Dr. Fear-monger (or How Old Prejudices are Destroying New Ideas)

So, it's Tuesday night, or Wednesday morning. I'm sitting here watching a rerun of The Rachel Maddow show, and I'm amazed. She's doing a piece on these "Town Hell" meetings (as Republicans are calling it) happening all around the country right now. If you're not familiar with this recent phenomenon, I'll explain. Several organizations (all funded by and closely-related to Healthcare companies) are basically training people to not only fear Healthcare reform, but to attend Town Hall meetings and wreak havoc. Let's have a look.

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This is all absolutely insane to me. The Healthcare Industry is so terrified by this reform, that their solution is to literally scare people to the point where they won't even listen to any information coming from another source.

I believe very strongly that information is never a bad thing. Good information, bad information, opinions, facts. All information is important information. Sometimes, late at night, when there's nothing else on TV, I'll turn it to Glenn Beck (trust me, I'm not proud of this), and I'll listen. I'll truly listen to what he has to say. I listen with an open mind. I genuinely believe that he might say something that isn't absolutely bat-shit crazy, and I might even agree with him someday. I want to agree with him! And just when I think he's about to make an actual point, he calls President Obama a Communist Revolutionary because Obama wants to use community organizations to implement parts of his agenda as President. As insane as Beck may be, he's not alone. Not by a long shot. Every day, people are protesting against Obama, calling him a Communist. Some (cough, Rush Limbaugh, cough) go a bit further, even. "The brothers of liberals are Nazis, Communists, Socialists, and so forth" says Mr. Limbaugh. Somebody should really tell him the differences between a Communist and a Nazi.

And this brings me to my subject. Old prejudices are destroying new ideas. Now, before I get black listed, I want to clear something up. I'm not trying to endorse Communism or Socialism by any means. Communism, much like Democracy, is a flawed system. It is idealistic. During the Cold War, if you called someone a Communist, you might as well be calling them a pedophile cannibal.

Communists were considered baby killers. Rapists. It was called McCarthyism, and it turned America into a modern witch hunt. It's no wonder that people who grew up during the Cold War hear the word "communist" and react so strongly. But most of these people have no idea what Communism even means.

Communism, in its true form, is Marxism. Marxism is all about worker's rights. Marxism is all about making sure that the lower class doesn't get screwed by the upper class. Karl Marx spoke of the working people taking over. He described this as happening naturally. The mass would realize that they have much more power than the wealthy few in charge.

These ideas were indeed revolutionary. Yet, if you ask most people to describe their perfect society, they would say something along the lines of, "a world where there is no poverty. Everyone has everything they need, and they can do the things that make them happiest," and well, they just described Marxism without knowing it. So what went wrong? People got greedy. The Communist Revolutions that took place around the world in the Mid-20th Century were in many ways forced, and the countries went on to become Dictatorships, not Communist. These revolutions were horrible, and bloody. They were failed social experiments. True Communist societies actually worked in small villages around the world. The baker would pay for his house by giving the carpenter food. The teacher would repay the doctor by teaching his children. No social classes, no poverty, and definitely no baby killing.

My point here is this: A "Communist" President can't just take power and turn America into a "Communist" country. Especially if the President isn't even remotely communist. Just because he's trying to create a system that helps all Americans, doesn't mean he's trying to invade your home and paint our streets red. Yes, Mr. Beck, Obama will use community organizations to forward his agenda. These community organizers are volunteers, they are passionate about their communities. They are not "foot soldiers" as you call them. They are teachers, doctors, mothers and fathers who want to make sure their children live in a safe place.

Before we use strong words of fear and destruction, let's do the research. Let's think for ourselves. We cannot let old prejudices kill new ideas.