Reply #8: Some of us are still here and still working on it every day. [View All]

[patrice]

Talking to others is a very powerful act.

I think the social pathology we see now is the result of the fact that there is no basic American relationship that says something like: For your active participation in and cooperation with our group (America) you will receive ______________, ___________________, __________________, and ___________________.
There is no AMERICAN social contract.

Most people would counter with: For your active participation in and cooperation with the group you receive a paycheck. Aside from the fact that such a deal ASSUMES your support BEFORE you give it (because paychecks would not exist in the first place without participation and cooperation - so your NOT being offered a choice), the ARTIFICIALITY of such social contracts, based on the ARBITRARY value of something called money, perpetuates itself and eventually achieves a mass sufficient to ENSLAVE all participants.

What is needed is a REAL social contract that defines what it means to be American, a real social contract based upon the exchange of real goods and services, something that offers participants something real for their real capital (i.e. their bodies and their labor). This means that the blanks above would be filled in with things such as: Appropriate Health Care, Rational Security and National Defense, Appropriate and Complete Education, Egalitarian Economic Opportunities, a Genuine Count of your Vote . . . IR-RESPECTIVE of economic status.

The counter to what I've just said is something like: "That's Socialism and Socialism is UN-American!!" Most people are afraid of that label "Socialism" because they think it means taking away from someone to give to someone else, but that's a statement about MONEY, which has an arbitrary value to begin with, and what is REALLY being taken away are things of real value, like Health Care, Education, Real national defense and economic opportunities and these REAL things that are being taken away are being taken from those who are at a financial disadvantage (in regards to money, which has no real value to begin with). Being against Socialism is a fucking scam. What IS "Socialism" anyway, but the recognition that the group owes its members something of REAL, NOT artificial, value for each member's very REAL capital (i.e. their bodies and labor). You don't have to be a Hippie to see that this is true, but it does help, so us old Hippies can help by explaining this to others and helping them to be less afraid of saying "This nation, if it is to be a nation, must offer its members something of REAL value in exchange for their lives."