Socialism Is Not A Dirty Word

I expect with an election just around the corner (actually a long ways a way, but we're already hearing about it) you'll her the usually things demonized. One of those is the word "socialized" or "socialism". Politicians will try to turn it into a bad thing, because they know you're too lazy to know that the root of the very word means "to combine" or "to share" (SHARING IS EVIL-please alert everyone on Sesame Street!).

A true socialism would mean everybody does their part and everybody gets their share. A doctor would get the same pay or benefits as a teacher or a mechanic or a gardener. That's the rub to some people, why do that 12 years of college to be a doctor when you can get the same benefit out of being a clerk? Yeah, to a degree I can see that as true.

The fact is though, some things have to be socialized. Do you want to arrange your own garbage pickups? Do you want to negotiate terms with your local fire station? Do you want the expense of hiring a teacher for your kids? And what about big picture things? How do we go to space or clean up the environment if everybody doesn't chip in?

So is the case with "socialized medicine". Everyone is fighting it because they were told it was awful, but it benefits a lot of people. The programs are still in their infancy and need a lot of work (and a lot of rates need to come down), but public health seems like something that should be socialized. I think it's more important that you're not spreading a deadly disease than you sharing my garbage collection.

All this is just my big heart talking. I do okay in life and if you insist on a dog eat dog, survival of the fittest, pay to play world, then I'm already in the winning column. I just want more people to join me in the winning column. Just remember that somethings are "socialized" out of convenience, some out of fairness and some out of kindness. As long as we keep those core values in our sharing, it can't be wrong.