Socialism’s all the rage. “We Are All Socialists Now,”Newsweek declares. As the right wing tells it, we’re already living in the U.S.S.A. But what do self-identified socialists (and their progressive friends) have to say about the global economic crisis? The following essay will, we hope, kick off a spirited dialogue, with four replies in this issue and more to come here at TheNation.com. –The Editors
Socialism/Capitalism/Humanism
by Melissa Jun Rowley
Ever since I read Ehrenreich’s and Fletcher’s essay I’ve been thinking about what it would be like to live in a socialist America. As an independent thinker, creator, and business woman, I find the idea of living under the ceiling of a state-owned economic system stifling and unjust. Tax burdens are heavy enough. I don’t want to carry any extra weight. And I sure as hell don’t want any less disposable income. At face-value the only positive attribute I see in potentially residing in a socialist country is having free health care. Now this is the surface me talking. This is the I’m-tired-of-Uncle-Sam-taking-all-my cash-hard-working-hustling-broke-as-a-joke me venting out loud and lamenting over the deflated tax return I’ll be getting from the government in a week.
But I am getting something. I am getting something, while some people are getting nothing. Some people with children and mortgages and serious illnesses and weak severance packages are getting zilch. This economic reality is what forces me to look deeper and think bigger – past the self-serving, self-indulgent, and self-righteous attitude that stems from capitalism when it is abused. (And nine times out of 10, I’d say it’s abused.) There is a reason the catchphrase “the rich get richer and the poor get poorer” was created.
So the question at this point is what are we going to do about it? What are we going to do now that we’re all grown up? What are we going to do now that we’ve shown the world we’re progressive enough to elect the first black President of the United States? What are going to do now that all eyes overseas are waiting to see what we’re going to blow up or reek havoc on or claim as our new world duty next?
The idealist in me would love for nothing more than to be part of a nation, where social and financial equality are top priority. In order for that to happen the root of what caused the country’s current fiscal crisis needs to be understood, examined and nuked. But how can human nature be destroyed? It’s human nature to want to gain, and to want to gain more from what you just gained. In our disaster-reactive country, humanity’s propensity to act now and think of consequences later has become status quo. How can we stop our own humanity? Well…we can’t. But we can learn to balance.
All the stimulus packages under the sun aren’t going to save America from this monetary abomination. They may keep us afloat, but they will not put us on dry land. For us to rest easy, first we must change. We must learn to be balanced in our lifestyles, our professional and personal dealings with other people, and within ourselves. If everyone in the world focused on having total balance at the exact same moment the earth would move.
It may sound simple and trite. Sometimes I think I am becoming too New Age for my own good. But I am not saying the recession will end if everyone starts practicing yoga and receiving reiki treatments on a regular basis. What I am affirming is that the financial and psychological balance we work with and project as individuals affects the market, so we’d better learn to check ourselves. The task of getting the country’s economic system back on track belongs to us just as much as it belongs to the Obama Administration.
I’m sure Federal Chairman Ben Bernanke would tell me it’s going to take a lot more than a national attitude adjustment to solve our budgetary issues. However, in his recent “60 Minutes” interview Bernanke said recovery would be in sight as early as next year. Maybe it will, maybe it wont. Either way, we need to start believing that we’ll see relief soon, and we need to play our part in perpetuating that stream of consiousness. We need to put our minds in motion, take control of our lives, and encourage balance in every aspect of our collective consumption and government policies. An interesting thing may happen if we concentrate on the concept of balance as a focal point in our lives. We may start to feel better. The doom and gloom news will be countered by the action we’re taking to alleviate the deadening pessimistic pressure we’ve been facing.
The core of all human disfunction is rooted in an unhealthy imbalance in negative and positive energy and expectations disproportionate with reality. Our greed and fear has been in control since the beginning of mankind, and is a direct result of our diseased equilibrium.
Some of us balance our checkbooks. When a number of us were younger we were taught to eat balanced meals. But corporations do not set out to be part of a balanced playing field. They strive to take over and expand. There is no “pay it forward” program instilled among competing companies. So in our mixed and dying economy would it really be so bad if the government played a larger role in regulating capitalist endeavors? Some say, yes. Others argue that socialism is the only way to achieve fairness and order, and that we’re already on our way to becoming a socialist country.
Only time will tell. In the meantime, the moral of giving, sharing, and striving for equality needs to be driven home by schools, parents, and the government. Somewhere between leaving college and entering corporate America that message fades into the background as just some fluffy fantastical ideal. We need it at the forefront. We need it now more than ever. We need it to feel good. We need BALANCE 101. We’re only human, after all.
Balance, communication, patience and trust. These are the first steps to recovery…in everything we do.
