The wonders and madness of socialism
The Tea Party is uncool, yes. Some may be racist. They're predominantly white and elderly folks who denounce the evils of socialism in favor of capitalism and free markets. Free will! Yes! Yes!
They're underdogs and misfits. Oddities and relics.
A past era of heroes and heroines portrayed by hollywood. The stand for what you believe in and be proud of your opinion generation. A throwback to an era when one persons opinion could make a difference and a government should be responsive to its citizens and fear the cold fury of incensed public opinion.
The conflict between the Tea Party and younger generations illustrates well these differences of ideology and belief.
Say what you will about the Tea Party there is one thing which cannot be denied. Many of them lived during an era when American industry was pre-dominantly socialized. They have firsthand experience of the transformation which occurred when America abandoned socialized industry in favor of free markets under Reagan. And, unfortunately, many of the younger generation who have not had the personal experience of living under socialized industry fail to understand why.
The main issue with the Tea Party is a breakdown in communication between generations. The Tea Party fails to illustrate their personal experiences and why they believe socialism is a bad format. Younger generations lack the experience, education and proper guidance to illustrate free markets vs socialism in real world terms. They trust blindly in the government and its corporate bought advisors to function as unbiased parental figures guiding them towards what's "best" for America.
Nothing is said of American history and socialism typically being accompanied by government sanctioned monopolies. The Tea Party fails to enlighten younger generations as to how bad the US telecommunications and other industries were under socialism. They fail to recite their personal experiences: the telecommunications industry forcing Americans to rent phones at usury prices as they did not have the right to buy or own one. Nothing is said of the decades of zero industry advancement nor innovation accompanied by socialism. And, most compellingly the Tea Party fails to illustrate the similarities between their era's barring or destroying small independent businesses and the recent healthcare reform bill making it virtually impossible for small healthcare providers to function in their respective areas.
Even UFC fighter and part time chiropractor Jacob Volkmann has spoken publicly about wanting to "knock some sense into that idiot" in regard to Obama's healthcare reform bill killing small healthcare providers(to pave the way towards a return to socialized, government sanctioned monopolies if the historical precedent is any indicator).
Click to viewThe thing people seem to fail to understand is, strangers on tv talking about how healthcare reform or a return to socialized industry will "fix" something doesn't necessarily make it so. People aren't honorbound to tell the truth or divulge information. Neither is a government necessitated to do anything ethical nor moral. For some, politics is only a money making enterprise. To pretend politicians are monks who have forsworn worldly possessions or profit in favor of the public good is madness. Indeed, socialism and madness are often found together.
The best that can be said of the recent uptrend and support for socialized industry is "everyones doing it, we should do it, too". Cue a mass of lemmings running towards a cliff with the reluctant, unlikely, heroes of capitalism being powerless to stop them.
Unfortunately, it would seem this story has a sad ending. The reluctant heroes failure usually leads to a dark age of mankind. (I saw it on Nickelodeon, k?)
How does America plan to spend its return to the dark ages of socialism?
Will anyone remember the valiant (if misguided) efforts of the Tea Party to save its beleaguered nation from a descent into socialized darkness when its too late?