Old Lefties

OLD LEFTIES

We are the Old Lefties. We are the social policy wing (left of course) of: Geezers Are Us. Geezers Are Us is the political arm (left again), and are a wholly owned subsidiary of Curmudgeons International.

Curmudgeons International is a non profit society whose sole aim is to provide corrective measures for the pitfalls and failings of the modern North American version of a dysfunctional society. Some squeeze the truth and call it “Western Civilization”. Most of our members are unabashedly progressive in their approach to social change and their critique of this misguided social condition. A central tenant of the organization is that the group is just as important as the individual, and that caring about other human beings is just as important as caring about their bottom line.

Since most members are over sixty our philanthropic work and rejuvenation activities are exercised in a cafe society context. This is done in an effort to beat back our “best before date” which for most members has already expired.

The membership works hardest toward transforming polemical activities and hyperbolic advocacy into positive value system alternatives. This takes place over discussion of the many political issues that are currently active on the world scene. As well we pursue as many other critical and philosophical issues as can be argued in our community context, but we also extend outward toward the provincial, or national context whenever possible (read: whenever we can get up).

We also keep a library of progressive social policy models. We also provide alternative viewpoints to presently mandated social and political dogma and diplomatic sticking points. Although the sheer weight of our left wing prevents normal flight towards these policy outcomes, we are totally without bias in our pursuit of the truth. So, our main thrust is toward any and all possible cures to catagory one social ills such as capitalism, free trade, all militarism, and of course all things that emphasize the individual over the group.

While from an economic perspective we collectively agree on the necessity of having an economy, we take no responsibility for solving the silly problems associated with how to pay for the changes to our society that we propose. However, the following pie chart does point to some obvious avenues of approach when dealing with this issue.

We believe allocations for education should be switched with defense spending to decide the level of resource allocation the state should support at the municipal and provincial levels for the delivery of essential social services. Following this model most HHS (health and human services) and energy would become very much more affordable within less than one generation.

Our principal strength at Old Lefties has been in the discovery that while Western Civilization is a relatively young social Ill, it is a particularly insidious and communicable disease - like experience for most users. Although it has been known to our species for less than one percent of human history, we feel it can be cured from the public consciousness. We believe in using a largely homeopathic approach. We think education, discussion, and dialog are the most promising cures available and they do not require a prescription.

we are currently working on the implementation of a comprehensive cure for some of the more virulent strains of this social malady. At present we are proposing both symptomatic relief for the pain this erroneous model inflicts upon people worldwide, and progressive attitudinal adjustments to modify lifestyle choices to gain permanent long term relief.

While we are confident that the decriminalization of most victimless crimes, and the correction of individualistic fixations in the modern disposition, will bring both effective pain relief and will add ideological remedies to the arsenal of resources that are most useful for bringing reality to the table when determining lifestyle and social policy choices.

We think for the most part current relief from the symptoms of “Western Civilization Syndrome” provide only temporary bandaids for the emotional wounds, and psychological traumas this social scourge has made humanity cope with since the adoption of the euphemism of modern life. Old Lefties believe this flawed model has built unattainable expectations of this model becoming sustainable. It creates unreal feelings of entitlement, and burrows into the mind set of a population who have been led to believe, from generation to generation, and that the modern model will somehow mythically carry on indefinitely into the future.

Membership in Old Lefties comes with only a one generation warranty. This period has been deemed to be just long enough to provide a cushion for dealing with the demise of any good idea actually implemented. It allows adequate planning to take place before any good idea becomes patented, copyrighted, and protected from free distribution or any other actual human use.

The ultimate cure cannot be revealed here but is reserved for the exclusive use in treating bankers, brokers, CEO’s and politicians with acute Western Civilization syndrome. The more insidious strains of this condition will take more than a single generation to eradicate as powerful hierarchies have much to lose in establishing a more egalitarian model for our species to adopt.

But Old Lefties indulge in the belief that it can be done. We believe actual knowledge, and deep understanding can triumph over the naivety and childish wants of a species gone berserk with greed and self absorption.