I know I am not the only one who gets these, but did you ever notice that most (I am sure all of mine) is definite hysterical propaganda?

I got the email below from my mother (my most prolific propaganda forwarder), this morning. Please keep in mind, she is disabled, receives Social Security Disability and SSI, lives in government subsidized housing, in on Medicare, goes to Community counseling and gets food stamps.

I don't have a link, because it is from email.

That analogy sucks.

First of all, Communist states have never been founded by the government handing out free corn to the pigs and gradually enslaving them. Rather, the wild pigs rise up, violently take the corn, and kill the guy who was hoarding it.

Secondly, Socialist states are places like Norway, Sweden, Canada, France, England, ect. These countries typically have some of the highest living standards in the world, and last time I checked, they don't oppress their people. Rather, in Socialist states, the wild pigs take to the streets and to the ballot boxes to demand that the guy with the corn distributes it equitably, so that none of the pigs go hungry.

"In the US, the people are afraid of the government. In Europe, the government is afraid of the people."- Michael Moore

It's like most things designed to scare you. If an expert says something is good or bad then we believe what we are told. No one questions science, we just accept it as true. Doesn't matter that it is riddled with errors or assumptions, we uninformed receptacles accept it blindly unthinking about what is good or right for us.

So it is with socialism. It's been tainted by lies and assumptions, guesses and profiling, especially by examples like Russia and its collapse. Doesn't matter that it was just another totalitarian system that had little to do with real socialism, but we are much too busy to stop and read the information ourselves and develop an opinion based on some form of intelligent unbiased investigation. We can't be neutral when we're in it up to our necks.

The first thing that Lenin and Trotsky did was eliminate the Soviets; groups of people who discussed their issues and passed them on to higher authorities. They had no intention of letting the people help with the countries direction outside of serving the oligarchies demands. It was rigged from the start to provide for the few. Sounds not that much different than what we live under.

That it failed is obvious as it was not even remotely socialist.

No, we depend on these experts to teach us what to believe and not believe as true. It is athematic to our brainwashing that the dominant force has carte blanche to develop to its full potential to use on us. If your mother was in a country that no longer provided protection or adhered to the social contract any more, then she would be thrust upon you or another member of the family to deal with. But this cuts into your working time and so we have old age day/night care provided. If it gets too expensive for the Guv, then they will remove it.

I must say that shoes assessment is right on and really illustrates the propaganda that we are fed. As leftys post shows, we just naturally answer or believe what they want us to say, as if it was meant to be taught in this fashion. When all voices are one for or against something, then it is either good, or well rooted in the psyche for alterior reasons. Here in Canada with our `mini-Bush`Harper, we're losing our safety net loop by loop as the American formula is fed and supported by funding from your country as we slowly integrate the privatizing agenda, so it is getting much tougher here. But our healthcare and gay marriage legislature will require lots of work for them to remove and so it will take the NAFTA rules perhaps that will be used to end them as unfair trade practices, and the Nafta courts may try to use its power to end them here. We are under attack as well, and your government and religious fundies are secretly(not secret in Canada) working and paying to end our partial socialist ideals. Our pot laws don`t help with your guv`s leaving us alone and acceptance of gays is a craw in our conservatives throat. But, our supreme court has been filled by liberals for so many years that for now we are safe- the key words are FOR NOW. What will happen if Harper and the conservatives remain with US support, then things may change quickly. Seems Canada just wants to rub salt into America`s policies and thumb our noses at them.

Paranoia seems to reign supreme in our lives. Is it because we know we're being lied to, but can't figure out how to deal with it or recognize it that causes it or is it intelligently designed to achieve ends we don`t know? Letters like this remind us of the fears we are fed daily that grow into more Othering.

All true...but have you noticed how SUPERRICH the RICH have become through Bush's tax cuts? How the Corporations and their lobbyists now seem to be the only ones really getting the FREE LUNCH? How the gate is actually shutting on the Constitution and on those of us who rely on its Bill of Rights?

Just something to think about....it might not all be propaganda when viewed within another context.

I just read an article that claims .95% own as much wealth in America as 99.05% do. That`s socialism for the rich, as they pass their wealth between themselves. Disgusting that there is such disparty and our elders and their lifetime of knowledge have to be taken care of in such conditions as lefty`s mom.

Seems like America is already under totalitarian rule- like with most things, people have been propagandized to believe this is not so- and choose/accept being lower class citizens.

As Marx said, it is another class struggle and economics is the key to understanding it. Most people are economically illiterate as the banking system clearly illustrates.

Edited -I added a zero so my figures didn't add up to 100.45% and I added choose, since I was here anyway.

Lefty, I get the hysterical propaganda emails too, and I always answer them. It most likely doesn't make a difference, but I refuse to let this junk mail come here and not send a reply.

Have not gotten the one you posted, but would probably say in the gentlest way I could think of at the time, which corn should we discontinue first? Shelter for people who need it? Food for people who need it? Medecine for those who need it? Where do we start cutting off the corn?

Talked with a staunch R a few days ago. She insisted as she always does that the only problem the United States has is greed. And I said, "Yup, greed is a huge problem."

She then said as she always does, "I am tired of those poor people thinking I owe them a living. I made my own living, they refuse to do the same."

This woman has never worked a day in her life.

Always surprises me that it is the poor who are greedy in the minds of rich people.

But I know it makes it hard when you are dealing with a member of your own family. How do you tell them it is more important to count their blessings than count others faults?

Shoeless, spot on post again!

That is the basis of supply side economics. It's the idea that the poor have too much money and the rich don't have enough.

Like my moniker- In their eyes, the poor are just dogs, fighting and begging for scraps and position above the pack. Cozying up to the benevolent provider is a dream that all dogs cherish and nurture, but little do they know how instinct plays the major part in their masters decision.

That's what is called freedom of choice. The rich decide who is free and choose them wisely so as not to lose their power.