Kool Aid

It's funny...I know so many right wingers that love to say things like "...just keep drinking that Kool Aid". They are, of course, referencing Jim Jones' poisoned Kool Aid with which he and his followers committed mass suicide. While madness and mass-suicide, as a rule, are not particularly amusing, I find it humorous that these folks like to believe that anyone who doesn't follow their ideology must be brainwashed. Funny.

Let's talk about brainwashing, shall we? The extreme right, you know, the Tea Party, Republicans, the religious Right, etc., are masters of brainwashing! They have convinced so many people to believe ridiculous lies. Their weapon of choice? Fear. They figure if it works for the 6 o'clock news (we've all seen the fear-based tags..."Local women eats a sandwich...AND DIES! More about this story after a few words from our sponsors") it can/will work for them too. And it has.

One of my personal faves is how the right wingers love to call Obama (you know, that guy that won the 2008 election and is OUR President) a socialist. WOOOOOOOOO! Scary word! It sounds like communist! Russians! Pinko commie bastards! Well folks, yes...modern socialism has it's origins in Marxist communism. But that's kinda like saying that a Ferrari is exactly the same as a Model T because they're both cars. While there are some similarities, we're talking two completely different critters.

Communism, on paper, sounds good. In communism, everyone is equal. Everyone works for the greater good of the whole. If you ever played sports, you were taught communism. "A chain is only as strong as it's weakest link" is communism through and through. The main problem with communism is simple: the human element has to be added. With that, you get greed, corruption, and all-around bad stuff. That's why communism has never worked. But...always a but...many countries saw that communism had a few good ideas buried amongst the crap. They saw a way to help out ALL of the people while at the same time, allowing people a chance to thrive.

Many of our allies in the EU are technically socialists. And many of them have a good life. Look up any recent list of the best places to live based on the Quality of Life Index and every country you see has some form of socialism. How can that be? Simple. They understand that borrowing an idea or two from a failed concept doesn't doom them to failure. They simply borrow the best ideas and find ways to make them work...for everyone!

The USA is incapable of doing that. Why? Leaving out, for a moment, greed & corruption, it's because we, as a people, cling so dearly to the (alleged*) ideas of our founding fathers. Life! Liberty! And the pursuit of Happiness! Let's also remember slavery...which was commonplace here at the time. So, as you can see, things DO change. Life evolves. Cultures evolve. Mindsets evolve. 200 years ago, if I wanted a slave, I could go out and buy one. If I said today that I want a slave, I would be looked down upon as an evil person. See? Things change.

The extreme Right wingers of our country are, sadly, the ones who get the airtime. Why? It makes for a more sensational story...which will get the audience to tune in...so the media can sell them toilet paper. The same thing happened four years ago with Obama. CHANGE! was his rallying cry. The country drank the Obama Kool Aid...and we, surprisingly, haven't died en masse. I'll admit it...I voted for Obama. I liked his ideas. I also knew that he would face an uphill battle. There he was, a black man with new ideas. The good ol' boys club wasn't going to sit well with that...and from day one, they've fought him. Obama has done everything a good President should. He has tried to work with both parties in Congress. Yet the extreme right call him names, question everything from his religious beliefs to his nationality. While doing this, the Right keeps telling more and more lies, following Goebbels' notion that the longer you tell a lie, people will eventually believe it.  Who's drinking the proverbial Kool Aid now?

I'm not saying the left are any better. They seem to be more tech savvy...that's for sure. Going back to Kennedy, they've always been more tech savvy. Kennedy understood that TV was the new medium for exposure, and he used it well to his advantage. Now the Left wingers use social media like Facebook and Youtube. The Right wing is catching up though. Both sides edit and use things out of context. Let's not forget the usual mud-slinging. Most Americans are gullible enough to believe whatever they hear first and/or most often. I'm not saying ALL...I'm saying MOST. The average American might know a thing or two about the issues they hear on the news...but that's it. Most base their knowledge on opinions rather than facts. Nothing new under the sun Horatio.

So, the Right Wingers tell us to enjoy our Kool Aid. They sure seem to be enjoying theirs! Enjoying it so much, in fact, that they've taken to chugging it by the gallon! With each gulp, they convince themselves more and more that they MUST be right. The Left does the same. The only thing all of this Kool Aid chugging is bringing about is a divide. Once again, those in the Middle will have to sort things out. I can only hope they're drinking Coke or Pepsi...anything but Kool Aid!

(This blog/rant is in no way referencing actual Kool Aid, the powdery substance one adds to water and sugar to make a tasty beverage; a product of Kraft Foods. I like Kool Aid.)

* I say "alleged" because many Republicans in this campaign so far, seem to know little about our founding fathers. Anyone remember Michelle Bachman?