Cartoon 712: Social Enterprise

There is one thing that Americans have been successfully conditioned to view with animosity, “socialism”.  This reviled moniker has been given to the labor movement and unions. It has also been given to government actions that are purely in the public good. The government actions often carry the equally venomous label of “welfare”.

It is interesting to note that the demise of the labor movement and government actions in the public good coincide with the dissolution of the “family” in America. This is particularly the case with the extended family. A few generations ago it was the norm in America, like other cultures in the world, for generations to live together.  This cohabitation gave the younger generations an economic and emotional head start before they embarked on their separate lives.

Today we ridicule homes with five or six cars parked and many relatives living together. The homes are usually of immigrant families that are Hispanic, or from the Caribbean and Africa. They live together for a few years until they get “their start”. The home is a “half way house” for integration into society.

This social living arrangement of collective actions was a role model we have loss in America. The continuation of the role model would never have allowed the word “socialism” to assume such a negative connotation. It would also have bolstered the organized labor movement. People would see value in collective behavior. Finally it would have forced more government action in the public good. People would see the value of pooling resources toward universal aims. 

Today we have greed stalking the land. It has usurped the political system. That greed can brook no sharing.

I have a hope reflected in this quote.

“Words are weapons, and it is dangerous . . . to borrow them from the arsenal of the enemy”.

George Santayana