Socializing

WHEN ONE OF MY high school classmates ('73, go Eagles) announced that he had misplaced his Medicare card while enrolling in the program on his 65th birthday, I nearly did the same thing, but got lucky , and avoided the hassle. he also gave me great advice as well as the bad role modeling: Ignore the trillions of snail mail promos for corporate sponsored Medicare supplement plans. We agreed that Medicare and Social Security are good deals. when I blurted out "aint socialism grand!" he at first changed teh subject, then muttered something incoherent about Social Security not being "true socialism" as proudly ignorant conservatives invariably do. If in face Social Security and medicare aren't socialism, pure, simple, which they are, then I don't know what socialism is, which I do. It is, predictably, the right wing which does not know, or pretends not to. Socialism is so repugnant to them, that they redefine it and deny its existence, which is ambient, in America, in the form of fire and police protection, public roads and highways, and a trillion other socialized services. At my local senior center, same problem: conservative stupidity. One elderly right wing evangelical reprobate insisted that "social security isn't socialism, its progress". When I courteously corrected him, he glared at me menacingly for minutes, with open hostility, a real tough guy. I glared right back at him briefly, then turned away, with better things to do. The older they are, the harder they fall, and the harder tehy hit bottom.When conservative Trump supporters in particular reach a certain age and compromised cognitive powers, they become impervious to reason, thought, compassion, and the teachings of Jesus. they even go so far as to ardently endorse a president who tried to blackmail a foreign country, lies constantly, conspires with foreign countries to win election, locks children in cages, and molests women, thus reducing their ostensibly senile selves to Trump's sordid level. medicare and Medicaid are wasted on them, and if they had any honor, they would refuse to accept these socialized benefits, since they so hate socialism. Ironic, since all seniors in America are socialized services.