The Daily Ayden: March 24, 2021
A hot topic that’s suddenly seen a surge is that of Communism, Socialism, and Marxism. In the common day, we should not even consider enacting any communist or socialist ideas, yet here we are, begging to overthrow capitalist systems that have flourished for centuries now. Not to say that those who believe in such are wrong, but I do implore any marxists to give 1984 a read. However, considering that they actually believe in and support communism, maybe Animal Farm is more their speed.
That quip was all in good taste, but I would like to quickly address this issue with my personal stance, and place the blame where I believe it belongs: in the American education system. It is no secret that education is far from perfect, and while we children are young and impressionable, it is very easy to shape our minds to the whim of the molder.
Now, the issue isn’t the education system as a whole, rather it’s the educators themselves. Most students just take in what they learn and accept it as their reality, and unfortunately we as youngins are easily swindled to think like sheep, to not question self and reality
The issue derives from the false reality portrayed by external sources, and our willingness to believe it. From a young age, we are told to trust adults, and to do so wholeheartedly, and that is where the deception starts. For instance, parents across the country convince their children that a jolly fat man breaks into their homes and leaves them gifts. A sentiment with good intentions instills a false belief that those who are older are wiser, and know better. This however, is seldom the case. Specifically in Universities, higher and higher numbers of students are starting to lean left and preach ideals of equality for all through socialist ideals. This is just absurd.
Not to push the blame on the left, as my quarrel isn’t with the ideals of their party or their ideals, but the extreme left that believes in these detrimental ideas is a threat to Democracy. They are the next generation which will take over the government, and they will vote with these philosophies in mind, and continue to teach it to their children wrongly, unweaving the stitching that holds the country together.
Socialism, Communism, and Marxism just don’t work. Not on paper, not in practice.
We all want equality, sure, but what’s the comparison? When people preach the idea of being equal, they mean to barons who have made their fortune singlehandedly, overcoming and beating the system that supposedly quells us. They compare themselves to Gods among men, and they don’t see the flaw in their rationale. Think of it like this, under a communist regime, with a socialist economy, you wouldn’t be equal to Jeff Bezos or Warren Buffet, but you, and everyone you know and love, and everyone else, would be the lowly pauper you see and pity living in a tenement, drinking and smoking their misery away.
If that appeals to you, then all I can say is добро пожаловать в новую россию товарищ.
Ayden Morales is a senior at Bethpage Highschool. He runs cross country, winter track, and spring track on the varsity level, and this is his first year...
Marnes Richemond • Apr 11, 2021 at 10:13 pm
So are you trying to convey to me that Santa is fake? I no longer trust this media outlet.
Bernardo Jimenez • Mar 29, 2021 at 8:53 pm
“If people think I am defending the status quo, that is, I think, because they have grown pessimistic and assume that there is no alternative except dictatorship or laissez-faire capitalism.”-George Orwell, avowed Democratic Socialist who even fought on the socialist side of the Spanish civil war.
He also hated police officers: “ I have no particular love for the idealized ‘worker’ as he appears in the bourgeois Communist’s mind, but when I see an actual flesh-and-blood worker in conflict with his natural enemy, the policeman, I do not have to ask myself which side I am on.”
And just for extra clarity, he also wrote this: “We cannot win the war without introducing Socialism, nor establish Socialism without winning the war.”
Furthermore, I don’t think the university students are actually socialists. They might use the name, but what policies do they actually support that would be considered socialist? Most socialist thinkers were huge advocates for the right to bear arms, for instance. Modern politicians in the US that they support resemble social democracy more than democratic socialism.
You mention how these college kids are going to be a threat to democracy. But I have to ask, what democracy? The US isn’t particularly high on the global democracy index, ranking as 25th and as a flawed democracy. The US is also consistently an existential threat to democracy elsewhere in the globe—one only has to look at our history with Latin America to see this. Perhaps, as I will quaintly say, the threat has already engulfed us and we haven’t noticed it. The stitching is already unweaved.
And lastly, I have to ask, is equality really all that cracked up of a goal? Our only barometer for happiness is the fact that sadness exists simultaneously—similarly, our only barometer to find individuality, uniqueness, ego and self is to see the differences between ourselves and others and create an objective mindframe comparing our subjective selves to our application and role in the world. By that logic, all equality will do is hurt us—humanity will never feel satisfied or happy without those differences. Nietzche is right when he says “To live is to suffer, to survive is to find meaning in the suffering.” Perhaps it seems, the real problem with ideology today is this pointless search for equality when it is at conflict with everything that gives us meaning in human life.