Thank you Brittany. I feel exactly the same. Socialism gives no incentive to better yourself.”

If bettering yourself means making more money and buying more possessions, than yes. But if you can think outside of a capitalist mindset and focus on actually improving yourself as a human being, then Libertarian Socialism would allow people to better themselves. If we can remove the greed that capitalism relies on to thrive as an economic and social system then we can all realize that we are in this together.

And what makes you think flipping a burger is worth less than going to medical school. That’s pretty ignorant. Intelligence is not wisdom and frankly I believe wisdom goes a lot farther than intelligence. Anyone can spend time studying and becoming intelligent, but wisdom is a lot harder to come by. Spending years training and then working in a profession requiring a lot of intellectual expertise can surely be rewarding, but it can take time away from a very different kind of learning.

Besides the discussion on the values of intelligence versus wisdom, anything can be rewarding. I find monotonous tasks to be enjoyable as they give a person time to either deliberate on other matters or to be induced into a meditative state, where one could learn more about themselves.

Many very intelligent people have chosen a physically demanding job over a more mental one because they enjoy learning for learning. They don’t need to use a job as a social status or a way to increase the amount of possessions they can aquire to distract them. They go to the construction site every day and stay healthy doing their job, then go home and read up on law books for fun.

Life isn’t so black and white. Everything is a matter of perception. And perception itself is limited by the bodies we live in.

There are two different types of Libertarians as well. Right-Libertarians are Anti-Statists who believe in Capitalism. Left-Libertarians are also Anti-Statists who believe in Socialism. The Capitalist Libertarians frankly view money and possession as much more important speaking points than human rights and equality. Now that may sound a little slanted, as I am a Libertarian Socialist, but there’s a good deal of truth in the claim that capitalists value money over people.

Anyway, two kinds of socialism and two kinds of libertarians.

I hate when people assume all Socialists are Statists who love big government.

Some people say that socialism and communism look good on paper, in theory, but I disagree. It doesn’t look appealing at any angle. Socialism allows the government to control individual virtue, restrict creativity, and abolish self-interest. Turbulent risk-taking freedom is infinitely more appealing than a safe and sedate oppression.

`Chuck.