Jabberwocky

'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogroves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.
-- Lewis Carroll

Mass altruism ain't gonna happen.
　
   Those who prattle about the evil nature of all things socialistic speak jabberwocky in their efforts to demonize the opposition.
   Politicians assail those in the news media who report information that contradicts their positions as being part of the "reality based community," and their tone tries to imply something negative. But how is being in touch with reality a bad thing?
   "It is when you disagree with me!"

   When the evidence contradicts the message, ignore the evidence. Why let solid numbers interfere with the message? When you say something often enough, loud enough and long enough to enough people, many will start to believe it. Currently, when reality based information contradicts the message, conservatives call it a conspiratorial plot by the liberal media elite.
   One example of language-bending to serve a political end is the assault on "socialism." The reality is that any social benefit program is socialistic, and such programs have been part of American life from the beginning.
   When the Pilgrims taught all members of the group to read, that was socialism. Their motivation, of course, was that members read the Bible, but the idea of universal basic public education endures. And government supported schools is socialism.
   When government builds roads, to be freely used by all, that is socialism.
   When government builds bridges and airports, that is socialism.
   When government operates flood control programs, that is socialism.
   When government hires teachers, police and firefighters, that is socialism.
   When government sponsors unemployment benefit programs, that is socialism.
   When government sponsors old-age pension programs under its Social Security program, that is socialism.
   And when government offers universal health insurance, that is socialism. Otherwise, the indigent seek health care in emergency rooms, and when they cannot pay, the hospital and/or taxpayers pick up the tab. That, too, is socialism.
   Any program run by government that benefits society is by its nature socialistic.

   Is there is a difference between Socialism and Communism? In a political sense, yes, since nations that attempted socialist/communist forms became dictatorships. Karl Marx, the 19th Century philosopher who wrote extensively on the issue, used the two terms interchangeably. The problem is that while communal living may be functional on a small, local level, it does not work at a national level.

   And locally, they do work. In America, the communal living movement was well known in the 19th Century, and some of the names endure. Amana and Oneida were two successful 19th Century communes whose names are still familiar, even though they no longer function as communes.
   In the mid-20th Century, many hippies formed communes as they dropped out of the larger society.
   Meanwhile, communes remain, and number in the many hundreds, if not thousands. They even have their own organization and magazine.
   Want a definition? "We use commune only when referring to communities that share their income and resources completely, or nearly so," according to the Fellowship for Intentional Community.
   A successful commune or socialistic society needs a widespread sense of sharing. But on a national level, mass altruism ain't gonna happen.