HomeRegular FeaturesAdvo-CatieAdvo-Catie: Weighing in as a Gen-X

Advo-Catie: Weighing in as a Gen-X

I find the continued and increasing lack of knowledge and information in social media circles completely infuriating. 

Happily, the universe has tapped into its own great tendency for irony for Nick Sandmann, the kid from Covington who received death threats and vilification for the out-of-context video of him at the Lincoln Memorial. 

While I’m certain the only reason it went viral was because he was wearing a MAGA hat (Liberals’ new Confederate flag), I am glad the same Internet that wanted to string him up has $18K in a GoFundMe for his college tuition to make up for it. And I can’t wait for it to rain retractions when his libel lawsuit gets started. 

I read that a majority of American Millennials identify as Socialist, but just 32 percent of them can define it. Help me out here; I know their teachers and parents aren’t likely also Millennials. Many of them should be about my age… the lost Gen-Xers. What’s with the silence from those who were alive in the 1970-80s, when the Doomsday Clock was always at four minutes to midnight, we all had nightmares about Soviet A-bombs and feared what regular people were doing to each other in actual socialist cultures? Have these teachers gone awry of actual history? 

Related: the New York nitwit (Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez) says there is no place in our world for billionaires because it’s not fair for so much wealth to be concentrated at the top. Um… welcome to late 20th century Socialist/Communist USSR. She’s too young to remember footage of hundreds of freezing Russian citizens waiting in line for bread while the Minister of IGotMine and his wife drove by in their 80-degree limousine. 

Socialism is a great idea as long as everyone agrees to go all in. The problem is that humans will never unanimously agree to share the work and reward equally. And, if the government is forcing it, there will always be some who fight back. Welcome to Siberia. 

Seriously… does everyone even in your own household share the chores and ice cream equally? How can we expect the entire globe to sign up for that? 

Perhaps I’m cynical but students of history (more irony?) can tell you that since the ancient days when we discovered fire, there has always been one guy with the muscle, talent or skill to manage things and keep the others safe and/or fed. 

Humans will always be comforted by that assurance and will do what is necessary to guarantee that safety. So when people start following the guy with the muscle and food, he gets used to people doing work for him and he may want more. Enter the power and corruption of the fortunate. Pharoahs did it. Emperors did it. Kings did it. Did you know Catholic clergy don’t marry because Popes in the middle ages were giving their property to their children rather than the Church. No one is immune to enjoying the benefits of other people’s labor and the past 600 generations have done nothing to discredit that. Maybe AOC could agree to a salary equal to the median income of her district to set the example. 

Yes, Millennials are correct; no one is denying from each according to his ability, to each according to his need is a great idea. (that’s the actual premise of Socialism by the way…) Some people even live that way; they’re called parents and they choose to do it. 

My father explained to me in 1976 that Communism meant working hard enough to buy two pairs of shoes, then the government comes by and tells me to give one pair to my neighbor then go back to work to buy another pair for the government, or go to prison, my first thought was “Why doesn’t our neighbor buy his own shoes?” 

I am not a professor of political thought and I realize all of this might seem like an oversimplification but, really, is it?  

I will admit, there are many liberal ideas that no one should be against; saving the environment, protecting people from gun violence, welcoming (legal) immigrants, upholding justice, destroying prejudice; these are all great and noble pursuits.

But the people in this club can also be quite hypocritical. Conservatives did not hold a women’s march that prohibited pro-life women from marching. Liberals who yell about income equality are far behind conservatives who actually donate to the poor. 

Maybe if this generation really does come up with something new—that doesn’t cost $70 trillion— that can slowly take hold over the next 600 generations, humans will eventually be satisfied. By the year 6019 we might have evolved and be a little more ready to play nice across the board. But by then we will likely have wiped out all the dangerous animals and will be getting our nourishment through photosynthesis so there’s no need for strong leaders, perks or anything to fight about.

I also, sadly, read today that when the national pendulum swings fully back from our reaction to Barack Obama and subsequent election of Donald Trump, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez will be President. Not because she will someday figure out where her office is, but because she thinks she is the voice of regular people. I must point out that the article was written and published by Al Jazeera so consider the source. 

One problem, as I see it, is her near-total insulation among what *she* considers regular people. She is surrounded by slobbering media and a lot of peers who constantly tell her how great her ideas are. Good for them. But they are not me or any of the people I know so it is erroneous to think she will appeal outside her little demographic bubble. Did she miss the point of why Hillary lost? 

A lot of us are too busy working, donating and sharing by choice and saving money for retirement, to hear about free everything for everyone with NO plan to pay for it. So, don’t start picking out your inaugural gown just yet.  

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