If

drugs were legal

(under socialism), what they were doing wouldn't be illegal and they wouldn't be in prison. The business would be more legit (most likely). They also wouldn't be running it out of their house, so Daya and her sisters wouldn't be exposed to all that shit.

It would be tough for them to stay in business because drugs would be heavily regulated. Generally, a few big companies rise to the top in heavily regulated industries. A lot of lefties are against the concept of big companies. I'm not necessarily against big companies, especially in industries where monopolies are sensible; such as drugs. I'd rather have a few companies making heroin/cocaine/etc, rather than a bunch of mom-and-pops making it out of their kitchens.

Aleida is self-involved and not a good mother. Under socialism, our culture would change (over time). The rampant materialism in our society would fade as part of the change.

The cultural and political-economic systems feed off each other. Hollywood is funded by the people who run the economic system, therefore it produces culture that represents their interests and values. Over time, if the wealth is redistributed, the culture would represent more voices and a more egalitarian perspective.

Finally, let's look at the exploitative relationship between Aleida and her family, and Cesar. She gets material goods like handbags and "privileges" like riding in a fancy car. Cesar gets to make a shitload of money, while offloading the risk to the Diaz family. Aleida is taking all the risk by running the drug manufacture out of her kitchen, and it results in her (and eventually Daya) ending up in prison.

Aleida is being completely exploited, and is either too ignorant or too blind to realize it. I don't like starting out saying I don't like a character (I like almost all the characters), it just worked out that way with how I structured this. I'm also not saying anything bad about Elizabeth Rodriguez, I think she does a great job with the character...Aleida's just not a likable person in my eyes. Season 3 (which came out after I made the video) makes strides in humanizing Aleida; but I'm still not joining her fan club.

I mispronounced Aleida's name (thanks Google). Good start.

Music:

ill Niño - Corazon of Mine

Under socialism, Alex's lifestyle would be similar (in terms of traveling), but it's less likely she'd be a drug trafficker. Since

socialism would take care of her basic survival needs

, Alex could do something like work as a waiter for a month, and spend all the money she earns directly on traveling for a year, or 6 months, or however long she can stretch that money.

She still could become a drug trafficker because of her attraction to the lifestyle attached to it, but it would be less likely because there would be other (safer) ways for her to achieve that lifestyle. Drug trafficking would still exist until we had global socialism. The drugs would flow from

socialist countries where drugs were legal

to places where drugs were still illegal.

The places where drugs would still be illegal would likely be capitalist countries, because capitalists benefit from the prison system and drugs being illegal. I didn't go into detail on this assertion in the video, but season 3 of OITNB provides a fantastic example of the private prison corporation (MCC) which takes over Litchfield exploiting the prisoners' labor to make women's underwear. Capitalists must exploit workers in order to make a profit, and what better way to do that than imprison them and force them to work for peanuts – modern day slavery.

I think Alex's motivation is similar to Johnny Depp's (George Jung's) in "Blow." He saw the lower-working-class lifestyle of his parents, and he was determined to never live like that. The similar example we see with Alex is when she throws the Payless shoes out of the car after being teased by her peers.

Under socialism, poverty would be eliminated, there would be more economic equality, and culture would shift to value humans over commodities. Alex wouldn't feel the same social pressure to escape the lower-working-class and become rich. In fact, "lower-working-class" would be completely redefined, because everyone would have, at minimum, the same basic necessities whether they work or not.

This video segment sucked (but I did reference doing E with 3 strangers on a beach in Cambodia). The 2nd video below is a corrected Alex segment that I did during the conclusion of the full video, including ruminations on the pronunciations of Prepon and Lyonne. The write-up is better than the videos. Seriously, why would you watch this? What was I thinking when I made these? I guess if you're really curious or just bored, go for it...

Music:

ill Niño - Everything Beautiful

I'm assuming Poussey is in prison for selling weed, but we don't know this for sure (if we learned anything about this show from Morello's story, it was expect the unexpected).

Under socialism and legalized drugs

, she wouldn't be in prison. Since Alex would be less likely to become a drug trafficker, Piper would be less likely to transport drug money...once...ten years ago. Even if she did, she most likely wouldn't end up imprisoned.

However, a socialist government isn't guaranteed to be a good one. You can have a bad one; you can also have a great one. Most likely it would be a good one. If I didn't believe this then I would just give up on socialism, right?

