Why are they called "Red States"?

Back when I was a youngun' there was this thing known as The Red Menace. Not Darth Maul, or Jagger with Redbull.

It was the Communist Menace. The U.S. sent soldiers to a bunch of places, and only called two of them a Wars, in an effort to stem the tide of Communism throughout the world.

Let me address some common misconceptions about Communism.

*WARNING* The following is 9th grade Political Science/Western Civ. stuff.

You see, there are several KINDS of communism. Karl Marx wrote a bunch of words, trying to indicate what he thought would make a cool way for a nation and it's people to conduct day to day business. It was sort of pie in the sky Utopian-ism, but you can't blame a guy for trying. It was actually pretty well thought out, and might have worked.

It was supposed to be that everyone had a skill, of one sort or another. Milking cows. Running farm equipment. Keeping track of shipping logistics. Shooting straight. Being entertaining.
At some point, someone would need your skill. Rather than paying money, they would contribute their skill to the pool, just like you had. Everybody was able to draw from the pool, at need. Either drawing the skill itself, or the product of that skill. (mostly the product, but the principle remains.) You get an entire nation doing this, and not succumbing to greed, taking more than they need, and it would be a pretty nice place.

But, like with the lessons taught in the Bible, actual people got involved, and screwed the whole thing up.

You see, people somehow came to power after the revolution, and, being people with desires and hungers and vices, decided that the communist principles didn't apply to them, and they could have wealth and power and mansions, and castles, and booze, and food, and swanky cars, and, and, and... They justified this by saying that they kept things running. Made the tough calls. They deserved the perks.

Now, the people a little lower on the ladder of power saw this, and decided to grab a little for themselves. And so on, and so on. Until, one day (not that long after, actually) Marx's ideals were used as an excuse for a tyrannical government. A really large number of the populace worked and lived in subhuman conditions and abject poverty to produced things, labor, and profit for the benefit of a really small number of the populace.

And then there were the politicians. Usually appointed. Policy and the winners of government contracts were decided not by what was best for the people, or even by the people. They were decided by who could lobby/influence the official the most.

The general populace were not very well educated. Very well indoctrinated, but not well educated. Even some of the lower level functionaries fell into this category. Not too bright, but knew how to play the game.

(Starting to sound more familiar?)

It was several decades later that the effects of McCarthyism wore off in the U.S. and some of those people that could form independent thought realized that the USSR wasn't really a communist state, but still insisted on calling itself such. It was a flat out tyranny, with the principles of communism imposed on the worker, for the benefit of the elite. Seriously. Labor camps, and "re-education" (pronounced "torture") for those that didn't see things the way the government and the media thought they should. Any protests were met with violence, and the protesters arrested.
(*cough* OccupyWallSt *cough*)


From where I sit, that's a fairly good description of Stalinist Communism.

Is any of this sounding like something *you* experience?

Now. Let's make some observations about the traditionally republican states here in the U.S.

Often times, the majority of the population is under educated, and living well below what could be called Middle Class. Blue Collar workers for the most part. The Stereotype has them living in doublewide mobile homes, or shacks in the hills. Obviously not the case with most, but stereotypes do not grow out of a vacuum. (NASCAR and WWE, don't help...)

They tend to support "traditional" values, and don't like changes that they see as harmful. Keep the Status Quo. They use religion to support out dated ideas, and often quote demagogues as gospel, without being able to rationalize, or even adequately explain what they have just quoted.

They also support corporations indirectly, by voting the "party line"
They support, by voting, the greed and proclivities of the "elite", without acknowledging them.

Now, by supporting, by popular vote, the corporations, and the politicians that allow them to run rampant over the economy, they are supporting the growth of Stalinist Communism here, in these United States.

Now we have Red States.

Do your homework. Study the trends. Don't rely on discredited sources (*cough* Fox News *cough*), and most importantly, think your own thoughts. Be a responsible voter by not being a sheep.

A good citizen is an educated voter.