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“It’s only socialism if we don’t like it”

I’m so sick of right-wing politicians using “socialism” as a scare word — especially because they don’t know what it means. And sadly, neither do those who are scared by it.

Capitalism is when the economy has no government involvement. With capitalism, we have child labor, no minimum wage, no safety regulations, no regulations of food, no regulations of medicine — you get the idea. Almost everyone who hates “socialism” wants those things.

A scary socialist. Wooooooooo

And the vast majority loves socialism when it includes social security and medicare for our elderly, a national health care program, aid to those who need it, and other governmental programs that help the individual.

These right-wingers have no problem with things like subsidies to oil companies, tax breaks for businesses, government loans that don’t have to be repaid — if it restricts business, they scream “socialism” but if it helps business, well, that’s just good government.

They just don’t like it when government helps people.

Watch and see — next time some politician screams “socialism,” they probably won’t have any idea what they’re talking about, like when Mitch McConnell said getting rid of the Electoral College would be “socialism.”

Part of the problem, of course, is that there were some terrible repressive countries that called themselves “socialist” and people associate totalitarianism (where the people have no power in government) with a government’s economics. You can have a free, democratic socialist country (like most of Europe and Japan and Canada, for instance). And of course, it’s not a black-and-white issue. We already have socialism in America (as demonstated above). The only issue really is how much do we want.

So don’t be scared by the word. Socialism is already here. We can debate how much of it we want, but it’s not a scary monster, no matter how much conservatives want you to believe.

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Generation Gasp

Ruben Bolling
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A majority supports Trump’s arrest

Polls show that a majority of Americans support Trump being arrested, think the arrests are fair, and think he should go to jail if convicted.

This includes a majority of independents, who are needed to win any election.

But the GOP lives in a bubble, and they only talk to each other, and they all think Trump is popular among Americans.

I remember pointing this out to a Trump person on Facebook a while ago who said something similar. “No,” I replied. “A majority voted against him the first time; he never even reached a 50% approval rating his entire term; he lost the House and the Senate; and then he lost his second election by an even larger margin. He has never been supported by a majority of Americans.” I was unfriended immediately despite everything I said being true and not controversial.

Trump posts “Never Surrender” immediately after surrendering

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Winner of the Republican debate

Clay Bennett
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Nonbelievers growing in numbers

The number of Americans who are either atheists, agnostics, or claim “no religion” is almost a third of the population and growing very quickly.

So when you say things like “God Bless America” or want people to recite the pledge with the words “under God” in it, you are excluding a huge minority of people.

Maybe the pledge should say instead “One nation, except for a third of the population whose views are irrelevant and unimportant to me.”

And of the remaining religious folks, many do not want government involved in religious laws (such as banning abortion or gay marriage).

In fact, I think one of the reasons religious belief is dying in America is because of the fanatics who proclaim to love Jesus while hating everything he stood for. It’s no wonder people are turning away from religion.

cartoon by Robert Leighton
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Beep beep

Clay Bennett
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That’s the ticket

According to the Trump indictment, his co-conspirators working on the alternative electors scheme referred to them as “fake” electors in conversations and e-mails among themselves.

Ha! “No, Your Honor, were absolutely sincere in our beliefs that these electors were valid and that we weren’t trying to commit any sort of election fraud. We just called them ‘fake’ because, uh, that stands for ‘Federally Available Kind Electors.’ Yeah, that’s the ticket.”

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Distractions

Darrin Bell
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I’m officially old

Today’s my 65th trip around the sun. I look in the mirror and see a guy with bags under his eyes, gray in his beard, and wispy hair barely covering a balding head. That’s a scary thought, especially when I consider where I thought I’d be at this point in my life. I thought I’d be rich and famous by now.

Anyway, if you’ll forgive me, I’m going to do some reminiscing about the choices I’ve made that have led me where I am today. (Some of this repeats a post I did on my 60th birthday.)

There are paths I chose in my life that, in retrospect, I wish I had not. But when I reflect on what I have accomplished, I’m fairly proud. This is the kind of retrospection everyone should do, and if you’re not pleased with what you find, to remember that it is never too late to make a change. You only have one life, after all. This isn’t a computer game where you can start over and create a new character.

So let’s start with this: Try not to have big regrets.

Act on your dreams. No one was ever on their death bed saying, “I’m so glad I never tried to accomplish that dream of mine!”

