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Socialism at Its Best [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2025-07-25
I just had an amusing exchange with Younger Sister, B, who lives in Texas. I sent her the above picture with the note:
Me: Our neighbor just brought us some fish. Salmon, of course. About 25 lbs
B:Yum! Lucky you guys!
Me: We are expecting about 20+ lbs more on the weekend. By law Spouse and I are entitled to a total of 35 fish as residents of AK. I assigned my fishing license to the neighbor so he can legally fish for us. Shhh!...socialism at its best!
B: Fish? What fish? The only thing I know is the old Dad joke: What do you call a salmon wearing a tuxedo? SoFISHticated! HarHarHarHar!!
Me: I get so vexed with people who use public roads, send their kids to public schools, call the local cops or EMS line when they need help, use resources like AK’s subsistence fishing and hunting programs, and who melt down when someone says “socialism.”
B: Yes, it IS vexing. Sadly that’s human nature — dog-in-the-manger syndrome. I wish they would fulfill their destinies and starve.
Me: If that happened they would call the city’s emt’s who would transport them to a public hospital where they would receive nutrients paid for by Medicaid that were developed at a public university on a Federal grant. They would still deny that they benefit from socialism. Fatheads.
B: Yeah. Parasites. No wonder they’re known as M…ts. (forbidden word).
Now before anyone gets bent out of shape by my referring to a forbidden word, she’s not a member of the Kos community. I think I’ve hit a middle path between the rules and her personal expression.
And yes, not everyone has access to the wonderful shared natural resources we have up here. Even the most die-hard rightwing nut job will defend to the death his/her (never their) right to a share of the Alaska Permanent Fund, or the salmon run, snowplowed roads in the wintertime, and a host of other shared resources and programs that are to one extent or another remnants of the days before the oil boom and the state’s general rightward turn. If we had to pay out of pocket for these services and privileges, believe me, the state would resemble a frozen third-world cesspit. I only wish people would tally up the ways they benefit from shared resources and stop acting like scared bunnies when someone says “socialism.” We all engage.
(Mildly edited for autocorrect goofs)
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