Last week most Texas schools decided that they would not allow President Obama's speech to be aired in their schools. Why not? The most predominant answer out of Texas: I don't want my child brainwashed by a Socialist. Of course, there were other excuses. Personally, my favorite was, "I don't want my child wasting class time." Now we all know that the first day of school is a universal waste of time, but a valid point could have been made if these same parents didn't elect to keep their children at home in order to evade the President's speech.
In my opinion this is a new low point in our society, and especially for Texas. Forget that the President of the United States is the President of the United States for a minute. Politics is clouding the bigger issue here. Instead, consider the fact that the lesson being taught here is: If you do not agree with someone's opinion, don't listen to anything that they have to say.
So, let me address the main Texan argument (since I listened to what they said).............Socialism. Of course, we all know that Socialism is the root of all evil and as un-American as South America, or is it? I hate lowering myself to defining things as a way to make an argument, but here it goes.
Socialism: a system or condition of society in which the means of production are owned and controlled by the state.
In other words, the state (i.e. the government) controls the entire show from A to Z. We all know that there is a backlash right now against a national healthcare system. Why? Because allegedly that would be a socialist idea. This is not exactly true since what is being proposed would neither eliminate private health care companies, nor would it centralize medicine in the US. If people think a national healthcare option is a socialist idea, why then is there a national requirement that part of every paycheck in America goes towards Medicare and Medicaid? How has this flown under the radar? These programs already exist, and certainly are closer to the definition of socialism.
Other government programs could also be compared to the definition of socialism. Social security is an obvious one. After all, the program has "social" in the name. Here are some others:
Oil Subsidies
Energy Pricing Controls
Farm Subsidies
INS / Border Patrol
Military
Public Schools
Since this whole article started with schools in mind, let's come full circle on this whole socialism thing. Do any of us remember the crown jewel of domestic programs by our former Texan Republican President? No Child Left Behind. Under this program public schools have their federal funding cut if they fail to meet state mandated standards. Just to review our handy definition of socialism:
A system or condition of society (No Child Left Behind) in which the means of production (federal funding) are owned and controlled by the state (state test standards).
This program is socialist in concept at its very core. Therefore, if it was logical to keep your child home from school in order to avoid the President's socialist brainwashing speech, why would you ever send them back to socialist boot camp for the next 12 years? I guess we can all look forward to a generation of non-socialist dropouts. What a relief! Take that France. What are you looking at Canada? Any questions Britain?
I think it would be naive of me to think that I will be spared from more inaccurate and inflammatory rhetoric in the coming weeks and months. What I do sincerely hope is that people will take the fingers out of their ears and listen. If they don't you can count on a new national program: All People Left Behind.
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