Radicalization.
I was in Scotland when I got radicalized.
I was studying at the University of Aberdeen during my junior year. One day, I went to the doctor’s for a checkup. After my appointment was done, I told the receptionist I was done and was ready to pay for the visit. She was confused and said a sentence I had never heard before, “You don’t pay for doctor’s appointments here.”1
When someone tells you that you don’t have to pay, you don’t question them - you just get the heck out of there.
As I walked back to campus, I was bewildered. For me, hearing those words in that order were a brand new sentence. My mind raced with questions. How does one see a doctor and not have to pay? Did they make a mistake? Do they know how much money they’re missing out on?
I researched what devilry this was. It turned out that, in 1947, something called “NHS Scotland” was created to provide universal health care. Created! They came together to make something that worked for the public good instead of profiting off people’s pain and suffering. This was part of a post-war effort to eliminate the “five giant evils” (Want, Disease, Ignorance, Squalor, and Idleness). This foundation for a welfare state saw health care to be a central part of this effort.
Saying “welfare state” was not a pejorative like it is in certain US circles. It was their goal.
So they created a public good.
This is what keeps me pushing forward.
I recognize that we have many various institutions in place right now. SNAP, TANF, Medicare, Section 8, etc etc. But just because they exist now does not mean they need to exist forever. They absolutely can be switched out for a better plan. After all, these government programs are all made up. They’re not part of God’s Law that requires them to continue existing. We can absolutely reform them to achieve that greater solution. That’s why I keep pushing for guaranteed income. It is the ultimate program to render so many anti-poverty charities useless and attack the root cause of poverty (so long as it is funded by fining the wealthy for not spending their money).
I’d love to hear from you - when did you get radicalized?
Queue the T’challa meme, “We don’t do that here.”
I don’t think I had a specific moment but it happened over the course of college history courses and majoring in American Studies. One fact that really woke me up is how white supremacy was reinforced by creating division between poor white and Blacks, to maintain power for elite capitalists. People don’t understand how INTENTIONAL our ideologies and assumptions are. Once that is understood, everything else starts to click and make more sense. The way we live is not natural at all.
I don't consider myself radicalized. I have empathy. I think when I have more than I need, I should help someone who doesn't have enough. I've been in the position of not having enough. I don't want anyone else to go through that if I can help. If that's radical, then I guess I'm radical.