Sticks and Stones

Twice in the last three days I have been told that I am a socialist. The only reason for this is that I support Health Care Reform.  Oh, I also voted for Obama, who is a socialist and tricked everyone by running as a Democrat and as we all know is not really even a citizen of the United States.( Just in case there is any doubt, the previous sentence is dripping with sarcasm). I don't know if people don't understand the meaning of the word or if they simply believe that health care reform is like the gateway drug to socialism. Maybe I am the one who doesn't understand the term. As I understand it, I don't qualify. I am not for the abolition of private property. I am not for state ownership of the production and distribution of goods. I am not for a system in which people are not paid for their work but in exchange for work have access to what ever material goods they need.  However, I do think there is a legitimate place for social programs in a democracy. Of course "social programs" does have the word "social" right there in it and all it takes is the addition of "ism" and there you are. The world as we know it has been turned upside down.
I know that I live in a conservative area of my state. There is much that I love about our home and our farm and our friends. Still, I am getting tired. I am  wearing down from fending off the sticks and stones that come my way. Sometimes, and lately quite often, people want to convince me that I am either evil or stupid because I worry about the poor and the sick and the lonely and the homeless and the old and the young and the hungry and the uneducated. Instead of worrying or trying to help these people, am I to simply be grateful that I have everything I need? Should I buy a gun, hunker down and protect what is mine from the poor, the sick, etc. etc.   I don't understand. It makes me frustrated. It makes me overwhelmingly sad. It makes me want to move to Seattle or St. Louis or Manhattan.
In spite of all this, I did my bit for capitalism today. Jeff, who is helping upgrade the bathroom, told me to buy a wax ring at the hardware store so he could re-install the toilet. When I went to the hardware store there were plain wax  rings, wax rings with flanges, wax rings with flanges and bolts and jumbo size wax rings with or without flanges and bolts. I called Jeff but he didn't reply so I did the only reasonable capitalist thing and bought one of each and kept the receipt.