I think, Richard, that for me it is a matter of preference. As a
rather simpleminded Soul myself, the use of "Simplification" in the
term gives it a wrong connotation, suggesting that the one using the
term is simple minded. On the other hand, Generalization sounds more
commanding and in control of a subject that has been over simplified
for the sake of making some ridiculous point.
And if that is not specific enough, then all I can add is, "phooey"!
Carl Jarvis
On 10/11/19, R. E. Driscoll Sr <llocsirdsr@xxxxxxx> wrote:
Is generalization equal to oversimplification?
Richard
Sent from my iPhone
On Oct 11, 2019, at 10:35 AM, Carl Jarvis <carjar82@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Hmm...
Oversimplification?
I'd prefer Generalization.
Carl Jarvis
On 10/11/19, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
An oversimplification. Remember, there are a lot of people who emigrated
here as poor workers and lived in slums, and because of changes in our
laws
which controlled the excesses of capitalism and supported the rights of
workers, they became educated, attained professional status or success
in
business, lived comfortable lives, and passed on their status to their
children. They are content in their suburban lifestyles, can afford
expensive recreation and vacations, and feel completely protected from
the
damage that their empire has wrought. Only now, are some of these people
beginning to feel that their status is unstable, and their response is
to
blame scapegoats. It's the young folks with education and a far leftist
orientation who see what you're describing. But if you just talk to the
people around you, or you listen to some of those folks interviews on
NPR,
it's terrifying.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Friday, October 11, 2019 11:22 AM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: What Really Happened to American
Socialism?
The problem is this, we live in America, we work in America, we conduct
ourselves under the laws of America, we speak and think as if we were
Americans, but the fact is that we are not American Citizens.
America has a Constitution that was developed by an all white, landed
Oligarchy. The laws and the rules are set in place to protect and
advance
the Oligarchy. Most of us who think of ourselves as American Citizens,
are
not. How many ways must we be shown that we are not the "People" spoken
of
in the Constitution? We have been shown to be the cannon fodder,
fueling
the Corporate Wars. We are the cheap labor source that runs the day to
day
business of the Oligarchy. And we are also the financial supporters who
pay
to allow the Ruling Class their lives of luxury and safe comfort. And,
if
that were not enough, we also are the ones who bare the blame when the
Ruling Class extend their greed beyond the limits. At best we are left
twisting in the wind, turning against our own people simply because our
Masters have told us that Black is Evil, that non Christian is wicked,
that
speaking out in protest is Treason. The Masters have concocted a fake
Middle Class in which they could hide much of their wealth. Then they
used
that Middle Class to turn against the Working Class. And finally the
Ruling
Class sucked back its wealth from the Middle Class, deflating it and
leaving
it in shambles.
And still, too many of us fall prey to the tootling of their Pied
Pipers,
dancing and singing as they cry out for some Savior to keep them from
harm.
And the Pipers deliver them to Donald Trump! And many of the
disenfranchised people believe that Donald Trump is their Savior.
Well, that is a sad ending, but like the changing weather it is already
in
the works, and may be too late to do much about it.
Carl Jarvis, the pessimistic optimist...or am I an Optimistic
Pessimist?
On 10/11/19, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
What Really Happened to American Socialism?
By Harvey Wasserman, Reader Supported News
10 October 19
Despite the corporate hype, Democratic Socialism and Social Democracy
are deeply rooted in the mainstream of our nation's history.
The lie that they're "foreign ideologies" starts with the fascist
assault Woodrow Wilson waged against them during and after World War 1.
Their marginalization today by corporate Democrats and Trump
Republicans is itself profoundly un-American.
Here's the reality (as explained in greater length in my new People's
Spiral of US History):
In the decades after the Civil War, Robber Baron corporations captured
the core of the American economy. Led by J.P. Morgan and John
Rockefeller, they pushed family farmers and urban workers deep into the
depths of poverty.
In the West and South, agrarian activists formed the People's
(Populist) Party to demand public control over the monopoly capitalist
forces that were destroying their lives. Their socialistic platforms
demanded democratic rule over the money supply, banks, railroads,
telecommunications, and much more.
They wanted female suffrage, direct election of senators, referendum
and recall.
But in 1896, the Populists were sabotaged by wimp Democrat William
Jennings Bryan, who begged their support, then back-stabbed them in a
presidential election he lost (of course) to the corporate Republican,
William McKinley.
Soon thereafter, the great labor leader Eugene V. Debs became an
outspoken socialist. Debs had formed the American Railway Union and
led a great 1895 national rail strike that shut the nation. He was
jailed by President Grover Cleveland, a Democrat he'd previously
supported.
