In liberal Utopia, everybody wins... sort of. - Granite Grok

In liberal Utopia, everybody wins… sort of.

When I went and listened to Ohio  Congressman Dennis Kucinich’s far-left, "blame America for all the ills of the world" discussion with the local Dems last week, I couldn’t help but feel that I was listening to what could almost be described as Marxism, or, socialism. At present, his message seems more like some far-fetched oddity than anything that would catch fire… or is it?
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Consider this bit of news from right here in my little corner of the universe, Central New Hampshire. The Citizen reports:
While a possible $1.1 million budget deficit hung over Tuesday’s School Board meeting, it was the proposed elimination of a longstanding football tradition at Laconia High School – the McDonald’s Most Valuable Player Award – that resulted in the most lively debate.
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The administration at the high school has said "thanks, but no thanks" to McDonald’s after 30 years of sponsorship, claiming that the size of the award and its corporate backing are perpetuating a student-held belief that football is viewed as more important than other cocurricular activities and possibly even academic achievement.
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Principal Jon Freeman and Athletic Director Jim Chase appeared before the board to inform them of ongoing efforts to make sure that all student athletes receive equal treatment and recognition for their accomplishments with one of their most recent decisions being to inform Larry Johnston, a longtime Laconia High School sports supporter and McDonald’s regional manager, that they will no longer be giving the award.
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Freeman said the McDonald’s MVP trophy — while a generous donation for years — was the only corporate sponsored award handed out to school athletes and was contributing toward a belief that football is valued more than other sports.
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The principal said the move was not intended to insult Johnston or McDonald’s, but rather falls in line with other school efforts to assure that different sports and different gendered athletes receive more consistent recognition.
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"It’s about what’s fair … what’s best for the kids," said Freeman, noting that the school has made great strides in involving and recognizing a variety of different students for their athletic and academic endeavors.
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School administrators say the McDonald’s MVP trophy is larger than others and is believed to carry more weight than other awards, with even the salutatorian and valedictorian awards palling in comparison.
Back to the Kucinich angle…

When one considers the terms “socialism” or “communism” and then relates them to fellow Americans, as I implied above, the reaction tends to be, “Oh Doug—there you go again. Nobody’s like that here in America.”
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Really?  Can’t we all agree that one of the more easily distinguished hallmarks of socialism/communism is an anti-free market place, anti business attitude? Do they not always badmouth “big business” (big oil, big tobacco, WalMart, etc.) while at the same time praising “non-profits”, big government and UN-type organizations? “But Doug, that doesn’t make them communists.”
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Consider this from Karl Marx’s infamous gospel of that ideology, “The Communist Manifesto”, plank number 7: “Extension of factories and instruments of production owned by the state.” He goes on to note that as the movement grows and spreads, there will come a time when it can be said that “class distinctions have disappeared, and all production has been concentrated in the hands of vast associations of the whole nation…”
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Think that’s all far-fetched? What messages are our children receiving on a daily basis in the government schools?
  • Banned: Scoreboards with ads by the generous companies that donated them. Can’t be having any corporate sloganeering… That might promote the free-market!
  • Banned: Keeping score at some sports events and games. This is bad for self-esteem and might promote competition.
  • Banned: (well, not quite, but they’re tryin’) The McDonald’s award for most valuable player on the Laconia football team. Again, it promotes (gasp!) the private sector, and isn’t fair because it leaves other sports out. Besides, the usual busybodies think that their food is not all that good for you, anyway. And that trophy’s waaaay too big!
What will be the beliefs of a generation raised with such messages ingrained at young ages? While a Kucinich candidacy and its far-leftist ideals might not catch hold at this particular time, all we have to do is wait a few more years until today’s fully- indoctrinated youth grow up. How will we fare in a world of competition, when that very concept is a dirty word? "But, shouldn’t everyone be EQUAL? Then it won’t matter. And everything will be fair!" (As far as those who don’t like it, well, as in all good socialistic, "equal" societies, there’s always the gulag…)
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