(* With apologies to Paul Simon.) There is no nice way to say this. The media pushes propaganda - left-wing propaganda - and my leftist friends devour it. Here is just one example. In the race for the governorship of Florida, Rep. Ron DeSantis (R) will be running against Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum (D). Gillum is a leftist, and is supported by Bernie Sanders.
Following the recent primary election, DeSantis was on the Laura Ingraham show on Fox. DeSantis: "I'm trying to make Florida even better; he (Gillum) wants to make Florida Venezuela." But, according to the Los Angeles Times (8/30/18 edition), "DeSantis warned Floridians not to 'monkey this up' by choosing Gillum, drawing protest from Democrats who accused him of using a racially charged phrase." Said the head of Florida's Democratic Party: "It's disgusting that Ron DeSantis is launching his general election campaign with racist dog whistles."
The Huffington Post had this online headline: "Ron DeSantis Tells Florida Not to 'Monkey This Up' By Electing Andrew Gillum." The left-wing site Vox ran with this online headline: "Ron DeSantis says Andrew Gillum winning Florida would 'monkey this up.'" Never one to be outdone, CNN's online headline read: "Florida's GOP gubernatorial nominee says a vote for his black opponent would 'monkey this up.'" CNN wanted to be sure that their readers knew Mr. Gillum is a black man, in case they were unaware of that fact.
Except, for those who may be interested, this is the full comment by DeSantis: "The last thing we need to do is to monkey this up by trying to embrace a socialist agenda with huge tax increases and bankrupting the state." Maybe there was more to the entire interview, but I do not see anything here about Mr. Gillum being black. But why should that matter to a media that wants to paint every Republican as being a racist (and sexist and islamophobic and homophobic and so on).
When my brother and I were kids, and we were fighting or just fooling around or just making too much noise for our Dad, he would tell us to "stop monkeying around." My father, a white man, made the comment to his two white sons. It was an expression. There was also a Yiddish expression used by our parents if we were acting up too much - they called us vilde chaya (wild animals).
The media is only too happy to depict all Republicans as being racist. And for my friends on the left who already believe it, this kind of distorted story serves only to confirm their beliefs.
Saturday, September 1, 2018
Sunday, August 26, 2018
Socialism?
On the first page of the "Sunday Review" (opinion) section of the New York Times is an Op-Ed by author and professor of political science at Brooklyn College and the City University of New York, Corey Robin. The article is titled: "The New Socialists," and speaks quite favorably of socialism over capitalism. Professor Robin touts the young Democrats such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rashida Tlaib, who are openly socialist, and following in the footsteps of Bernie Sanders. He also seems to relish in what he calls the "skyrocketing" growth in membership of the Democratic Socialists of America, especially among the young.
The reader is told about the horrors of capitalism. "Under capitalism, we're forced to enter the market just to live." And: "Under capitalism, we're forced to submit to the boss." Of course, people might try becoming their own boss. Or, they could hope that someone just mails them a check every week. Although that really never worked for me. Or, one can play the lotto, if you don't mind really poor odds.
We are also told that "the socialist argument against capitalism, isn't that it makes us poor. It's that it makes us unfree." Old style Democrats, such as Al Gore, John Kerry and Hillary Clinton are not like today's socialist Democrats. "Today's young candidates of the left tell a story of personal struggle that meshes with their political vision." Interesting how the left, a la Karl Marx, equates all of life's struggles with economics. Thank you Karl Marx. Some of us have had life-long physical struggles; others, emotional struggles, family struggles, even struggles with friends. Of course, the left would find some convoluted way to connect it all to economics.
Then, we see what is perhaps the most telling comment in the article: "It's not enough to criticize Donald Trump or the Republicans; the Democrats are also complicit in the rot of American life." "The rot of American life." Wow. I am aware of various studies that do not rank the USA among the top ten countries in the world in either freedom or income; although we generally come in just over or under number 20. Those rankings get us in or near the top 10% of countries in the world. If life in the US is "rot," then what does that say about the other 90%? How comforting to know that professors such as Professor Robin get to fill young people's heads with loathing for America.
