Four Letter Words
A friend on Falebook postulated that "socialism" is now a four letter word and that people must be illiterate for not wanting a socialist government. My reply:
The short of it is that everyone screaming for socialism seems to think that it's all going to turn out like Star Trek.
Okay, let's start with the fact that Star Trek is *fiction*. Yes, we've been able to make plenty of the science gizmos from that world work, but it is still *fiction*.
Then let's progress to the fact that the story world of Roddenberry's socialist utopia was only able to happen long after shit like the Eugenics Wars, Bell Riots, and WWIII where the populace nuked the hell out of itself, killing 600 million and destroying most of the world governments.
Why did it take that much for socialism to work? First, because the people actually living in today's real reality suck. Given the opportunity *not* to work, most won't. It took having so few people left to be able to affect the cultural change needed to ensure that all members of the society contribute. Secondly, in today's "global economy", no one is going to let another government become purely socialist because, in theory, a purely socialist culture is self-sustaining and needs no outside trade - which would ruin other economies.
Resign yourself to the fact that where we're headed is Idiocracy, not Star Trek.
The short of it is that everyone screaming for socialism seems to think that it's all going to turn out like Star Trek.
Okay, let's start with the fact that Star Trek is *fiction*. Yes, we've been able to make plenty of the science gizmos from that world work, but it is still *fiction*.
Then let's progress to the fact that the story world of Roddenberry's socialist utopia was only able to happen long after shit like the Eugenics Wars, Bell Riots, and WWIII where the populace nuked the hell out of itself, killing 600 million and destroying most of the world governments.
Why did it take that much for socialism to work? First, because the people actually living in today's real reality suck. Given the opportunity *not* to work, most won't. It took having so few people left to be able to affect the cultural change needed to ensure that all members of the society contribute. Secondly, in today's "global economy", no one is going to let another government become purely socialist because, in theory, a purely socialist culture is self-sustaining and needs no outside trade - which would ruin other economies.
Resign yourself to the fact that where we're headed is Idiocracy, not Star Trek.
posted by wlturland at
11:22 AM
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