There is a scenario under a draconian socialist government where Piper could get locked up. There could be sanctions in place making it illegal to do business with capitalist countries. Let's assume drugs were flowing from our socialist country to capitalist countries which were keeping drugs illegal (for reasons I mentioned in Alex's segment). Piper's crime would be a political/economic one in that case. I'm not in favor of any of this, but it could happen, though I believe it to be unlikely.

I'm putting Piper and Poussey together because I think they would both make great counselors in the prison. I have a question for the real Piper (if she reads this): Would you be willing to live in prison as a counselor for a defined period of time, like 6 months or a year, if you were paid a salary to do it? This is assuming

all your survival needs are being met under socialism

(housing, healthcare, etc.), so you don't need the money, but you would get paid on top of the basic socialist benefits you're receiving.

I think the other prisoners are more likely to see you as an equal and respect you as a counselor if they see you living under the same conditions and not getting any special treatment (very important). You would have an office due to the confidentiality necessary for effective counseling. You would have designated counseling hours. This would be your job, just like Poussey working in the library, Morello/Tucky driving the van, etc. When you weren't working in your office, you'd be among all the other prisoners doing what they're doing (shower, meals, yard, sleep, etc.)

I didn't want to short-change Poussey by combining her with Piper. I think she's a great leader. I thought Poussey might serve as a role model for Watson in the 3rd season, but the show went a different way with the character. I enjoyed that storyline, though I wasn't happy with the lack of Watson.

Poussey's story of loneliness in the 3rd season is a powerful one that cuts across gender, racial, class, and geographic lines. Obviously being in prison limits Poussey's ability to meet people she can connect with, but many of us find ourselves trapped in a similar metaphorical prison in our schools, workplaces, and communities. Socialism will provide an environment for an overall improvement of human relations (see Vee's segment), and subsequently an increase in the amount of love available. It will also provide more freedom for us to put ourselves in situations where we are more likely to meet people we connect with (see Nicky's segment).

Piper, on the other hand, went in a very unfortunate direction in season three. Piper as an exploitative capitalist was highly entertaining, but it also killed her value as a positive role model for the millions of women who watch this show and identify with her. Rather than seeing Piper as a hero who fights to improve the lives of the women struggling alongside her, the audience can point to her as another example to justify their excesses and lack of commitment to social and economic justice. Everyone is selfish, including Piper, why should I be any different?

There is no lack of great role models in the 3rd season. Boo, for instance, is fantastic. However, not nearly as many people identify with her as Piper. Piper has a much bigger cultural effect on our society than Boo, that's just reality.

I think Netflix is to blame for this, but I can only guess since I'm not involved in the writing and production of the show. I suspect they wanted Piper to go in this direction to match a formula that they knew would keep viewers engaged, hence maximizing viewership and subscription rates. Why couldn't Stella serve as the capitalist, and Piper as the union organizer?

Maybe I'm wrong; maybe the writers made this creative choice completely independent of their capitalist paymasters. If that's the case, I'm disappointed in the artistic choice they made. Even if the real Piper actually did this when she was in prison, OITNB is not a documentary.

I know "capitalist paymasters" is a harsh term. I'm not saying those who work at and run Netflix are bad people. It's the system. Profit is the name of the game, and every person's job at Netflix ultimately is to maximize profit for the company.

Many people, including capitalists, don't understand that capitalism is incapable of producing social and economic justice. Schools don't teach this. You must have a reason and determination to derive this rationale on your own.

A message for those at the top of the pyramid who do understand, in the

words of Zack de la Rocha

: How long? Not long. 'Cause what you reap, is what you sow.

Music:

ill Niño - Everything Beautiful (CONT'D)

,

Cunninlynguists feat. Immortal Technique - Never Know Why

Taystee is less likely to be an orphan. There would be lower rates of death.

Free healthcare

leads to more people being treated when they're ill, and to better preventative education/treatment, which means fewer people becoming ill in the first place. Another factor in reducing the death rate would be

drug legalization

, which would lead to fewer people killing each other in the streets. Therefore, Taystee's less likely to have become an orphan due to her parents dying.

Also, drug legalization makes it less likely her parents would be imprisoned, which is another reason she could be an orphan. I'll get back to this.