Then, the professor explains the difference between just liberals and socialists. "With their talk of Medicare for all or increasing the minimum wage, these socialist candidates sound like New Deal or Great Society liberals. There's not much discussion, yet, of classic socialist tenets like worker control or collective ownership of the means of production." (As usual, the socialists are really talking about communism, with government/worker control.) You see, "the socialist...believes that making things free makes people free." Hmmm. But who makes all the free stuff? And what motivates them to put in the hours to make free stuff?
Finally, we are told that socialists "are already debating the next steps: state ownership of certain industries, worker councils and economic cooperatives, (and) sovereign wealth funds." I am curious as to how this state ownership comes about. Do they steal companies from their rightful owners? If so, I guess that's not "freedom" for everybody. Does the government start new businesses, and undercut private businesses, putting thousands, if not millions, of people out of work? If you want to know what supermarket shelves look like in socialist countries, take a look at pictures from the Soviet Union, or more recently, Venezuela. And read the stories about how women in Venezuela have taken to prostitution in order to feed their families.
As for the so-called "socialist" countries of Scandinavia and Europe, the reality is that they are market based economies with high taxes, which allows them, in turn, to provide some of the "free" stuff that socialists think their worker collectives will provide. Actual socialist/communist countries fail - always. Which is why those that have tried it ultimately revert to capitalism - the greatest system ever devised for the creation of wealth.
The reader is told about the horrors of capitalism. "Under capitalism, we're forced to enter the market just to live." And: "Under capitalism, we're forced to submit to the boss." Of course, people might try becoming their own boss. Or, they could hope that someone just mails them a check every week. Although that really never worked for me. Or, one can play the lotto, if you don't mind really poor odds.
We are also told that "the socialist argument against capitalism, isn't that it makes us poor. It's that it makes us unfree." Old style Democrats, such as Al Gore, John Kerry and Hillary Clinton are not like today's socialist Democrats. "Today's young candidates of the left tell a story of personal struggle that meshes with their political vision." Interesting how the left, a la Karl Marx, equates all of life's struggles with economics. Thank you Karl Marx. Some of us have had life-long physical struggles; others, emotional struggles, family struggles, even struggles with friends. Of course, the left would find some convoluted way to connect it all to economics.
Then, we see what is perhaps the most telling comment in the article: "It's not enough to criticize Donald Trump or the Republicans; the Democrats are also complicit in the rot of American life." "The rot of American life." Wow. I am aware of various studies that do not rank the USA among the top ten countries in the world in either freedom or income; although we generally come in just over or under number 20. Those rankings get us in or near the top 10% of countries in the world. If life in the US is "rot," then what does that say about the other 90%? How comforting to know that professors such as Professor Robin get to fill young people's heads with loathing for America.
Then, the professor explains the difference between just liberals and socialists. "With their talk of Medicare for all or increasing the minimum wage, these socialist candidates sound like New Deal or Great Society liberals. There's not much discussion, yet, of classic socialist tenets like worker control or collective ownership of the means of production." (As usual, the socialists are really talking about communism, with government/worker control.) You see, "the socialist...believes that making things free makes people free." Hmmm. But who makes all the free stuff? And what motivates them to put in the hours to make free stuff?
Finally, we are told that socialists "are already debating the next steps: state ownership of certain industries, worker councils and economic cooperatives, (and) sovereign wealth funds." I am curious as to how this state ownership comes about. Do they steal companies from their rightful owners? If so, I guess that's not "freedom" for everybody. Does the government start new businesses, and undercut private businesses, putting thousands, if not millions, of people out of work? If you want to know what supermarket shelves look like in socialist countries, take a look at pictures from the Soviet Union, or more recently, Venezuela. And read the stories about how women in Venezuela have taken to prostitution in order to feed their families.
As for the so-called "socialist" countries of Scandinavia and Europe, the reality is that they are market based economies with high taxes, which allows them, in turn, to provide some of the "free" stuff that socialists think their worker collectives will provide. Actual socialist/communist countries fail - always. Which is why those that have tried it ultimately revert to capitalism - the greatest system ever devised for the creation of wealth.
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