Equal Opportunity

Tonight, at a local bar, I had a discussion with someone from from Arkansas. I can't remember how it started except that I'm sure I instigated it, but the substance of it had to do with my questioning him about how people from Arkansas feel about American opportunity and the American ideal. It's hard for me to understand how someone in a state as poor as Arkansas can not want to have worker protections--because naturally, what with my living in San Francisco, I imagine that everyone in Arkansas is living in a log cabin with their third cousins, chopping firewood, cleaning guns, and fuming about how it's somehow the Democrats' fault that their diabetic grandmothers are dying in the next room because Obama cut their Medicare.

At one point we argued about "equal opportunity." Personally, I don't see how any rational person can look at America and not see the inherent inequalities within our system. As if it's even remotely reasonable to believe that a person born in the Upper East Side of Manhattan has the same opportunities as someone born in East Oakland. What with his being a white Southerner, he went on and on about how we're all free to do whatever we want and everyone has the same opportunities if they're willing to work hard enough for it. Needless to say, the black door guy tended to disagree.

In the end, my Arkansas aquaintance turned out to be the (not an but THE) I.T. guy for the Arkansas State Police. And here he is arguing that we don't need government?

I asked him how he'd feel if they quit funding his job, and he said he'd "just find another job." (As if the Arkansas police don't need an I.T. guy...?) As much as I enjoyed this conversation, and he struck me as a reasonable, thoughtful person, isn't this just a little bit hypocritical? It's not like he doesn't understand where he gets his paycheck. How can someone argue against tax-payer funded infrastructure and simultaneously suck off the government teat?

[7/31 Note: I forgot to mention that he was in San Francisco on official business for some sort of computer training. I wonder how the citizens of Arkansas would feel about that?]

The "Free" Market

I got into a spirited debate earlier with one of my two Libertarian friends about the "Free Market." According to my friend, the Free Market is great..."but only when properly regulated against force or fraud."

I found this funny on two counts:

1. The whole concept of the "Free" Market is that there are basically no regulations. That's the definition of a "Free" Market. According to conservatives, the reason the Free Market has failed is not because we didn't have enough protections against force or fraud but because we had too many protections (like minimum wage standards, etc). I think people are generally coming around to what this means. The Free Market was an interesting thought experiment on behalf of Milton Friedman and the Chicago School of Economics (with roots in Adam Smith's laissez faire philosophy), but ultimately, it was just that: an experiment. The Free Market does wonders for those at the top, but everyone else ends up clawing their way along. The rich get richer, the poor get poorer, and that's pretty much that. If you're not convinced by the current economic meltdown, take a hard look at Chile and Argentina in the 60s, 70s, and 80s. There's nothing "free" about the Free Market.

2. A little way into the conversation it occurred to me that I was having this debate with a Libertarian. Here I was theorizing about the potential merits of European-style government, and he ends his argument by pleading with me that my time is running out to buy gold, silver, food, water, other basic necessities, and weapons. (No kidding.) On a scarier note, I like to think that my Libertarian friends (crazy, gun nut, conspiracy theorists though they may be) are some of the more cognizant of the bunch. Just last week some nutjob open fired on a Bay Area freeway after what one can only assume were a few too many Glenn Beck episodes. (Not that he was necessarily a Libertarian, but I think we can safely rule out his having received too many Socialist entitlements.)

Anyway, on yet another note, I should probably point out that my Libertarian friends both live in San Francisco in 12- to 15-year rent-controlled apartments. As much as I really do respect their personal autonomy and amazing ability to thrive outside of Corporate America (Bravo, gentlemen!), I seriously doubt that a freelance artist and the owner of a bike messenger company would be living quite so well (or buying quite so many guns) if they paid market rates on their apartments. Their success--at least partially--is no doubt due to San Francisco's glorious embracing of "evil" Socialist concepts.

Why a Blog About Socialism?

The majority of Americans--it's no secret--have long since been brainwashed to believe some variation of the following:

#1. Socialism is evil
#2. Europe is disastrous
#3. the Free Market is KING
#4. and AMERICA IS #1!!!!

I could go on, of course, but chances are you've heard all this before, so there's really no reason to expound on the obvious--like how homosexuals and Mexicans are destroying our country, how San Francisco is Babylon, how healthcare is for people who can afford it, and how everyone else can fuck off.

That said, I guess I should start off by disclosing that I live in San Francisco. But enough about me.

The point of this blog is that I'm sick to death of all the blanket statements people make--particularly about Socialism--with absolutely no idea of what they're talking about. I'm under no illusions, of course, that by writing a blog I can do much about it or even contribute much to the general debate. As much as I want to be optimistic, the truth is, our country is so fucked right now that there's not much we can do outside of wait around until our grandmothers die off (sorry, Grandma), and even THEN, considering the incredibly poor investment we've made in education, it's incredibly unlikely that our younger generation will be any better equipped than the current one to solve our nation's problems.

Even so, if for no other reason than to amuse myself, a friend or two, and some internet randos, I figured I should take some of my own advice and educate myself about what the hell I mean when I say "Socialism." For example, when I think about Socialism--which is a lot--I can't help but be bothered by how little I know about actual European Social Democracies besides maybe what my friend, Charles, tells me or what I've picked up from watching Michael Moore movies. The more I think about it, it's pretty sad. While on the one hand, I know a lot more about Socialism than the average American, I know next-to-nothing about how ACTUAL Social Democracies really work (like how their governments are structured, what benefits they afford their citizens, and how people live on a day-to-day basis).

So, with that in mind, my idea is to educate myself (and maybe one or two others) about existing Socialist Democracies, Socialist theory, and in general, how much better off we'd be in America if we embraced Socialism, gave up some of our stupid American ideas, and maybe even gave a shit about other people. Or maybe I'll discover that everything I've believed about Socialism is completely unfounded, that the people in Europe are dying to live in America, and that America really is #1 like they say. But somehow I doubt that.