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Socialism

My parents fed me.  They clothed me.  They gave me a place to live and a loving environment to be raised in.  If I had children, I would clothe them.  I would feed them.  I would provide shelter and love to them.  I believe this is the case with nearly all humans and social animals.  This is why I am a socialist.  I don't see a difference between my own biological offspring and the offspring of another fellow homo sapien.

I have the means to share with other people.  I can contribute to the provision of the necessities of life for members of society.  I wish to help other people.  To me, all humans are the same.  I want them to have the material things necessary to sustain life regardless of whether they are related to me within a generation of two of genealogy.  A child down the street is no less deserving of those necessities than my own child.  A man in Africa is no more rightfully restrained from food and water than my own brother.

I believe that all people are equal.  To me, socialism is the best economic policy I have encountered which fully supports that idea.  Capitalism is the best policy for perpetuating class distinction and for enlarging the gap between the haves and have-nots.

Socialism encourages true freedom.  Many who advocate for capitalism claim that the best way to guarantee freedom is to remove all government restrictions on interactions between people, to have as few regulations as possible.  This does not give true freedom.  Capitalism would lead to poor families not having the means necessary to educate their children and therefore perpetuate the cycle of poverty.  Providing free education to society gives everyone equal opportunity to arise out of the slums and become educated, contributing members of society.  Requiring each individual to pay eir own medical expenses or to rely on eir insurance company to do so will lead to only wealthy people or well-insured people to receive necessary health care.  Those who do not have insurance and cannot afford the procedures will go without.  To establish true equality, we should give everyone the opportunity to receive necessary health coverage.

And so I am a socialist.  I am a socialist because I cringe at the thought of a hungry child.  I am a socialist because I am offended by a woman being turned away for necessary cancer treatment because of her low-paying part-time job.  I am a socialist because I have compassion for the man who cannot afford education to obtain the skills necessary to perform the job of his dreams.  I am a socialist because I believe that all people are equal.  I am a socialist because I feel myself no more worthy of a luxurious life than any other person on the planet.

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