Foster care and social programs would be better (Ariel)

. Even if she did end up in foster care, she wouldn't feel as compelled to latch onto someone like Vee because she would meet more people in the system that would make her feel like part of a family. None of this is guaranteed, but socialism would increase the probability that her life would be better.

Back to drug legalization. This is directly related to #BlackLivesMatter. Not only does drug legalization reduce deaths and rates of incarceration, it will also take away much of the pretense the police have for fucking with black people in the street.

Drug laws are incredibly racist. Consider the strain that locking up millions of black people has on black families. Taking a parent or child out of a family puts a tremendous amount of economic and emotional stress on the rest of the family. There's also the fact that if you are, or were ever a convicted felon, you can't vote. Another racist law. The New Jim Crow, right? I'm not a scholar of black studies, this stuff just seems obvious to me.

Instead of being in the streets with #BlackLivesMatter signs, I think it would be more helpful for black people to be out there with signs that say #LegalizeDrugs and #Socialism. That gets at the root of the problems. #BlackLivesMatter signs and tweets change nothing. I'll do a follow-up article/video about #BlackLivesMatter if there's any interest. Legalizing drugs will change lives for the better for millions of black people. Socialism gives people (black and all) the resources they need to build better lives for themselves.

I'm talking especially to black people who are involved with OITNB. This is your movement, socialism and legalizing drugs. Keep taking the passion and anger of #BlackLivesMatter to the streets, just replace it with #Socialism and #LegalizeDrugs.

Music:

Cunninlynguists feat. Immortal Technique - Never Know Why (CONT'D)

,

Dead Prez - "They" Schools

Vee would be less likely to become a sociopath. Socialism would

create an environment where people have more time to work on human relationships (Ariel)

and how they treat each other. If you're living paycheck to paycheck, you don't have time to think about this kind of shit: how can I be a better person, be more respectful, take the time to listen to someone else's perspective, put myself in another person's shoes.

How Vee, or anyone, becomes who they are is very complicated: biology/environment. I think the biggest environmental factor in shaping personality is how a person is treated by others. Therefore, with improved human relations under socialism over time, the chances of Vee becoming a sociopath would be reduced. The fields of psychology and social work would also be improved. This would make it more likely that whatever issues she had when she was younger (which we never learn about on the show) would be caught, and she could be helped.

And even if she did turn out the same way, she could still run a

legal drug business

and not go to prison (except if she chooses to employ violence and gets caught). Similarly, Taystee could work for her and not go to prison.

Music:

Dead Prez - "They" Schools (CONT'D)

Rather than looking at the specific scenario in which Tricia got arrested, let's look at the root of her problem: she's a homeless drug addict. Would she be homeless under socialism? No, not unless she chose to be. She might make that choice because she has a strong drive to be self-sufficient, a character trait I share. However,

free housing would be socially normalized

, so it's unlikely she would choose to rebel against that. Does anyone buy books in order to rebel against the public library?

Is she

better off in prison, or a drug rehab clinic

? The efficacy of programs like Alcoholics/Narcotics Anonymous is that they organize people who have shared common experience. It provides access to people who can relate to you and care about you and your problems. I read research to this effect years ago which makes perfect sense to me. It's not about the particular program or steps, it's really about the community and human connections it creates.

Tricia belongs in rehab,

not prison

. She became friends with Nicky in prison; what a shock. Two ex-drug addicts share the same environment and become friends.

It really sucked when Tricia died. Great character. First acting job ever for Madeline Brewer...wow. I can't complain about the writers' choice of having her die. It led to one of the most powerful scenes in the show's history (Tricia's wake), as well as a strengthening of the relationship between Red and Nicky. Unfortunate it had to come at Tricia's expense though.

Music:

Bad Religion - Kerosene

We learn in season 3 that Nicky ended up in jail for boosting a taxi and crashing it while rushing to get to her heroin connect. This is no doubt an allusion to Natasha Lyonne's first bout of public infamy when she crashed into a taxi in Miami. It wouldn't surprise me if she came up with the storyline herself, both because of her intelligence, and the sense of humor and openness with which she treats her life. I saw she even tweeted (in a friendly way) at Michael Rapaport recently. She seems highly evolved.

