Communism

Well, I guess it is about time for me to write a new blog, so I figure why not write about something that is bound to really piss people off. I am going to write about communism. I am not going to go into any great detail about communism and how it works (if you don't already know, look it up). I am, however, going to talk about how pissed off I get when people call President Obama a socialist and/or a communist. I am also going to talk about the overall ignorance of the subject of communism as well as why I think, if done properly, a communist society would do very well and prosper.

Let me start with a brief definition of communism:
Communism is a socioeconomic structure and political ideology that promotes the establishment of an egalitarian, classless, stateless society based on common ownership and control of the means of production and property in general.

That is about as in depth I am going to go about the definition of communism in this post. When communism was originally thought up, it was not meant to be a bad thing. It was thought up as a way to make peoples lives better. Today's view on it however, is the exact opposite, especially in this country. People now only see communism as a bad thing because of countries such as the USSR and the Peoples Republic of China amongst others. The truth is, these countries have not and are not true communist societies. In order for them to be truly communist, the leaders of these nations would have to set aside their greed. It is that greed that completely topples the foundation of what communism is supposed to be. Communism was started on the principal that everyone works together for the betterment of the overall population of the country, but these so-called communist leaders only work toward the betterment of themselves and not the country as a whole. If the Soviet Union, for example, had obeyed this one principal of communism, they would be the worlds greatest super power today instead of the U.S. Communism is not a bad idea or a bad plan, greed is what is bad and that greed is what transforms the good intent of true communism and mutates it into something really terrible. If truly selfless leaders were put in charge of a communist society, that nation would prosper beyond belief and its people would be happy. I understand that having entirely selfless leaders, especially ones in a position where they can easily succumb to greed, is a daunting task and one that might very well be impossible, but imagine the possibilities if someone was able to pull it off.

Now, I am going to move to how communism is perceived. I have noticed that almost everyone I have had this discussion with has completely disagreed with me and thought I was insane, but I have also noticed that the vast majority of those people don't have a clue what they are talking about. People, especially ones from the baby boomer generation, are not open to communism at all and refuse to admit that if done the way it was originally meant to be, it could work remarkably well. The main argument I hear is, "The Russians tried it and look what happened to them". Yes, the USSR fell, but they fell because of the greed of their leaders. If the leaders had acted for the good of the people like Karl Marx envisioned, they would not have fallen. I just wish more people would take the time to actually research it (like they should with anything) and actually learn about it before they bash it.

Then, there are the people that seem to think President Obama (who I voted for) is either a socialist or a communist and that he is leading us to become a communist society. This is the worst thing I have ever heard. It amazes me that people can actually think this, especially when so many socialists and communists party members have repeatedly disputed these allegations. Wake up people. Obama is the best thing to happen to this country in years and so far I think he is doing a good job, but that is not what this post is about. I will save that for another time. It is obvious that we are not heading in the direction of a communist government, but as stated before, if we found the righter leader, would it really be all that bad?

Slipknot/Coheed/Trivium Show

Well, as the title of this post suggests, my wife and I went to the Slipknot, Coheed and Trivium show at Rupp arena on February 14. This show should have been absolutely amazing since I love all three of the bands. Now before I rant, I agree with most people when they say that it is not three bands they would have ever imagined playing together, but I was hoping it could have worked. As a fan of Slipknot, I hoped that my fellow fans would have at least respected the musical abilities of Coheed and Cambria. Both Slipknot and Coheed rank among my favorite bands along with the likes of Opeth, Iron Maiden and Judas Priest so I was hoping everyone could get along and co-exist at this spectacular show, but I was dead wrong. This show made me realize why I hate 95% of other Slipknot fans. They totally disrespected Coheed and didn't even give them a chance. Coheed took the stage and I couldn't have been happier. We were at the railing separating the crowd from the stage and slightly off to the side. From where I was, I could spot a select few pockets of Coheed fans amongst the sea of Slipknot t-shirts.
Luckily my wife and I were next to another die hard Coheed fan. We were able to exchange stories about our cat being named Coheed and here dog being named Apollo. We shared our Coheed tattoos with each other, mine being the cover of issue #2 of the Bag Online Adventures. We talked about how all of us were in the first 3,000 pre-orders for the Neverender Box Set and how my wife (who is a music teacher and has more passion for music than anyone I have ever met) arranged "Wake Up" for a string trio to play her down the aisle at our wedding. The fact that we were able to share so many stories with other Coheed fans makes me incredibly happy to be amongst such a devoted fan base. I love the apparent comradity between fans that only Coheed fans share.
That feeling of joy about my sixth Coheed show came to an abrupt end when I realized I was surrounded, with the exception of the fan we had been talking to, by a loyal Slipknot herd ( of which I am one of those as well). After every song Coheed played, this bunch ( by this bunch I mean essentially the entire arena) of disrespectful Slipknot fans would boo them and yell "We want Slipknot". Every now and then I would hear boos during songs in between them talking to each other and just being annoying in general. Another thing that really upset me was when someone took it upon themselves to throw a bottle and hit one of the band members during the show. That kind of behavior is just uncalled for regardless of whether or not you like the band. If you don't like Coheed, fine. I don't think everyone has to like the same music as me, but at least show some respect to the band and the people who are there to enjoy their set. I could tell Coheed was getting frustrated, especially when Mic said they were playing their last song (IKSSE). He sounded none too happy when he said it. So, I stand by my previous assumption that, at least around Lexington (which I am not from), I do not like 95% of Slipknot fans. I am a Slipknot fan and think they have amazing talent and their set kicked ass, but their fans were incredibly rude. This is not the fault of the band, but this disrespect falls squarely on the shoulders of most of the people in attendance at the show at Rupp Arena.

I offer my apologies on the behalf of Coheed fans everywhere, especially in Lexington, KY, to Claudio, Travis, Mic, and Chris