Politics; Obama, Churchill, and Tyler Durden

Up until this past year, I hated politics. I didn't know much about them besides always hearing that politicians were dirty, lying tricksters. However, after my first year in college, I began to ask questions and gain knowledge on the different facets of liberalism, conservatism, capitalism, and socialism. For the first time, I was able to formulate my own opinions, instead of just going along with what people around me said they believed.

Now hear me out: I do not claim to be an expert on any of these things. I am merely expressing thought through the knowledge that I have gained. I'm sure there is more that I have yet to learn. But just because I am not an expert on something doesn't mean I can't blog about it.

So here it goes. Our current president, Barack Obama, is often pinned as a socialist. For the most part, people like the idea of that. To reluctantly quote Fight Club, "We'll redistribute the wealth of the world." Minus the whole anarchy thing, I think Tyler Durden might have voted for Obama. I mean- it doesn't sound all that bad; if everyone works hard, and some people just get lucky, why shouldn't their wealth be distributed evenly among men? Other people just missed the mark; it isn't their fault.

It sounds generous. It sounds unifying. It sounds good.

But if you could ask the late Winston Churchill what he thought. He'd disagree.

 

"Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery."

- Winston Churchill

 

A little harsh? Perhaps. But upon careful inspection of the flaws of socialism, it makes sense.

 

"If we can't all be as rich as the richest, let's make the richer poorer by giving their money to the poorest."

 

"Okay, Robin Hood. But some people just missed the mark. And that sucks for them. But tough luck."

 

And that's a taste of the flaws of capitalism. It's the reason we fight for the closer parking spot; the reason we rush; the reason we strive for the best name brands. It's why some products have over a 500% mark-up rate. Capitalism creates the cut-throat, money-thirsty society in which we live today.

 

Both systems have flaws just like any system if one looks close enough. But the fact of the matter is: The United States of America is a capitalistic society. It was created that way. Why? Because freedom means capitalism. It means people are FREE to do what they'd like with their money.

 

Socialism doesn't take away all of that freedom. You can still do whatever you want with the money you get to keep. But some of your money is going to be taken away and given to the people who didn't work quite as hard or just didn't manage to hit the sweet spots.

 

And here's why I believe socialism won't work: if all Americans and born and bred in this society I'm talking about, they're used to capitalism; it's the natural way of American life. Go ahead and argue that it's taught. Go ahead and argue that nothing like this is "natural," rather that Americans are "conditioned" to a capitalistic lifestyle. Whatever. The point is: trying to convince Americans as a whole to be naturally socialistic isn't going to work. BECAUSE in order for a society to truly want to be socialistic, they have to be willing to be selfless. Because they don't get to keep everything they work hard for, and some of it might end up going to someone really undeserving.

 

Not only does this go against American nature, but it goes against HUMAN nature. And that's a tough thing to beat.

 

Which leaves government leaders with the option of force. Joseph Stalin tried this; remember how that turned out? Hundreds dead, ruined economy, paranoid government. No big deal.

 

All I'm saying is, I don't see a way of reiterating American society to truly operate socialistically (which, again, means selflessly) without the application of government force.

 

Like picture this:

"I KNOW you worked hard to buy that new bike, but you must let your sister use it just as much as you do. She doesn't have as good a job as you so SHARE! NOW!"

 

... I'm not saying capitalism is the only way to go; I'm not saying it's perfect. I'm not saying socialism is terrible. I'm just saying, is it really possible to change this without compromising what the United States was founded upon anyway?

 

All right. All right. I get it. My last post was how I stopped reading controversy blogs. Which I have. But that doesn't mean I get to avoid all controversy. The world is full of it, and it doesn't just lie in articles on the Internet. Plus, just because I don't read them doesn't mean I can't write them, and it doesn't mean you can't read them either.





Blog Posts

I feel like the trend of blog-reading has substantially spiked in the past year. The majority of the blog posts have a couple of criteria.

For starters, blogs drawing readers in with excellent link bait. I remember one that was literally titled "Why Jesus Wants Me to Get a Divorce in 2014." This "divorce" he was referring to was breaking off his obsession with social media and his cell phone (which is, BY-THE-WAY, a misuse of the definition of "divorce," but whatever...).

Secondly, wordy, brutish display of opinions. Some of these people just have different opinions just to cause mayhem (cough, cough, Matt Walsh.)

Thirdly, clear display of whether the writer leans left or right. But you don't just get to lean your way- no, that's not confrontational enough. Everybody likes a little bit of drama. You gotta lean your way hard and bash the other side while you're doing it!

"Not only am I supporting feminism, but all you women who want to be stay-at-home moms are BRAIN-WASHED by the patriarch! You poor things aren't even thinking for yourselves!!!"

"The Noah movie was SO biblically incorrect, I will now forever boycott anything by that producer, company, or including those actors."

WELL, what if someone just wants to be a stay-at-mom because that's simply what they want? And honestly, is everything you watch biblically correct, or do you just watch Bible movies and Veggie Tales?

