Socialism is Alive and Well in America
Although it's not the kind of socialism that one normally thinks of. {per wikipedia}
Socialism is an economic system in which the means of production are publicly or commonly owned
I'm going to alter that definition just slightly:
... an economic system in which the costs of production are publicly or commonly owned
Look around you, and you'll see, in America Capitalism has been turned on its head, distorted beyond recognition, and turned into Socialism. At least the kind of socialism where the public bears the brunt of Capitalism's costs.
Let's start with the gold mines of Gladstone Colorado. At one time these were some of the most profitable gold mines ever.
The Gold King was the Second best producer in the area and shipped 711,144 tons of ore while in operation. This ore was valued at $8,385,407.00. The total production for San Juan County during the years of 1873-1923 totaled $70,381,891.00.
Near the Gold King mine was the Sunnyside mine.
As you look at a map of the area that the Sunnyside and Gold King mines are located in, you will notice a small lake. Lake Emma was located directly over the underground workings of the Sunnyside Mine. The old mine surface workings had for years been on the shores of the small alpine lake. As luck would have it, some of the most valuable ore in the Sunnyside was located directly under Lake Emma. This ore was very rich, and thus tempted the mine's owners over the years to mine the area under the lake. Eventually only 90 feet separated the lake and the underground tunnels.
Guess what happened next? They perforated the lake bottom, draining the entire body of water down Cement Creek.
A roaring torrent of water was emitting from the tunnel sending timbers and equipment into the air like missiles.
The mine is currently under going a reclamation project at this time. The many miles of tunnels are being plugged with cement and the run off water is being treated and monitored. It is thought that if the mine is sealed, water contamination can be eliminated.
It is thought that the reclamation project will cost more than all of the profits the mine made in its nearly 100 years of operation.
Let me repeat that last part.
It is thought that the reclamation project will cost more than all of the profits the mine made in its nearly 100 years of operation.
And who do you think is getting stuck with the reclamation costs? One guess. You and I. Because the people who owned that mine during its most profitable period are all long gone.
While I was researching the subject of lake perforations, I found another similar event.
Lake Peigneur was a 10-foot (3 m) deep freshwater lake popular with sportsmen until an unusual man-made disaster on November 20, 1980, changed the structure of the lake and surrounding land.
On 20 November, 1980, when the disaster took place, the Diamond Crystal Salt Company operated the Jefferson Island salt mine under the lake, while a Texaco oil rig drilled down from the surface of the lake searching for petroleum. Due to a miscalculation, the 14-inch (36 cm) drill bit entered the mine, starting a chain of events which turned what was at the time an almost 10-foot deep freshwater lake into a salt water lake with a deep hole.
The drilling company, Texaco and Wilson Brothers, paid $32 million to Diamond Crystal and $12.8 million to nearby Live Oak Gardens in out-of-court settlements to compensate for the damage caused.
How magnanimous of Texaco - they paid the owners of the salt mines 2 1/2 times what they gave to the landowners. This would be a great segue for a diary about mineral rights, hydraulic fracturing, and who'll be left holding that bag, but I'd digress. Unlike Lake Emma, Lake Peigneur cannot be reclaimed as a freshwater lake. It's gone. There is no way to calculate the true cost to the people of Louisiana.
We don't have to focus on mining disasters to come up with examples of Corporate Socialism. A quick look to the S&L bailouts, or the mortgage derivative bailouts shows you how Wall Street plays the game. It only appears as though they are taking the risks, when it's really the taxpayers who end up holding the bag when things turn sour.
By far my favorite example is George W. Bush. He is the poster boy for Corporate Socialism. Every. Single. Business. He was ever involved in, he pillaged its shareholders or the taxpayers. Arbusto Oil, check. Spectrum 7 Oil, check. Harken Oil, check. As a member of the board of directors at Harken, he was even told explicitly not to sell his stock after bad news, so what did he do? He sold it all, that very week. And "lost" his SEC paperwork for nearly a year. Then, building on his success, he bought the Texas Rangers, and sold it at a profit. How did he work that magic? By getting the taxpayers of Arlington Texas to pay for his new stadium. And then he bailed out on it.
Tax breaks for Exxon-Mobil et al are really just part of a larger pattern - Privatize the Profits, Socialize the Costs. Ah, "socialize." there's that word again.
Republican lawmakers are always trying to institutionalize this form of Socialism. They want the wealthiest to pay the least, and the poorest to pay the most. They want to pillage Social Security with a flim flam argument - that half the country doesn't pay federal income taxes. But as Alan Grayson just reminded us, Social Security isn't paid for with income tax - it's funded with an exclusive Social Security tax that ALL working people pay. And whenever everyone collectively pays for something which gets funneled toward the wealthy, and the corporations, that's
... an economic system in which the costs of production are publicly or commonly owned
Socialism is alive and well in the United States. But it's not the kind of Socialism that we've all be led to believe.
Cross Posted to Newsvine
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