Before I discuss Nicky (and Natasha Lyonne) in the context of socialism and legalized drugs, let's talk about capitalism's relationship with celebrities. While Lyonne's ability to be self-deprecating is admirable, the (for profit) media industry culture that treats celebrities' foibles with ridicule instead of compassion is deplorable (

motherfuuuuuck tmz

which isn't even worthy of capitalization).

Telepictures Productions owns tmz. Warner Bros. owns Telepictures. Hence, Warner Bros. owns tmz. That's worth repeating: Warner Bros. owns tmz. The 3rd largest film and television production company in North America also owns a company that stalks, scavenges, and sensationalizes the very entertainers who make WB a powerhouse. For bonus fun, consider that Warner Bros. is owned by Time Warner, the 3rd largest media company in the world.

The issue is industry wide; tmz just serves as a perfect example. This is also a means of controlling the behavior of (wage slave) entertainers. If you step too far out of line, the industry will sic their vultures on you. I suspect entertainers are also afraid of speaking out against the vulture media apparatus because they fear studios will label them as "difficult" and not want to work with them.

"Wage slavery is a bullshit way to live." - My tombstone.

Under socialism, the wealth and means of production will be more evenly distributed. Entertainers will no longer be forced to work for capitalists (large media companies) in order to "earn" a living. Independent filmmakers and actors will have much more artistic freedom, instead of being stuck working for capitalists who value profit over people and art.

This means there will be less concentrated wealth for producing big budget superhero movies (and all their sequels and remakes). It also means there will be more true art like "Slums of Beverly Hills" and "Orange Is the New Black." That's exactly what I want, and I hope you agree.

Socialism won't solve all problems, but it will provide a better environment for us to further solve problems and evolve. Alongside and within that environment, cultural and interpersonal work will always be mandatory ingredients for our evolution, and OITNB is the pinnacle right now. The political and cultural movements can't exist nor succeed without each other.

The purpose of "The Socialists" is to ignite both of these movements by filling in the political-economic (class) void, and extending OITNB's cultural work (class, void, extend…for my computer programmer comrades).

With this entanglement in mind, let's discuss the cultural side of the celebrity coin in terms of audience-entertainer relations. We should treat celebrities the same way each of us wants to be treated. A person's right to privacy shouldn't be diminished because they're an entertainer, an athlete, or a politician.

If you had a drug addiction, would you want it plastered all over the place? While the media is to blame for treating celebrities as spectacle, the public shares some blame for feasting on the spectacle. While a reduction in the supply of celebrity gossip will reduce the demand for it (just like drugs), I believe a social movement focused on compassion and mindfulness can also alter behavior.

Many people I'm sure were concerned when they read Natasha Lyonne had a drug problem. But do you think the media outlets reporting on her situation cared more about her well-being, or the amount of eyeballs and profit the story would bring them? Do you think reading the stories helped her, or helped the media companies? Who had her best interest at heart: the new york post when they called her a cracktress, or the medical/health professionals and people who loved her like Chloë Sevigny who helped her recover? If the people who cared most about her didn't feel publicizing the story would help her, then we probably shouldn't have been reading about it.

There's also the aspect of people digesting the story because Lyonne's struggles made them feel better about their own problems. This is a necessary teaching point of revolutionary movements: your struggles do not dissipate when you revel in the struggles of others. People need to liberate themselves from this psychological trap.

Entertainment news can be useful. I don't follow Christopher Nolan on Twitter, but I always want to know when he has a new movie coming out. What I don't want to read is gossip about who is dating whom and the like. These are people's private lives. Let them choose which details they want to share publicly. How can you blame celebrities for wanting to hide and seclude themselves (in places like Beverly Hills)?

These entertainers bring joy to our lives and we want them to know, but many times the best thing you can do (if you really care about them): leave them alone. They will be happier people, and will actually appreciate their fans more. There are appropriate venues for expressing admiration. Scheduled public appearances are one. Another is Twitter, which I like because it allows fans to express admiration from a safe distance, and celebrities to choose their level of interaction. However, we shouldn't castigate celebrities who don't do public appearances, don't interact on twitter, and don't want to talk to random strangers in the street. That's their right, just like yours and mine.

I said we shouldn't have read all this stuff about Natasha Lyonne, yet clearly I read it...and now I'm writing about it. Am I not a hypocrite?

Allow me to retort

.