I’ve done a lot of different things in my life. I’ve been successful at some, and not so much at others.

Part of my problem was that I am interested in so many things, and I wanted to do them all. Had I concentrated on one thing, maybe I might have been really successful at it. For instance, maybe if I had put 100% of my effort into making it with my band, that would be my job today, and I’d be very happy.

But I’ve always been a realist. I know that having talent or a skill by itself is no guarantee of success. There are many tremendously talented actors, writers, and artists out there who are waiting tables and doing menial jobs while less talented ones earn millions. Life doesn’t always reward the ones who deserve it.

So I went to law school as a back-up plan. People always need lawyers and, honestly, I like being a lawyer. It’s not like I have a job I hate. (Although I wish I could afford to retire from it, so I could spend more time writing and doing other creative things.)

Anyway, back to the choices I made as I was growing up. The point I am trying to make is that I tried everything. I always at least attempted to do the things I wanted to do, even if I didn’t pursue them to their extreme.

When I was 7 or 8, I decided I wanted to be an actor. So my mom took me to community theater, and I passed auditions and was in a number of plays. (I continued on through High School.)

Then I wanted to be a cartoonist. I ended up drawing comics for my school newspapers all the way through law school.

I thought it would be great to be in a band, so I taught myself guitar, bass and piano. I played in many bands and still do from time to time.

In High School, I decided to start an “underground” newspaper. It became quite popular, although it was more like Mad Magazine than a real newspaper. (I continued to write for the college and law school papers and later did a column for the Allston-Brighton Item, a real newspaper in Boston.)

Then I said, “I should write a musical comedy.” I did, and the High School drama coach liked it. The school put it on. It was held over an extra week and got good reviews from the local paper. The High School gave me the “most humorous” award my senior year.

In college, I decided to run for the student government and received the highest number of votes of any candidate, and was later awarded the college’s Student Service Award in my senior year. I also became the college radio station’s Program Director.

Then I decided to go to law school, mostly because I was interested in politics. I became involved with the Massachusetts chapter of Americans for Democratic Action and ended up as their President for a year. I also worked as a lobbyist, and was campaign manager for a state representative for a summer.

While in law school, I married my high school sweetheart Heidi Hooper. That was the best decision I ever made. (Heidi, like me, never gives up and is always trying to improve herself, and she’s now the world’s most famous dryer lint artist. Check out the link and see!)

After law school, I said, “There should be a magazine for animated films,” and started Animato!, which later grew into a real magazine carried in book stores everywhere.

Then I joined up with some friends and began one of the first live-action fantasy medieval role-playing games in America. I later broke away and started the Alliance LARP, which now has been running for more than 30 years. I had chapters all over the United States and Canada, and the Discovery channel even did a documentary about us. (Yes, you can watch it on YouTube and yes, that’s me and my Heidi being interviewed.) We even had a booth at the New York Renaissance Faire for many years, which we sold when Heidi’s medical condition prevented her from working. (I sold the rights to the game a few years ago, and it is still running.) In some ways, this was my biggest success, and seeing how many friends I made because of this (and seeing how many people made new friends and even got married because they met at my game) makes me very proud.

About fifteen or so years ago, I decided I wanted to write fiction, and I have so far published five novels and a bunch of short stories (no, they’re not self-published) as well as edited about a dozen anthologies, featuring NY Times bestselling authors. A few were even made into audio books with professional actors reading the stories. Later, I wrote a few nonfiction books about The Beatles, The Monkees, and the U.S. Constitution.

I then started the Pocono Liars Club, a group of local writers who sponsor workshops and seminars.

Now, were all of these things I did successful? Absolutely not, if your definition of success is that I could make a living at them. I tried to make a living at the LARP but instead ended up living in poverty for a few years. My books are not best-sellers. My bands may have played all the big clubs but we never got a record deal. I gave up on the cartooning and never pursued the acting.

I’ve had regrets about life, just like everyone. But they are rarely of the “I wish I had tried that” variety.

And that’s today’s lesson: Take control and make things happen in your life. There is no “Life Fairy” who will come along, point a magic wand, and make all your dreams come true. Sitting around and watching TV won’t get you anywhere. Get off your butt and do something. Make something of your life. Create something and don’t just consume things other people create.

Make sure that when you’re on your death bed, you have no big regrets.

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Thug shot

Clay Bennett