American Socialist Voter

Over the last month a singular person - Peter Stathis of Spring Hill, Florida - has come to note for the reiteration of the same old arguments withoutdetailed reason, but very patriotic and flag waving. Even when given astandard reply citing historical facts. What is a Socialist to do? ASVbeing an educational and interactive source, we would like to think(and think often) that information and exchange of it betweenSocialists is #1 for and towards unity.

Peter Stathis' first letter to the Hernando Today, Published: Thursday, May 14, 2009, Socialists like Moore living in denial.

I readwith some amusement Brian Moore?s response to my letters in which hesays I am guilty of stereotyping socialist as communists and fascists.Moore and his fellow socialists like to live in denial. In fact,fascism and communism are forms of socialism.

What really got melaughing is that Moore believes you have more freedom under socialism.Does he honestly believe when he says that ?it is not the governmentthat takes care of the populace, but it is his/her fellow citizens andco-workers who create the policies and conditions for its community.?Is that a fact Mr. Moore? Then why is it under socialist governmentssuch as Cuba, Venezuela and China the states runs everything, thepeople have fewer rights?

My amusement soon turned to anger whenMoore made the statement that capitalism causes the death of 12 millionpeople each year, and yet he doesn?t explain the connections. He alsoblames capitalism for 50 million people living in poverty. Of course,he doesn?t mention the welfare system that has kept people living inpoverty, giving them no desire to improve their lot in life. And, ofcourse, personal responsibility has nothing to do with what a persondoes with his or her life.

Capitalism does have its problems,but on the other hand there is no benefit to socialism. To be overlydependent on the state or the community like Moore suggests is not agood thing. There is little or no chance for a person to make somethingof themselves. I have said it once and I will say it again, ifsocialism is so wonderful then why are people fleeing from thosecountries to come to the United States?

Peter Stathis' second letter to the Hernando Today, Published: Saturday, May 23, 2009, Too smart to fall for socialism.

I will continue to be amazed at how Brian Moore can continue to make thestatement that socialism is more democratic than our form ofgovernment, which is a constitutional republic, but then I realizedsomething - Moore wants to live under a "true democratic state."

Now,I wonder if Moore is familiar with "Plato's Republic." In that classicwork, Plato states that a democratic state is "mob rule," the majorityrules over the minority, and he placed it above a dictatorship as oneof the worst forms of government.

Socialism is basically that,a form of mob rule. The majority rules, the minority has no say. Youlook at socialist states such as Cuba and Venezuela, is Moore implyingthat the people in these countries have more rights than we do?

Evenas I write this letter, the president of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, isdoing away with all opposition, taking control of all of what is leftof private businesses. How is that for freedom? What you see in thesecountries is what Moore wants here, the state or community controlseverything.

Our founding fathers were way smarter than thelikes of Marx and Engel, and all the other so-called enlightened mindsof the 19th and early 20th centuries. James Madison, Thomas Jefferson,John Adams and all the rest understood what freedom meant. Marx, Engeland the others had no clue what freedom is all about. They just wantedto replace the European monarchy system of the day with another form ofoppressive government.

Moore can talk all he wants about how great socialism is, but we, the American people, are too smart to fall for that line.

Our country might not be perfect, but we will choose this form of government over others any time.

American Socialist Voter, reply:

Socialismhas had many malformations and varied ideologies since ancient times,many of us Socialists who are well read in all its types know this. ACatholic monk once said, "that if you have been around long enough youwill be found guilty of everything." Therefore it is automatic that aflag waving American conservative would naturally gravitate to theworst or the worst and ignore the positive, in political science andpublic relations this is known as "negative activism" and is used forthe purposefulness of making people remember hate. Even historyprofessors at universities find themselves undoing this negativeimagery to discern the two and how different each part was and how theycame about. Then looking at the historical, cultural, epoch, and eventhe environment and such things, each socialism is classifieddifferently from the next. The conservative would have voters believesocialism as a disease, it is not. It is a powerful means toself-awareness - reference Maslow's argument- for all its' better or worse ways and means. Like a tool it can beused for an ethical - good or evil - purpose based on the latter moralacts of the person as an individual with inalienable rights. 

The guiltiness of one is not rooted in the sins of their fathers. That isof course what the new settlers to this now great country have formed.It hasn't always been easy. Even the G.O.P., started in 1854 - GrandOld Party - is a misnomer or sorts and has a spotted past bothpolitically and historically. To start this off let us watch a shortvideo that should prove entertaining to say the least:

Many on this side of the equation have asked "that if the G.O.P. weresuccessful in its attempt to rename the Democrat Party the DemocratSocialist Party could the varied Socialists within the U.S.A. alsorename or in this case revert the G.O.P. back to its 1828 name,Democrat-Republican Party?" See, all Socialists view the two currentand major parties as one in the same whereas nothing has changed inover a century.

This might come as a surprise to aconservative or a liberal, but many Socialists do believe in "freedom."In fact, the State of Florida where Brian Moore lives has laws on thebooks that protect and defend those freedoms against totalitarianparties that Peter Stathis brings to light. The first thing thatStathis might want to do is not be blinded by the flag he is waving andopen his clinched fist to shake that of Moore's and have a realconversation instead of drawing lines of demarcation. Sure socialismhas had many malformations such as nationalism or materialism, but thatis not what actual socialism was from the start or is today. Socialismcannot be or stand in a quota system - communist - or in a state system- fascism - because of the demands it makes against freedom. For thoseof us who know our history, political science, and economics we quicklyrealize the problems more so than the general public or voter might.This is also why a Socialist is neither liberal or conservative andwill never meet a stereotype due to our ability to evolve over time. Anidea can never taken from the table if it is good enough to placepressure on the bad ideas in return.