When I saw Natasha Lyonne's name in the opening credits for OITNB, I

flipped the fuck out

. Then I saw her and

flipped out again

. I hadn't seen her in about 15 years, since Slums of Beverly Hills. Looking at the list of her work on IMDb, I was very surprised she wasn't a bigger star.

Was she more of a theater actor? Was it her looks? I looked at her bio to try to figure this out. There I saw her quote about her "well-publicized drug problem," and I understood.

Why didn't I just drop it? Because at that moment it dawned on me that she was perfect for the main character of The Socialists. My motivation shifted from curiosity to research. I wanted more information about her so I could craft a character that she'd love. The more I learned through her interviews, the stronger my belief grew that her involvement will make The Socialists the best show it can possibly be. I believe she can bring a lot more to the table than just acting.

In the 4 months since this realization, I:

• Wrote the pilot episode of The Socialists.
• Moved (drove) cross country with all my shit from LA to Philly.
• Made a 90 minute, 27 segment video series: Socialism & OITNB.
• Built this website.
• Produced this (much better) 24 segment written version of Socialism & OITNB.

All of this was inspired by Natasha Lyonne. I'd much prefer to contact her directly about this project, rather than writing a public article like this. I sent the script to one of her agents who I thought had the best chance of reading it (the one with the least famous clients). That went nowhere, since I'm sure they're deluged with scripts for Lyonne, and they're not going to look at something from an unknown like me. I also tried contacting someone she knows who is more publicly accessible, and who I want involved in the project as well, but that went nowhere because no one knows who I am.

I have to do something that makes me stand out from the thousands of Tweets she gets every day, while doing my best to maintain courtesy and boundaries. I suspect she'll understand why I've pursued unconventional means, and that my intentions are positive and respectful; she seems cool like that.

Was the new york post trying to start a revolutionary social/political movement when they called her a cracktress? You see the difference between them and me, right?

That was intense, so here's some levity before we move on to drugs. I don't have a Netflix subscription, so I've never actually seen OITNB. On an unrelated note, I have a question about this word I keep hearing: whadda you know about "torrents" Vivian? The only Torrance I be knowin' is a city in Los Angeles that the Abramowitz family discussed moving to --

David Krumholtz tighty whities business

.

Socialism will create an environment which includes

drug policies

that value compassion, outreach, and rehab instead of greed and punishment. Long story short, all drugs should be legalized and regulated.

I covered the logic of rehab over prison for drug addicts in the Tricia segment. I'll just briefly add to that how the importance of people who love and care about you cannot be overemphasized in overcoming addiction. As I referenced above, Natasha Lyonne credits her best friend Chloë Sevigny, not the vulture media, with helping her through her addiction. Love and compassion vs. greed and punishment, enough said.

We don't know how Nicky got into drugs, but I thought of 4 pathways to drug addiction. I'm not saying there aren't others, but these are the ones I'm able to empathize with from personal experience. The first is peer pressure. The common example is when you want to be accepted by a group of people who are doing something you've never done (like drugs). A more powerful version is when it involves a person you are sexually attracted to, especially if you are alone with that person.

My personal experience with peer pressure is that I was often surrounded by friends doing shrooms, K, and X, but I had no desire to do those drugs, nor desire to impress anyone by doing those drugs. However, I never encountered the situation of being alone with someone I was attracted to who was using/offering anything stronger than weed. I wonder how things may have turned out differently had I been in that situation, and I suspect this has led many people down a dangerous path.

In relevance to this article, socialism

will eliminate wage slavery

, and will improve human relations (see Vee's segment). This will provide more freedom for us to put ourselves in situations where we are more likely to meet people we connect with, and there will be more people we connect with in general.

I'm certain that I would be an accomplished musician, writer, and actor if I didn't have to spend my youth and college years focusing on getting a good job for survival when I became an adult. And subsequently spending my young adult years either grinding out a living at jobs I hated, or begging for opportunities to work jobs I would hate.

We don't know what Nicky's activities were before prison (other than drugs), but we know Natasha was/is an actor and producer. I'll assume Nicky's youth was somewhat similar to Natasha's, due to the parallelism of other parts of her life. If I was an entertainer, in my youth, in New York, at the same time as Nicky/Natasha, I think there's a very good chance we would have known each other and become friends. We're too similar for our paths to not have crossed. And frankly, after seeing Slums, I would have done everything I could (with respect) to make sure our paths crossed (this is pretty obvious based on what I said earlier about the last 4 months.)

