For clarity

In the last posting I mentioned what I saw as two major flaws in the right wings cries of socialism when asked about not only Obamas health care, but apparently his overall economic philosophy. I would like to take some time to expand on how ridiculous this is, mainly because we are still seeing and hearing these often times ignorant and misinformed claims being made quite passionately.

From what I can see the major argument being made goes something like this... the constitution limits government involvement in the citizens lives, the health care reform bill equates to a government take over, violating the constitution and will leave us with national socialism in all areas, similar to Nazi Germany. Included in this group are those people that are waving copies of the constitution at town halls, because we apparently need a visual for the argument, or the ex-marine that demanded his congressman uphold the constitution, implying the health care bill was in violation of it. These arguments are so foolish and illogical if it wasn't so scary it would be comical. Lets deconstruct the lunacy. First and most importantly to view the constitution as a fixed document with no flexibility is absurd, it was written in 1787, pretty sure our world has changed since then. Health care is actually a great example of this, in 1787 the field of medical science was lacking to put it lightly, costing little money. It only makes sense with all the advancements that have been made in medical science, and what we know now about health that we spend money on it. Perhaps we can treat these peoples illness with similar tactics as the time they would like us all to stick too....where are the leeches? This also goes for the idiots bringing loaded guns to rallies; when the second amendment was penned there is no chance that AK-47s and automatic weapons were being imagined in the wildest of imaginations. Certainly the new massive potential for death needs to be considered. But hey if you want to adhere to the 2nd amendment that's fine, but then don't get all pissy when groups like the Black Panthers or MOVE arm themselves, after all they are just exercising their rights.

This brings me to the next aspect. This is not so much about ignorance as it is hypocrisy. A major aspect that, if not out rightly expressed is underlying these arguments, is one of free markets over a planned economy. The connection is made that free markets equal democracy and controlled economies (socialist) equal tyranny. This is hearkening back to the cold war and the red scare. It was foolish then, and is even more foolish now as we have clear proof free markets can not be left to there own devices (see the presidency of Ronald Regan or the current recession). However, beyond that simple observable fact there is another issue.... these very people who are so adamant about keeping the government out of their lives have no problem calling the police when in danger, calling the fire department if their house is on fire, sending their kids to public school, and maybe, just maybe (but I doubt it) they utilize the public library! You guessed it all of these things fall under the category of socialized! See as a country we have decided that some things are not a commodity and should be made available to everybody such as: saving your house if it is on fire, or calling the police if you have been a victim of crime. The problem, as I have stated before ,is health does not fall under that category, plain and simply there is too much money to be made from it. Imagine if we applied this way of thought to the above mentioned situations... you have just lost somebody to a violent crime and rather than calling 911 right away you have to consider how you will pay for the police to investigate- instead of calling the fire department when you come home to your house being on fire you have to borrow the money it will take to get them out to your house. Foolish right? Then I ask why do we take this approach with our health?

To deal with the Nazi comparison is simple. We live in a democracy which is a political philosophy. It is in no way an economic one. Nazi Germany was not a democracy, that is why the Nazis did what they did, not because of the economic system they chose. In fact material democracy (true socialism) is, in my opinion, the purest expression of democracy.

To sum it all up, the constitution was not written in stone for a reason ,and it should reflect our reality, secondly we already have socialized many many things and health should be included on that list!

Ryan "BUGS" Virden

R.I.P. Universal Health Care You Never Had a Chance

Today, for many, marked the death of the embattled public option. Amidst some of the most ridiculous ignorance to ever hit national television the familiar drumbeat of anti-socialism could be heard invoking the fear instilled by Reagan, Nixon and the rest of the usual suspects. Nevermind the logical sense that a single payer system makes or the examples that have come out of its success from places like Britain, or endorsements from people like Stephen Hawkin. Today lets identify the reason for the resistance.

