another deserving, hard-working Americans? Hot diggity dog yes!.
March 4th, 2009 on 2:58 pm
Thanks you Corey for this outlet. I have been looking for a place to have an intelligent conversation with intelligent and knowledgeable people.
Andy…I cant believe you called me “HotRod”. Its ok people still call me that. I think about those basketball days very fondly also, except when I walk up a flight of stairs and my knees scream bloody murder.
Oh and I have found work. I bought a little janitorial franchise. And im doing pretty good. And the only help I got was from my family. imagine that, no help from any government program or handout was needed. I do believe that the American people are smart and wont stand for certain things. But its also obvious that a lot of Americans are not as educated as you and me in politics and the history of America. So most could be sold a dream with some fancy, beautiful and hopeful words behind it. Then we will wake up and will not recognize the country that we once loved. So what I’m getting at is after this past election I believe that anything is possible.
March 4th, 2009 on 4:49 pm
Corey-
I agree with your concern that our leaders in Washington are seeking to create a structure which causes citizens to be dependent on the “system”. I worked for Child Welfare long enough ago to know that mothers were having babies in order to get financial support from the government. That is not just a rumor. I witnessed it over and over again. I had a client that had a baby at 16, at the same time I had my first child in my late 20s. (After I had gone to college and gotten married and had some financial stability.) I went back to work and she went to live in government housing and collected Aid to Dependent Children welfare benefits and food stamps. I remembered wondering which one of us had the better life as she was free to spend her day wandering around town with her child (who was filthy and whose teeth were rotting out due to having a bottle hanging out of his mouth all the time). I was a stressed out working mom striving to create a good life for my family. She went on to have mulitiple children (to get more benefits) who all ended up in the foster care system due to her irresponsibility. The taxpapers probably contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars for the care of those children.
Those of us working in social services pictured starving moms and kids when the government discussed making changes. That did not happen. You can bet that the media would have exploited the situation then and now if that
was going on. Since reforms I have seen many women making thoughtful decisions about how many children to have because they know that they are going to have to provide for those children (the government will not take over all the financial responsibility).
At a time where our country is experiencing extreme financial struggles let’s be sure to focus on the bigger picture. Hasty responses could set us back way, way into the future. Families and children will suffer.
March 5th, 2009 on 1:24 am
“And for the record, is it your opinion that President Obama is tearing down the economy to push a socialist agenda because he is a liberty hating, socialist, hell bent on being a ruthless dictator?”
Dictator no. And not liberty hating, but certainly he is imposing on hardworking American’s wealth. God forbid someboby make a bunch of money in this country. It’s sad that the media and Obama have made this stipulation that if you have made a bunch of money in your life, then you have cheated somehow and you are evil. It’s your fault the poor are poorer and your fault jobs are being lost. MAYBE 1% of all rich people are actually truly evil. And so yeah, we hear about the Madoff’s and the others, but how about all the Americans who earned their money with hard work? What we are seeing is a growing distaste for the top tier of income makers, and the government is now trying to “Spread the wealth around”. Sound familiar?
And I’m still waiting for the example of when in history we’ve seen such a large spending spree by the government in something even remotely reaching this magnitude, that actually worked to pull the country out of a recession.
March 5th, 2009 on 9:36 am
“And I’m still waiting for the example of when in history we’ve seen such a large spending spree by the government in something even remotely reaching this magnitude, that actually worked to pull the country out of a recession.”
FDR, New Deal. Created tons of new welfare programs for Americans who were impacted by the Great Depression. He ranks as one of the Presidents who spent the most amount of money during his Presidency. Speaking of his Presidency, he was elected four times.
March 6th, 2009 on 11:28 am
Treasury Secretary, Henry Morgenthau, confided to his diary May 1939: “We have tried spending money. We are spending more than we have ever spent before and it does not work. And I have just one interest, and now if I am wrong somebody else can have my job. I want to see this country prosper. I want to see people get a job. I want to see people get enough to eat. We have never made good on our promises. I say after eight years of this administration, we have just as much unemployment as when we started. And enormous debt to boot.”
You cannot count FDR as the one who pulled us out of the recession. I’m even sure you told me that one day on the phone too dude. The Second World War pulled us from an unemployment of 14% down to 2%. And the amount spent by the Obama admin. is profoundly more than what FDR has spent. What FDR did was an overhaul of the economic structure of America. You are talking about a time when gold was still used to purchase things. He did away with that by giving people currency based on the gold they had, created the FDIC and stabilized the bank markets by giving them confidence. Also, doing away with prohibition was a large step to creating jobs and businesses. So how about if we open up offshore drilling to create stability in our oil prices and create american jobs?
Don’t forget how terribly unpopular FDR was with businesses but relied on them so heavily when the war came around to fuel the American War Machine. Sounds slightly familiar considering businesses are the oposition in Obamas administration.
I’m not saying that he didn’t do some great, wonderful and lasting things with the government because he did, but to say that his spending was the #1 reason we were pulled out of the Great Depression is a complete farce. What would be a comparable example would be if FDR’s presidency was able to maintain what it was doing and not have a wrench forced in it by the war. THEN would could have seen how much trouble it really would have gotten us into.
And speaking of farce, implying that his presidency was for 4 terms because of his economic prowess is crazy.
March 6th, 2009 on 5:18 pm
Why was his presidency for four terms then? Because of his good looks? Or could it be his popularity with the people? And what would make him popular with the people? More spending on those who needed it, perhaps?
March 6th, 2009 on 10:36 pm
I dunno Sforbis, perhaps it was the fact that they were in a World War, kinda alot of the reason people voted for Bush 2nd term. They just wanted to see the war continued by the same person, hoping the job would be done. Mission Accomplished. AMIRITE?????///?