Anyway. I was a blog-reader. Even though, if I disagreed, the posts would just get me worked up, and if I agreed, the comments against the writer would get me worked up. There was no winning, unless my side won by bashing the other side's views with a WELL-WORDED. CAPITALIZED. ARGUMENT. Finally, I got so fed up I decided to stop letting the link bait reel me in. I scrolled right past the multitude of re-posted arguments on Facebook and Twitter. If people sent me blog posts and asked me to read them, I'd have to tell them that I was not really reading blog posts anymore.

Sure. I probably sounded like an old lady who just couldn't handle "kids these days." But if that's what kept me from constantly exposing myself to conflict, argument, and warring opinions, then that's what I wanted to do. How could I not expect myself to be touchy, overly-opinionated, and hostile after constantly reading that stuff?

Now. I know what you're thinking. She's honestly writing a blog post about not reading blog posts. I get it. Woe Is Me is my vent page though; I get to write about whatever I freakin' want. Also, check out my other posts. I'm sure a couple of them meet the previously-listed criteria for an argumentative, link-baited, share-worthy blog post. I seriously have one titled something like "Blinkers: an Opportunity for Great Joy," so yeah, I too am guilty of it too.

I'm not blameless; I'm just blabbing, because that's what I do. And I think that'll be my new blog catch-phrase. Because in the end, we just want to draw people in, become famous, and have our brilliant, innovative opinions (which usually aren't innovative at all) to become honored nationwide.

Newbie- Green Grass/Brown Grass

So I have been recently employed into not a new line of work, but into a new business. Let me tell you, it feels like a completely different world compared to my work life at JoAnn's.

At JoAnn's, we were constantly understaffed, always busy, and always at odds with the district manager. We did not have a very strong leader, and for a group of employees called "team members," our lack of coaching hurt us greatly. We were always hanging on by a thread (pun not intended initially, then (once I realized my cleverness) VERY intended.) and it made for a very stressful work environment.

That being said, when my window of opportunity for escape open up, I jumped, quickly and without hesitation.

I've done this once before... At the end of the summer before my freshman year of college; I got a glimpse of the greener grass calling my name, and I jumped. I jumped right into the dramatic, even less-appealing world of Hobby Lobby. Being understaffed and undercoached was not nearly as bad as being coached by a manipulating, narcissistic bully. Luckily, JoAnn's took me right back once I realized the mistake I had made.

However, this next time, I knew that when I jumped, I couldn't come running back to JoAnn's for the third time. Unbeknownst to me, the grass would be greener in some ways and not in others. The green outweighs the brown, but the brown ultimately teaches me things.

Allow me by to elaborate. I work at a tiny baby clothes store in a wealthy part of Birmingham. By tiny, I mean like 18' by 18'. TINY. By wealthy, I mean people who, without blinking, will drop a hundred bucks for two pair of pajamas for their nine-month-old. WEALTHY.

My co-workers aren't really like those people; they're used to them though. Me, however, I'm the newbie. Here's where the rant comes in.

Let me please offer a piece of advice to all or any readers (I would say "kindly offer," but I'm not going to guarantee anything.) If you frequent a specific place so often that you know the employees by name, and a new employee offers to help you one day opposed to the ones you know... PLEASE, for the love of HUMANITY and people's SELF-ESTEEM, give them a chance.

I get it. You're comfortable. You spend a lot of money there. You want the kind of service you're used to. However. That person is trying to get comfortable too. The least you can do is show enough courtesy to step off the high-horse of "I-come-here-so-much-the-employees-know-my-name-and-I-only-want-to-receive-help-from-them."

Stop. Picture this. The screaming kid in the grocery store. "I WANT THE RED AND BLUE POPSICLES! NOT THE RED AND WHITE ONES! I WANT WHAT I WANT AND I WANT IT NOW!" Sound annoying? Well, yeah. It is.

Before now, I've never experienced the slap in the face it is for a customer to walk in, myself to offer help, and for the customer give me a quick glance, before demanding, "Yeah, Janet knows what I like. Where is she?" This. Is. So disheartening.

I, of all people, understand comfort zones. I like my comfort zones, and if I'm pushed out of one against my will, I turn into a self-conscious, shrinking, stuttering slub. But being uncomfortable is never an excuse for lack of courtesy.

So here is what the brown grass of this retail here has taught me: always give the newbie a chance. You never know, you might find a new favorite employee; you might learn something you have in common with this person; OR you might find yourself having to practice a little patience with someone. Either way, it isn't going to hurt you, and even if you don't get anything out of it, it's probably going to help that new employee's self-esteem in his or her job. Then he or she can begin to confidently help more and more people. Just because you spend a lot of money somewhere doesn't mean you get to be rude.

And that's all for today. Basically I don't even know if people read these posts, but I just like to get my rants out there sometimes, in case somebody stumbles across Woe Is Me. So stay tuned, because there is probably going to be more patches of brown grass within the next few weeks...