Sentinel, Socialism Bad?

      I’ve been thinking about this since it is in the news so much. So let’s take a look at some facts.

      Prior to 1929 workers on the car assembly lines in our country were making 15 cents an hour and when the lines stopped, sometimes for hours, they made nothing at all but were required to sit there and wait.

      1929 there was no socialism. The stock market crashed and caused the great depression. People were standing in soup lines for the only meal they had all day long. They had no income and the banks closed so if they had any money in a bank they lost that too. People in our home town were living in tarpaper shacks by the river.

      In 1932 the president started social programs, like a minimum wage. It was a whopping 32 cents an hour. He put men to work in government programs like the civilian conservation corps. My father worked in the corps to support his mother. He built state parks in my state. Those parks are still in use today and city people have an opportunity to see a little bit of nature even today. They go camping there for family vacations.The CCC built roads and dams and they are in use today. The president devised social security, (which we all pay into) that allows senior citizens like me and Joyce to live independently and not have to rely on our daughter to support us. Think about that, how many children today would enjoy having to support mom and dad, with no health insurance?

      Later another president started medicare (another program we all pay into). Without medicare yours truly and Joyce would be taking up space in some graveyard because we could not afford health insurance. Joyce’s hospital surgeries and care in 2017 were just shy of a million dollars. There is no way we could ever have paid that. Unemployment insurance is another social program. Without that, with all the millions of people who are collecting unemployment today would be losing homes and starving in the richest country in the world.

      Just recently in 2019 the president imposed tariffs on China which caused China to retaliate by not buying American agriculture products. The president then paid out 16 billion taxpayer dollars to farmers in 2020 to keep them from going under. You cannot deny that was not socialism. In the old days without socialism the farmers would be in towns working for minimum wages. Socialism is not just for poor people. Companies like Exxon-Mobil who make fortunes every year get subsidies. I hope this helps you understand my point.