While imprisoned in Woodstock, Illinois, Debs renounced corporate
capitalism. He called instead for an economic system owned and
operated by America's working people. The means of production would be
socialized for the good of the public, he said. All citizens would be
guaranteed a decent living, including food, housing, education,
medical care and more. "I am for Socialism," he said, "because I am
for humanity."
Amiable, charismatic and incorruptible, the tall, slim, Indiana-born
Debs gathered a huge national following. Tens of millions of Americans
accepted Debsian Socialism as a legitimate part of the national
dialogue. The party elected hundreds of local officials throughout the
country, including many mayors and two US Representatives. Millions -
including many conservatives
-
assumed (especially while Gene was around) the US might someday have a
Socialist president.
Thousands flocked to Debs's speeches on a moment's notice. Dubbed "the
American Saint," he demanded an egalitarian grassroots democracy that
extended deep into the realm of material wellbeing. Gene's American
Socialist Party renounced dictatorship of any kind and sustained a far
deeper commitment to the Bill of Rights than either the Republicans or
the Democrats.
The American Socialist Party strongly opposed American Empire. It
fought all-out against Woodrow Wilson's plunge into World War 1. In
1916 Wilson had run for re-election as a "peace candidate." Then he
jumped in to save the British and French, who owed Morgan and
Rockefeller huge sums of money.
To defend his hugely unpopular imperial war, Wilson shredded the
Constitution. He jailed thousands of Socialists and peace activists
merely for speaking out. He imprisoned Debs for demanding peace in a
legendary speech at Canton, Ohio.
Wilson's attorney general, A. Mitchell Palmer, then ran Gestapo-style
Red Scare raids that killed, maimed, and jailed the leadership of the
Socialist and radical labor movements. Federal marshals trashed
Socialist headquarters, burned union offices, broke warrantless into
private homes, and terrorized, beat, and imprisoned anyone suspected
of a trace of leftism.
Not until Mussolini and Hitler's storm troopers took Italy and Germany
was there a more brutal putsch anywhere in the West.
Wilson's assault thrilled Samuel Gompers, head of the American
Federation of Labor. Gompers saw Debs as his chief rival for
leadership of the union movement. His AFofL embraced capitalism and
empire, and banned blacks, women, immigrants, and the unskilled.
In concert with Gompers and the Robber Barons, Wilson destroyed the
American Socialist Party and what had been the mainstream acceptance
of sharing the wealth as a legitimate alternative to corporate
domination. His ruling elite chose instead a form of what Theodore
Roosevelt called "national socialism."
Dominant corporations claimed to love a capitalist free market but
were always on the take for public handouts and massive bailouts.
Conquering an empire came with the "patriotic" territory.
Through the next century, Socialist ideals were kept alive by the
likes of Norman Thomas, Dorothy Day, and Michael Harrington. Imperial
Democrat/Republicans (and the corporate media) still relentlessly
brand as "unAmerican" the view that our human community should be
guaranteed the basics of life, and that our nation should not be
conquering other countries. With an iron fist, the two parties and
their talking heads have smeared democratic socialism and social
democracy to keep it out of the mainstream dialogue.
Bernie Sanders has revived much of Debs's ideology and excitement. He
generally stops short of calling for public ownership of the means of
production. But Bernie embraces Gene's deep commitment to Social
Democracy and a system based on human justice, grassroots equality,
and No Nukes ecological harmony.
In the 2016 primaries, despite underhanded sabotage from the corporate
Democrat elite, Bernie got more than a dozen times as many votes as
the (severely undercounted) million Gene officially got during his
peak runs in
1912 and 1920 (when he ran from federal prison).
In the face of outright fascism and corporate corruption, it's time to
reclaim the legitimate mainstream acceptance of American Socialism.
The idea that our citizenry is entitled to ownership of our nation's
core economic institutions is as American as apple pie. So is
opposition to empire and a deep, abiding commitment to real grassroots
social democracy.
Both Democratic Socialism and Social Democracy are American made.
Accept no substitutes.
Write Harvey Wasserman for THE PEOPLE'S SPIRAL OF US HISTORY: FROM
DEGANAWIDAH TO SOLARTOPIA via solartopia@xxxxxxxxx. His California
Solartopia Show airs at KPFK/Pacific 90.7 fm in Los Angeles; Green
Power & Wellness is podcast at prn.fm.
Reader Supported News is the Publication of Origin for this work.
Permission
to republish is freely granted with credit and a link back to Reader
Supported News.
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