We have all been exposed to the story of a frog and boiling water.
It goes like this: If you boil a pot of water and throw a frog in, the frog will jump out. However, if you put a frog in a pot of water and continually turn the heat up it will boil to death.
It is the principal of gradualism. Most people will resist violent change; hey, we've seen it here on Activerain, when we can't find our Blog Buttons, Localism, Re-Blogging and other issues that have come up. 
Today I was out grocery shopping and was listening to the radio, not even sure which station, but the host was reading the following list off. I was shocked and when I arrived home, immediately went to my computer to see if what he was saying was correct. It was.
I will give credit at the end, but please read this and see if you understand what I am talking about. Lately, my good friend Fran Gaspari has written 2 different posts that were transparent and in doing so made himself vulnerable to us. Fran has inspired me to do likewise.
Here is the information taken straight from the web-site.
It is shameful and unacceptable that any child should live in poverty, and that anyone should go hungry, homeless, without medicine, or without a living wage in our nation of such great wealth.
Meet the Needs of Working, Unemployed and Farm Families
- Raise the minimum wage to $12 an hour.
-Unemployment insurance for all workers.
- Moratorium on farm foreclosures
- No privatization of Social Security. Increase benefits.
- Universal prescription drug coverage administered by Medicare. Universal health care system.
- Restore social safety net. Welfare reform that includes job training, supports and living wages.
- Labor law reform to remove barriers to workers who want to join a union.
- Full funding for equal, quality, bi-lingual public education. No vouchers.
Make Corporate Giants Pay
- Repeal tax cuts to the rich and corporations.
- Close corporate tax loopholes.
- Restitution to workers' pensions.
- Strong regulation of financial industry.
- Regulation and public ownership of utilities
- Prosecute corporate polluters. Public works program to clean our air, water and land.
- Aid to cities and states. Federally funded infrastructure repair and social service programs.
Foreign Policy for Peace and Justice
- No to war with Iraq - End military interventions
- Repeal Fast Track and NAFTA, stop Free Trade Area of the Americas(FTAA). No secrecy.
- Save Salt II Agreements, reject Star Wars and Nuclear Posture Review
-Abolish nuclear weapons
- End military interventions.
- Cut military budget and fund human needs.
Defend Democracy and Civil Rights
- End racial profiling.
- Repeal the death penalty.
- Enforce civil rights laws and affirmative action.
- Repeal USA Patriot Act.
- Legalization and protection of immigrant>rights.
- Public financing of elections. Over all election law reform including Instant Runoff Voting.
- Youth and student bill of rights. Guarantee youth's right to earn,learn and live.
Sound familiar?
If you guessed the Democratic Party in America.................
You're wrong.
This is the goals of the Communist Party in America. It is taken straight from their web -site.
Socialism is a transitional stage because there isn't a quick straight line between a society based on exploitation and one based on equality, plenty, and human needs as the ultimate determining factor rather than profits. There are many "hidden" aspects of the economy and other social organization that will have to be changed, a process that will be protracted.
Socialism, in our view, is a precursor to communism. Socialism is a stage of development where society transforms itself into an economic system based on production for use rather than production for profit, where social need plays a much larger role in political and economic decisions, where the "commanding heights of the economy" are socially owned and run on behalf of society, and where people can begin to transform themselves.
The post is not intended to pick on any political party, but to show how we are all capable of being the frog that sits in the boiling water getting hotter and hotter, until it is too late to reverse the trends affecting our nation. Bad decisions are being made by both sides.
The blame is not to one political party but both and more importantly to us, for allowing the changes to come about in the first place. We have not appreciated our history; we do not understand the price that was paid by our Founding Fathers to establish this Republic.
Do I agree with some of these? Of course. Do I disagree with many of them, Yes. Do I see the United States of America slipping into a socialistic society where we expect the government to take care of us from the cradle to the grave? YES.
It is not the government's responsibility to do this. It should be a voluntary decision from our churches, synagogues, non-profits and us as individuals.
We ARE the frogs in the pot of boiling water.................
***Photo of boiling water, courtesy of Steve Vaughn, Flickr***
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Not a dime's worth of difference.