>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>>>> >>> >>> >>>>>>>> <<< <<<< <<< <<< <<< <<< <<< <<< <<< Vol. 2, Iss. 9 >>> >>> >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> 18 FEB 02 <<< <<<< <<< <<< <<< <<< <<< <<< <<< >>> >>>>>>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> Polymemetic File Four -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- ) )-0----)00(----0-( ( ( ---------------------------- ) +-0-=0+ EDITORIAL MOVED TO END +0=-0-+ ( ---------------------------- ) ) )-0----)00(----0-( ( ---- Too much to write about. Let's jump right into it. Jet Jaguar TCAHR CEO ---------------------------------------------------------------------- I. Definition Time II. Re-tooling in the 19th century III. The Great Fuck-Up IV. Mr. Roosevelt V. Notes to the Modern Socialist ---------------------------------------------------------------------- I. Definition Time Back when I used to publish verse online, I would receive e-mail from some teens that would make me cringe. They were usually young poseurs of the goth, Satanist, or anarchist variety. Without going into details, every time I got one of these violent, iconoclastic e-mails proclaiming my greatness, I realized that my ideas had been misunderstood yet again. Since TCAHR is about infecting ideas into new hosts, I find myself worried about those potential hosts who would snatch a tid-bit of badly written ranting from here and then proclaim themselves memeticists. I'm even more frightened of those who would attach the label "socialists" to themselves. Therefore please indulge my following tangent into definitions. CAPITALISM -- Economic system based on the production and exchange of goods and services through prices and markets. COMMUNISM -- System of society where major resources and means of production are owned by the people. In communism, the ideal is one where a visible government would be unnecessary. Until that utopia is reached, private property is suspended. The needs of the people are the responsibility of the state. SOCIALISM -- Economic system in which the means of production are invested in the state by reconstruction of the existing political system through the peaceful and democratic means. Those are the basics. Now let's go on. II. Re-tooling in the 19th century Capitalism may have its beginnings in the 18th century, but it was in the 19th century the problems with a pure capitalist system began to come into focus. Private ownership of the means of production lead to abuse of the workers. This manifested in phenomena such as long work hours, dangerous conditions and child labor. Corporations also came into being, along with their attempts to create monopolies. Capitalism was also prone to alternating waves of prosperity and depression. Those with financial power fought bitterly against any changes to the pure capitalist system. It is a fact that capitalism has, in general, improved the standard of living in the world. However, in the pursuit of money big business argued with the powerful government in the courts while employing tactics such as "strike-busters" to spill the cranial fluids of the striking worker on the streets. Believing its problems solved, capitalism marched its way into the 20th century only to have its progress tripped by the alternating tsunami known as the Great Depression. III. The Great Fuck-Up The genesis of The Great Depression was in the 1920s. After the first world war, people turned from social issues and instead resolved themselves to lives of material enjoyment. Businesses jumped on the new trends and used the advertising methods developed to promote support for the war against frugality. At the same time, the low wages paid to workers and the tax cuts given to the rich resulted in a greatly unequal distribution of wealth. This meant that consumers weren't able to buy all the new and expensive toys of the Jazz Age. Credit was invented to "help" them. All these factors led to the Great Depression which eventually spread to all industrialized nations. The president at the beginning of the Great Depression was Herbert Hoover, or as I like to call him, the fuckin' idiot. Not only did the fuckin' idiot refuse governmental aid to the unemployed and the homeless and sent federal troops armed with bayonets and tear gas against protesting WWI veterans, but he also RAISED TAXES! It doesn't take a lot of brainpower to realize that you don't raise taxes when 15 million people are out of work. Then the fuckin' idiot RAISED TARIFFS which led to other nations raising tariffs. Naturally in the next presidential election Hoover was smashed by America's first "socialist" president. IV. Mr. Roosevelt Mr. Franklin Delano Roosevelt may have been born a rich kid, but he had a poor man's soul. When elected to the presidency, he didn't talk about crossing political lines. He did it by installing republicans and democrats into positions of power. During the depression, Hoover (read as "the fuckin' idiot") would try to bring relief to the states by loaning them federal money, thereby incurring more debt. Mr. Roosevelt's plan was to give money to the states instead (FERA - Federal Emergency Relief Administration). During the first winter of his presidency, work relief could be found thanks to the CWA (Civil Works Administration). In 1935, the WPA (Works Projects