Socialism?

Socialism....how much power this word holds...? But what does it really mean? It probably depends on you. Where you were born? What race are you? Who were your parents? How much money did they make? How much family support did they have? What school district did you attend? I was lucky in many respects. I was born white, in the mid west, to a middle income family, in a Norman Rockwell little town. I don't remember ever knowing what it was like to want something, or think I was lacking something my neighbor had. Sure, there were the rich kids that had a bigger house, nicer clothes, took better vacations, and knew their parents would pay for whatever they wanted to pursue. But, I was raised by a hard working union man, and during my summers, I was privileged enough to spend time with my Granddad who was the same. When I was in my junior year of high school, I was smacked in the face with my first taste of sexism. It came from within my own home. I was told that my parents couldn't help me to go college because they had 2 sons that would have to support families. I was patted on the head and told to go be a wife and mother. And, I was one of the lucky ones. I see way too many of those that grew up within my Norman Rockwell community talking about the lazy, uninspired, and the system sucking people. If we all just worked harder, and believed in one religion we would be collectively GREAT! But, what about those that weren't as privileged in their early years? Imagine being a child in the mountains of West Virginia, Tennessee, or the rough streets of a major city. How about instead of having my feelings hurt because I didn't win our lunch time beauty contest on the play ground, I was sharing a text book with 4 other kids, or having my classes in the gym because the ceiling was leaking in my math room? Or worse yet, if I hadn't eaten or my mom lived in a homeless shelter because she lost her job. It is beyond my comprehension how any of us can think the we all have the same opportunity in this country, we don't. There are kids that have never touched a computer, let alone raised playing with an iphone in our car seat. Why is it that the place of an American's birth gets to dictate how successful they become? And if we examine that, what is successful? Is it the hard working coal miner who has health problems, but has worked himself harder than any Wall Street executive, but still goes home and helps his kids with homework and they go to bed feeling loved? Is it the single mom who works 3 jobs to put food on the table, but still can't afford healthcare and sits in an ER all night because one of her babies has a fever? Is it someone who has seen prejudice and forgoes a high paying job to work at a non profit and makes a difference? Or is it just about money, houses, cars, bank accounts and 401K totals? I find soul in the common good. By that, I don't mean let's all pool our money and hand it out equally to all, which is what most think is the definition of socialism. But, when there is a natural disaster and people are suffering, that is where I want my tax dollars to go. I want education to be an absolute right, all the technology, good teachers, text books etc for EVERY child born in the UNITED States of America. Only when that happens, will we truly be able to call someone lazy, uninspired, less than (which so many of us love to do because it makes up feel better about ourselves) the other "hard working" Americans that are supporting them. We love to feel that we know more, but the old sayings are just that because they are true. Unless you have walked a mile in a mans/womens shoes, don't assume you know how how hard they work. Don't assume you know what dreams they have for their children that may never come true, because they couldn't afford to move to a better school district with bigger houses and a bigger tax base. If you search history, you will see that every time America tried to help the masses, any type of public education, public roads, or police and fire fighters, the privileged screamed socialism. The truth is, all of us want the same things. Men, women, rich, poor, white, black, latino, American Indian, Gay, etc. We want to be able to live and or raise our kids in a healthy, productive, success driven environment. We don't want to worry about losing everything if we get sick, even if we worked everyday of our lives except for maybe a recent layoff. We want to be able to buy insurance again if were unfortunate enough to be a cancer survivor and our companies shipped our jobs to China. We want the money that we have paid since we were 18 (I'm 54, Romney/Ryan will only grandfather in Social Security participants at 55 and over)to help us in our old age. We want to know that if a natural disaster happens, the taxes we have paid will have someone there to help us in a moment of crisis, to lift us out of our flooded, burnt of tornado damaged home. None of what I just wrote is Socialism, it is about being a human being. A human being that when asked, would help their fellow Americans. How did we become a country of people that are socially moving backwards? When did we start to think that if you are different, you don't deserve or earn the same rights of the privileged few? Last thought. How many of those that keep talking about doing away with FEMA, went to a Red Cross this week and donated blood, or opened their wallets and donated money? If not, and you are one of those Neo-cons, YOU, are not an American in the truest sense of the word..