Would my perspective on respecting the quality of my brain, and her brain, lead her to make different choices? Or would her willpower outweigh mine and pull me into addiction? Would we make the same choices, and go our separate ways? I consider myself fortunate that I was never put in that situation, but part of me laments the lack of opportunity to help someone stay away from it.

The 2nd pathway to addiction is depression. There was one time in my life when reality was too difficult to handle and I felt I had to smoke weed. I did, and I was glad I had it. However, if you feel like that all the time, then the buzz won't last, and you'll need to move on to harder drugs. Socialism will reduce incidence of depression, which will in turn reduce this phenomenon of people moving on to harder drugs and getting addicted.

The 3rd pathway to addiction is physical pain relief. Much like mental pain relief (depression), if you take painkillers for long enough, you will get addicted. Socialism will combat this kind of addiction a few ways. Increased automation means fewer physical laborers, which means fewer people getting hurt at work and needing pain relief.

For-profit pharmaceutical companies will have a much harder time flooding the market with addictive drugs. They will no longer have the concentrated wealth necessary to do this. They will also have to compete with publicly funded medicine which focuses on social need, rather than creating addictions to produce profits.

The 4th and final pathway to addiction is performance enhancement. I'm speaking specifically about artists in relation to my own experience with music and writing. Getting high can enhance creativity and passion. It can also take over your life very easily.

I suspect that Scott Weiland and/or Layne Staley may have fallen into this trap (among many others). This is pure guesswork, I haven't done any research on either of them. I'm just a big fan of STP and AIC and am referencing their unfortunate addictions to illustrate a point.

If you're on a long tour, playing the same songs night after night, I can imagine it's easy to lose some of the passion for playing. You don't want to let your fans down, so you get high to give the fans the performance you feel they deserve. Similarly, if you're in a creative rut and you're struggling to recreate the quality of your previous work, you might get high to draw inspiration.

Capitalism exacerbates both of these scenarios. Artists should tour because they want to, not because their label wants them on tour to sell tickets and albums. Artists also shouldn't be locked into record deals that obligate them to produce music within a certain time frame. The best art is produced under conditions of maximum freedom. People should make art when they're inspired, not when they're contractually obligated.

Again, I don't know if this factored into the lives of Staley or Weiland. I don't mean to minimize their individual struggles by generalizing.

Finally, the video and the music. This video is my favorite, particularly the

final 3:20

, in which I reveal Nicky's love for S.C.I.E.N.C.E. (Incubus, not

Jesse Pinkman

). Seriously, Nicky loves this shit, it's a fact. You're welcome for the knowledge.

The second video is either a bonus, or 30 seconds that you'll want refunded. It's a reenactment from my favorite Nicky scene. I forgot to do it in my bit about Netflix subscriptions/Torrance/

David Krumholtz's dirty undies dude (the whites)

. BTW, that's 3 mashups for those keeping score: But I'm Nicky Nichols, The Torrents of Beverly Hills, and The Slums of Lebowski. If you really wanna push it, Pulp Fisher is #4.

The Texas in July songs are both incredible. If you're not into the metal screaming, at least check out the (tremendous) lyrics for Inner Demons on YouTube in the description. Decamilli is a great instrumental song. And I can't recommend Vitamin by Incubus enough (the video linked below is a lyrics video).

If you got through all of this, thank you for reading.

Music:

Texas in July - Inner Demons

/

Decamilli

,

Incubus - Vitamin

One word: Oxyana. This is a documentary about the drug epidemic in the small West Virginia town of Oceana, which is part of the "Pennsyltucky" region that Tiffany hails from. The region consists of Kentucky, West Virginia, and the central part of Pennsylvania. Unlike Crazy Eyes, I don't think Pennsatucky is a derogatory term. Why is it an insult to say someone is from KY, WV, or central PA? Every place in the world has problems; where you're from is where you're from.

Almost everybody in Oceana (as depicted in Oxyana) is addicted to oxy, meth, or some other drug. The town is essentially a wasteland. Growing up in this environment is at the core of Tucky's issues.