Administration) replaced FERA and began to give work to one-third of the unemployed. This consisted of work that could still be of benefit today. The WPA workers built among other things, roads, schools, hospitals, airports, and parks. It also funded work projects for artists that in turn performed for the public. The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) not only gave unemployed and unmarried young men jobs, but was dedicated to the conservation of natural resources. Many of America's state parks, fire-observation towers, and reforestation programs have their beginnings here. The National Youth Administration (NYA) created jobs for high-school and college students at their very own schools. Then there was the TVA. The Tennessee Valley Authority program was set in place to protect the Tennessee Valley from flooding while supplying the area with electricity. The TVA generates power for 207,000 sq. kilometers and serves 7 million people. The TVA also researches agricultural, environmental, and industrial programs. Of course, businessmen from private-power companies attacked this as evil, un-American socialism. Mr. Roosevelt, the evil un-American socialist, also installed Social Security to alleviate the problems caused by unemployment, old age, and physical disability. THAT BASTARD! I would love to credit Mr. Roosevelt's programs with saving the United States, but I would be a liar. If Mr. Roosevelt would have listened to John Maynard Keynes, who advocated more government spending to spur on the economy, the depression would have been ended earlier. Instead, the collective butt of the American financial institution was saved by World War II. Well, if F.D. Roosevelt didn't save America, I can at least credit him by saying he put humanity back into capitalism. V. Notes to the Modern Socialist So what can today's socialists around the world take out of America's Great Depression? First of all, America has and still does incorporate socialist programs. This has been achieved according to socialist doctrine instead of diving into the violence by which communist doctrine is usually put into play. I consider the United States the King of Capitalism, and even this king must apply socialism to protect its finances. If it can be done in this arrogant, slow-moving, block-head of a nation, it can be done in other capitalist nations. This puts socialists (And by socialists I mean those who vote, act, and disseminate information, not the kiddies call themselves socialist to shock their mothers and anger their fathers.) in a defense position. Not only must we act in a way that promotes our political system, but we must protect the gains we have already made. Mr. Roosevelt made a lot of enemies who set out to destroy many of his programs as soon as they milked out the advantages. Where are the CCC and NYA now? Bush made a called for volunteerism, but how can you devote your life to self-sacrifice in a capitalist system? It is far better to organize a military-style program like the CCC with government funding than to expect people to lose money and time in a country that promotes wealth and egocentric pleasure above all. The military is filled with the unskilled poor while the Peace Corps is suited to those who already have a college education. Create a middle ground like the CCC and let the poor choose whether they wish to be killers or healers. I know, I know. It will never happen. I am realistic enough to believe there will never be a bloody revolution against the capitalist system. This is alright with me; a revolution willing to kill its enemies needs little encouragement to kill its most problematic supporters. Besides, how can I say I hate capitalism as I type this on a Pack Bell running Windows 98 while smoking Camel cigarettes? It is not the role of the socialist in a capitalist society to destroy the financial system; it is our role to protect humanity from the dangers inherent in the capitalist system. Socialism and capitalism are uneasy partners. We all better get used to it. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- ) )-0----)00(----0-( ( ( ---------------------------- ) +-0-=0+ DA EDITORIAL +0=-0-+ ( ---------------------------- ) ) )-0----)00(----0-( ( ---- Damn, I'm tired. The polymemetic textfile project takes a lot out of me. I realize that it seems like ranting off the top of my head, but in actuality this stuff takes a lot of research. Not that I really mind. Since starting the polymemetic textfiles project, I've received more mail than I ever had. Most of these say I'm might be going over the edge a tad bit, but since the PTP has resulted in correspondence of either memetic agreement, evolution, or total disagreement, I have to believe that TCAHR is finally doing the job it was designed to do. But, damn, I'm tired... Therefore I am taking a one issue break from the PTP to either introduce another project I have in the works or write an old-school issue. See you all in about two weeks. Jet Jaguar TCAHR CEO -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Committee Against Human Rights -- http://maq.port5.com TCAHR Manifesto -- http://maq.port5.com/disman.html The Polymemetic Textfile Project -- http://maq.port5.com/polymemetic.txt -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- tcahr@hotmail.com Copyright 2002