This last weeks news coverage has been dominated by the town halls taking place across the country. By far the majority of people at these town halls were skeptical of the proposed bill, mainly because they were/are afraid of government taking over health care, and of socialism in general. Lets look at some of these fears and arguments. First, we live in a democracy (at least that is what they tell us, and that is indeed the belief of those attending these meetings) in a democracy the government is made up of the people... so then I ask -how can it be a bad thing for the government to meet the peoples needs? Unless of course the said democracy is an unhealthy one. The second problem with many of these arguments is this, socialism is accepted in many, many other areas, the police, fire department, public schools, libraries, parks, all of which you would be hard pressed to find support for dismantling (with the possible exception of the police). The fact of the matter is this- Republicans are taking advantage of the ignorance and miseducation of many of their supporters in order to serve the needs of big business, specifically the insurance companies. The largest lobbying group in the country belongs to the health care industry. There is no way, without a huge popular movement, that health care reform would be passed if it did not increase their profits. Which is exactly what would happen with this current bill (see "health insurers have already won" http://www.democracynow.org/). They knew they could count on the deeply seeded fears and prejudices of the Republican party's base. Enter this past week, and any of the examples of racism, hatred, stupidity, and foolishness that you would like. Capitalism runs on private ownership and free market. It is not concerned with anything but profit, the idea of human rights is antithetical to capitalism. Therefore as long as there is the current mix of a) deep fear of anything anti-capitalist and b) the lack of a viable non-capitalist political party there is little hope of ever seeing a single payer system in this country, or for that matter the realization of other human rights such as housing. It is worth noting we could pay for single payer now simply by diverting funds from military spending, but alas due to the imperialism and exploitation necessary for capitalism's continuation this is not even considered in this country.

By far the majority of people want to do the right thing by each other, there are countless examples of this I could point to. The problem is the people profiting from our collective ignorance. Make no mistake this is deliberate, and if we truly want to create a better world this will have to be the first thing that changes. Educate yourselves and each other and together maybe we can revive not only health care but create a truly beautiful world. Peace Love Respect

Ryan "BUGS" Virden



the federally budgeted (see below) military expenditure of the United States Department of Defense for fiscal year 2009 is[1]:
Components
Funding
Change From FY08
Operations and maintenance
$179.8 Bil.
+9.5%
Military Personnel
$125.2 Bil.
+7.5%
Procurement
$104.2 Bil.
+5.3%
Research, Development, Testing & Evaluation
$79.6 Bil.
+4.1%
Military Construction
$21.2 Bil.
+19.1%
Family Housing
$3.2 Bil.
+10.3%
Resolving and Management Funds
$2.2 Bil.
-18.5%
Total Base Spending
$515.4 Bil.
+5.7%

Not included in the DoD budget is $23.4 billion to be spent by the Department of Energy to develop and maintain nuclear warheads.[3]

What are we waiting for?

So I just got done reading about how Obama is stepping back his support for the illegally ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya. People this is a vital moment in our history, not just as americans, but Humans. The United States has a long, ugly history of interference in Latin America, including violence and intimidation against the people of this region. The fact that Obama has not cut off support to Honduras speaks volumes. If President Obama was as dedicated to Democracy as he and the rest of the Democrats led us to believe then it would be absolutely necessary to not only cut off support to a country that used it's military to overthrow the Democratically elected President, but to speak out against it publicly and with conviction. Instead what we have is the same tired politics from a new politician. There should be little doubt regarding the true reason behind the refusal to take action and show true support for Democracy... President Zelaya is a friend to Venezuela and Bolivia, two socialist countries with immense popular support among the poor and indigenous of their respective countries. This poses a threat to american capitalism something that can not be tolerated by the powers that run this country. I ask, when will we, the people of this country, decide that enough is enough and live up to the potential of our own Democracy? What are we waiting for? If we do not put down our distractions, if we don't get over our own fear about what we have to lose, we will lose more than we could ever imagine... our humanity. It does not take much,even if you just write a letter expressing your concern, or talk to a friend about it, you are raising awareness... the first step. Ona move! Ya Basta

In hope and solidarity
Ryan "BUGS" Virden