The documentary discusses how the epidemic started with miners who experienced pain on the job. The mining companies encouraged them to take painkillers so they could continue working, just like athletes who get cortisone shots during intermission so they can go back out and perform. This led to miners developing addictions, and to a substantial increase in the town's drug supply. In a different documentary about the drug epidemic in Staten Island, there's a narcotics prosecutor who states that research shows an interesting property of drugs: when supply increases in a geographic location, demand increases as well.

Many of these mining jobs, which are the economic base for towns like Oceana, have been and are being eliminated by technology and a shift to other sources of energy (both renewable and dirty). As far as I'm concerned, eliminating these jobs is a good thing. The fact that former miners are forced into economic hardship is not a good thing. The solution is not to maintain jobs that are unhealthy for workers and the environment. The solution is, you guessed it,

socialism: providing life's necessities to everyone

.

There's an example in the documentary which seems to disprove my thesis. One of the addicts talks about his best friend who was very smart, went to West Virginia University, got a chemical engineering degree, and got a well paying job. That friend developed a drug addiction and died. If he had such an economic opportunity and got caught up in the drug epidemic, then how can the root of the problem be economic?

My response is related to the concept of social stigma, which I discuss in a different context in the Black Cindy segment. If everyone in the town is doing drugs, you can feel left out if you don't. The behavior is so normalized that it's difficult not to get roped into it, even if your individual economic circumstances are better than those of your peers. That process of social normalization is how you develop such a bad epidemic. They interview the town prosecutor in Oxyana. You don't want to assume anything, but for those of you who've seen it: don't you think that guy is a user?

What are solutions? Obviously, for starters, socialism and the free everything (housing, healthcare, etc.) program. The mother of one of the addicts said that she wanted to get her son methadone treatment, but she couldn't afford it. Socialism eliminates that problem. They also mention sublingual strips like suboxone and subutex that can be used to treat addiction. Socialism can move necessary resources like rehab clinics and medicine to stricken towns like Oceana in a way that capitalism cannot and never will.

As far as economic development goes, I'm not big on creating jobs for the sake of creating jobs. The lack of activities to do in the town, and the town's disconnection from the rest of society (minimum 45 minute drive to anything) are problems. An effective way to keep people busy would be to give them the resources they need to improve upon and build new necessary town infrastructure.

Solving this epidemic requires a multi-pronged approach, and time. Oceana is just one really stark example. This problem exists all over the region and the country. For instance, according to the documentary about Staten Island, drug use there is somewhere between 2-3 times the national average. Shocking to me since I'm from Staten Island and didn't know that.

I made these videos before season 3, but I should say something about socialism, sexual assault, and Tucky in the 3rd season. As opposed to capitalism, which commodifies everything (including humans, especially women), socialism values people and human relationships based on equality and respect.

A shift in cultural values (Melissa)

would make it much less likely that someone would think they are entitled to sex for a 6-pack of Fizz, or that a woman would think this is a reasonable state of affairs. Socialism would produce more men like Tucky's boyfriend who moved to Wyoming, fewer like Mr. Fizz and C.O. Donuts.

In the video, and in the Suzanne segment, I gushed over the performances of Taryn Manning and Uzo Aduba. I'll repeat it here. Their characters are Heath Ledger's Joker level. All-time greatness. No matter how many heinous things Pennsatucky has done, I've never disliked her, and that's due to the range of humanity she portrays.

Taryn Manning. Season 3. Emmy. Lea DeLaria and the writers have a lot to do with that. After all, the performance isn't just about the actor, but every worker that interacts with and shapes the character.

Music:

Incubus - Deep Inside

,

Bad Religion - My Poor Friend Me

/

Lookin' In

/

Portrait of Authority

Morello suffers from erotomania, which I theorize stems from an unmet need for love (not really going out on a limb on that one). I'd like to analyze her family situation, but we'd have to know more about the illness her mother suffers, and the circumstances of her father and brother. I hope this gets explored in season 4 (or at some point) because she's such an interesting character.

Whatever these problems are, she escapes into a fantasy world of a false lover, celebrities, and West Side Story. I think it's a built-in defense mechanism of the human brain to produce these fantasies when we are faced with longstanding unpleasant circumstances. Facing emotional pain constantly without any power to improve the situation can destroy a person's mind. I had my escapes when I was younger, the details were just different.

Capitalists use art and culture to manipulate people to buy their shit. They try to

give women a negative image of themselves (Melissa)

so they'll go out and buy "beauty" products because it puts money in the capitalists' pockets; that's what it's all about. Socialist art and culture would lead to improved human relations and a wider availability of love (check out the Vee segment for more on improved human relations).