Even today Socialists fight the good fight against the above mentioned problems ofinfiltration within socialism by the far left communist of variedgroups or Nazis from the extreme right of the socialist's spectrum. Weare very much standing for freedom, just not status quo limited freedom from the same two party system that has fooled many Americans.

PeterStatis ask, "Is that a fact Mr. Moore? Then why is it under socialistgovernments such as Cuba, Venezuela and China the states runseverything, the people have fewer rights?" This is a reiteration toemphasize the above about what many like yourself do not know orunderstand. Within the communist far left they use the common root word"socialism," however, do not be confused or fooled. What they aretaking about is democratic centralism or state capitalism. Neither is socialism which has a different range from social democratic, democratic socialism, Christian socialism.What they are talking about is communism which is not socialism exceptas a common ancestor, so as this letter began, "are we guilty for thesins of our fathers?"

Without writing out a wholebook here ASV recommends that Peter Stathis and those who agree withhis question about the deaths at the hand of capitalism take a closelook at social psychology, childhood educational methodology, and ineconomics Keynesian, quota, command, and our latest troubles ofglobalism. "No," this does not mean we've ignored all those deaths atthe hands of communist dictatorships. Socialists hold Stalin as one ofthe largest contributors to mass murder of our political kind. We holda simple fact that has proven to be true all around the world, "Abullet kills fast, but just as equally (although slower) with adollar." Every child looks for guidance and example of how to led agood life and to promote what is good in society. If that child lacksability the problem becomes generational in solving. No matter how manywant and fight for a piece of the top peak there will always be thosewho loose out, it is a historical and economic fact. Socialist hope to,at the least, have a better base standard and means for those at thebottom. The difference here is between a degenerating society or acivil society, which might we all choose between? Since the first twosteps call for safety and structure we as a civil society must addressthis or pay the cost in an ever growing prison system. By the way, wehave the fastest growing prison population and it is our largestdomestic industry today. What does that say about America to the world?

Co-optionis a confusing dilemma for Republicans in the U.S. They either do notknow or want to understand it. This is in large part the problem withseparation of actions and ideologies. Socialists have for years wroteand acted to do many betterment for the whole of mankind. In the U.S.,the Democrats since the Great Depression (1929) have used much of theplatform of various movements within socialism. This does not make aDemocrat a Socialist just as a Democrat is not a Republican (since1854). The ideology of the Democrat Party is capitalistic without adoubt to us here. Socialism is both anti-capitalist andanti-totalitarian and has several complex schools of thought i.e.Marxian use materialism to explain labor value and cost while thealtruistic Christian socialist is non-materialistic therefore believesMarx was wrong. Socialists have even argued metaphorically over squarepizza verses round pizza and selected toppings. The problem ofco-option where one party uses the others elements has been a standingproblem and one we see will not vanish in the near future. That is nomatter how much the ghost of McCarthy comes up to red-bait.

Stathisgoes on to write, "there is no benefit to socialism." To which Moorereplied to with a list of items promoted in planks of socialism:

40-hour work weekchild labor lawsworkers compensationunemployment insurancesocial security Medicare collective bargainingwoman?s suffragecivil rightsThequestion here should be, "What are we willing to give up?" If theanswer is to be not a one than there is a hint of socialism in your background. Keep in mind that this list compiled by Brian Moore isshort and limited without defining each or giving historical purpose.ASV invites each reader to look into the why, how, when, and otherdetails thereof to know personally how socialism has become a benefitthat has changed the world. We know that there is no perfect system,but as Socialists we in fight over the many details always seeking thebest. What we know is that the current system like the fail communistand fascist that capitalist too will fail as it transcended feudalismand monarchy among other ancient forms. The remaining question will beas to how this will happen. Not even the author Karl Marx detailedthis, it is only through hyphenated works i.e. Marxist-Leninism thatother persons have tried to impress their unique view on what is or isnot the truth. Marx with the largest known ego did not have the answersand to date neither did the others. Socialism is in part a naturalcourse and will remain so for the foreseeable future that no person canforce or perverse as history's failure have foretold. 

Now that we've beaten to death ideology and the liberal or conservative, let usend this with a thought to ponder. Time, socialism has changed over andover again, from Sir Thomas More's book Utopia from 1492 to MartinLuther's fight with the Catholic Church in 1517 for specific man made(early civil) rights. All firstly rooted in religion which was themedium of the day. During the 1700's it became to most Europeans akinto the "American experiment" where laissez-faire and religiousfreedom made a middle class standard for the first time in recordedhistory. To the 1850's with European watching as the buildup towardsthe American Civil War over the rights and equality of men (later women- 1919). What is uniquely American is not and never will be uniquelyEuropean as the backgrounds and cultures are to this day verydifferent. Even in Russia it is not European nor American and theirSlavic culture and many epoch episodes are just as different. We arenot all in the same "Red" boat. Socialism develops from within at anatural pace as a society understands its importance to self-awareness.Our Founding Fathers knew all too well what could happen as to theevents in France during 1789-1791 and the imperialism to follow. It didhappen in the U.S. but was less obvious over time, mostly after theSpanish-American War and the building of the U.S. Navy. Today socialismis growing in the U.S. but shrinking in Europe depending on the trendsthis could change. One leading factor is the size of our bureaucracy ofnearly four million governmental employees that soften the exchangebetween the three other branches of government. It might not seem likean outright revolution, yet the red tape is winning on both sides.