That's it. I'm coming out of the closet. I can't live a lie any more. Are you ready? I'm a socialist.

I know some of you had the feeling that I might be, there was something a little 'off' with me, something not acceptable in society. But damn it feels good to get it out and finally confess. It's liberating.

Can someone explain to me why Socialism is such a bad, evil thing? Anyone? I understand why it's hated- the misinformation and propaganda campaigns of the McCarthy/Cold War Era are to blame for that. Equate Socialism with Marxism and Communism and all of a sudden you get people afraid of something they don't even know about. You do know that there is a form of Socialism that exists in this country, right? It's how we have the Fire Departments that come to your house when it's on fire and do their best to save your possessions, or the Police Department that sit on the highway and pull you over for going too fast. It's how the US has a Military.

I'm a socialist because I don't believe that the Fire Department should be run for profit. If my house is on fire and a big truck full of people trained to put out fires piles out, I don't want to have to run back in the burning building to find a credit card or cheque book before they put out the fire. In fact, read about Marcus Licinius Crassus, a Roman General and Politician. He's ranked as one of the top ten richest historical figures, and part of his wealth was gained by taking advantage of people whose houses were on fire. He'd show up to a burning building, buy it very cheaply, then call up to 500 clients who could put the fire out very quickly. In theory, if we were to have a for-profit fire department we'd pay them based on what, number of fires put out? Anyone see a problem with that?

That's one of the reasons why an unchecked, purely for profit health care system is a bad thing. If you go to the doctor and he actully cures you-- well, he only gets paid for that one visit. But if he just makes you feel better for a certain amount of time and then you have to go back, well then you get billed for as long as the visits keep happening. If you take away the profit motivation then maybe you'll be treated the best way possible, not the best way possible for Business.

Also, Health Care will never be subject to true free market supply and demand for the same reason oil is not really part of the free market. Those are things we can't do without. If I can't fill my car up I can't get to and from work (I can't bike 12 miles in 110 degree weather for two months out of the year, sorry). If I need surgery, I need surgery. I can't get it from someone else because of the way the insurance industry is structured. That's not free market competition, and as such needs some sort of oversight to make sure we, the people, are not taken advantage of and thoroughly reamed in the interest of profit margins and shareholders.

At the end of the day I think I'd much rather live in a Socialist State than in a Corporatism, which is what we live in these days. Politics is all about money- you need it to get elected, you need it to stay elected- it's got very little to do with the will of the people because the will of the people can be bought. When you're able to sink millions of dollars into advertising campaigns and spreading lies (Death Panels? Seriously?), when you lie to the very people who elected you and get them to support a plan that's actually detrimental to them because of those lies, well we don't have Democracy any more.

So call me a Communist if you want. I don't mind, because you're wrong. Call me all the bad names you can think of- Liberal, Commie, Marxist, Fascist, Nazi, whatever you want. Just by calling me those things, doesn't mean that I am a brown shirt wearing, black shirt wearing, red shirt wearing enemy of the state. I'm for the state. I'm socialist!

Incidentally, see why Fascist equals Nazi equals Communist? The shirts clash. Unless you want to wear a rainbow shirt, and that makes you gay. At least nowadays that's more acceptable than being Socialist.