Socialism......Why we need it

A lot of people are afraid of the word "socialism". The word conjures up images of the gulags, and the many failures of the former USSR, such as Chernobyl, the dismal record of human rights violations, and the ultimate failure of a command economy. I agree that there were a lot of bad things associated with socialism, and its for that reason many people are against any major reforms that would make our nation socialist, but how many people have been harmed in the name of capitalism, and democracy?

I believe that our founding fathers had, at the time the constitution was written, a very different vision for our society. They believed that all men were created equal, and that everyone, regardless of race, religion, and economic status should have the same opportunities to better their position in life. I am also sure that, if they could see the bumbling partisan politics in both the house and senate, they would be shocked and infuriated by the state of affairs they helped put into motion. I know that I, for one, am infuriated by this situation.

I live in the state of Michigan, which I am sure that anybody who has read a newspaper in the last two years knows in in desperate financial straits. I know that the economy is suffering in all the states of the union, but if the rest of the nation was, (or I should say is) in a recession, then my state is in a full blown depression. The city and county that I live in has unemployed rates that rival what those numbers were in the midst of the great depression. I myself have been looking for a job for the past 18 months without success. I would love nothing more then to be able to go to work every day and earn a paycheck so that I can provide for my family. My wonderful wife has to work two jobs just so we can keep a roof over our heads and food in our bellies. It is very difficult to have to watch her work as much as she has to to make ends meet and not to be able to do a damn thing about it! I know that some of you out there are going to think that I am just being lazy and that I am just letting her support me because I don't want to go to work. NOTHING IS FURTHER FROM THE TRUTH!!!

It is written into the declaration of independence that it is the duty of all good men to change a government when that government is oppressive and ineffective. Too many people out there think that those words only applied to the situation that existed before the revolutionary war. In my opinion, they are very much applicable in this day and age as they were in 1776, maybe even more so.

Something must be done to fix the severe problems that we have in our nation. I believe that we could make the socialist idea work in our society because we have something in this country that the soviets never had. We have equality here, in terms of how everyone is treated the same as far as human rights are concerned. The problem lies in the big corporations that only care about the bottom line and run rampant over the little guy. Its like everything is for sale here in the US, and the ones with the cash have all the power to buy everything from politicians to justice.

I think that now is the time when all good men must rise up and do something about the situation our nation is in. How many more children must go hungry, and how many more families lose everything before something is done to correct these wrongs that I see around me every day? It is very heart breaking to see all the possessions of a family put out into the street because they could not pay their house payments because the company they worked for for 25 or 30 years cared more for the bottom line then their workers, without whom there would be no company and therefore no bottom line to care about.

I have nothing against any one else. In my opinion, people with racist ideas are very misguided. The one factor that has made this nation different form all others is that no matter where a man was born, if he became an American citizen, then he was just that. Not a 2nd class citizen, but the same as the people who have been citizens since birth. I strongly believe that is why the socialist ideal could be made to work and thrive in our nation, as it is today.

We must act soon to resolve these issues before it is too late. I would urge everyone to examine the news very carefully, and think about what they can do to better their communities, and our nation.