Therefore, even if Morello escaped into a fantasy world, she'd be more likely to find love that would give her a reality worth experiencing. In the video I pondered the question of whether we'd see Nicky provide this love to her in season 3. Nicky made an early exit (due to Stacey Keach's numerous other projects I assume), but we did see this dynamic play out with Morello's new husband Vince. It will be interesting to see how her character develops in season 4 if she maintains this relationship (and/or if Nicky comes back).

Music:

ill Niño - La Liberacion of Our Awakening (CONT'D)

,

2 Bit Pie - Colours

Do we need to protect society from her, or her from society? It seems to me that Suzanne is hyper-sensitive. She's a very complex person (as we all are), but I think hyper-sensitivity is what produces her outbursts and makes her dangerous.

Under capitalism, I think it makes sense for Suzanne to be somewhat isolated from the general population. Many people are cruel, especially children, therefore Suzanne is certain to be mocked for her idiosyncrasies in school or any other standard capitalist social environment. Her difficulty handling the mockery leads to her lashing out.

They try to teach you to share in elementary school. But how is a kid supposed to take that lesson seriously when the society they live in values greed? There's an inconsistency between the values most of us share, and the values of capitalism. Having a socialist system that more accurately expressed our values would go a long way toward improving the way children treat other; largely because adults would treat each other better (see Vee's segment), and this is how children really learn.

Socialism would also put more value on teachers and social workers, so there would be a higher quantity/quality of them. This would enable Suzanne to get the specialized attention that she needs to help her understand who she is, and the world around her. Tasty does a great job of this. Piper was also helping, until Larry went on the radio and fucked it up.

I compared the performances of Uzo Aduba and Taryn Manning to Heath Ledger's Joker in the Pennsatucky segment. Suzanne is one of many great characters, but the technical acting performance is all-time greatness. I'm not saying anything that most people don't already think, but I had to say it (again).

Music:

2 Bit Pie - Colours (CONT'D)

Sophia commits credit card fraud to pay for gender reassignment surgery. Under socialism, she could save all the money she makes as a firefighter to pay for the surgery, because

all of her basic survival needs would already be met

.

Before I get into a potentially contentious discussion about Sophia and free healthcare, I'll briefly discuss Sophia in season 3. The first .gif above of Laverne Cox says it all. We see how quickly society can turn against people who are seen as different (xenophobia). OITNB is doing vital cultural work in portraying humanity's diversity and the struggles (both unique and common) we each deal with, as well as helping us see each other as equals.

Even more relevant to this article, I think Laverne's recognition of class as integral to the struggle, both in her quote above and in her article about Caitlyn Jenner, would make her interested in socialism and the series I'm writing: "The Socialists." OITNB is doing an exemplary job handling the cultural issues surrounding how we view and treat each other. "The Socialists" will fill in the political-economic (class) piece of the puzzle, while amplifying OITNB's cultural work.

Talking about Sophia in the context of free healthcare is where things get really interesting, and probably controversial. Should her surgery be covered under free healthcare? Should plastic surgery? Where's the line?

First, there would be less of a survival need for plastic surgery; I'm talking mostly about women. Under capitalism, women feel they need to appeal to the culturally defined female aesthetic in order to get jobs, especially in Hollywood/entertainment. Similarly, they also feel the need to do this to acquire a mate because of the

imbalance in pay between men and women (Ariel)

which leaves women seeking someone to aid in paying for survival necessities. If basic survival needs were provided, then a woman wouldn't feel it necessary to alter her appearance to get a job/mate so she could support herself and/or her family. There would still be pressures on appearance (especially in entertainment), but it wouldn't be a survival need, therefore overall incidence of plastic surgery would decrease.

Back to the questions I raised. As a society, it makes sense to prioritize based on the resources available. A socialist government should prioritize spending on the medical issues that affect the most people (cancer, heart disease, etc.) Ideally, everything would be covered if we had infinite labor...or infinite technology. Imagine if you could just press a button and boom: gender reassignment surgery. That's why we as

Philly Socialists fully support automation (Ariel)

. It enables us to extend the limitations of human beings, and provide more for everyone.

And when we talk about spending money, we're really talking about the labor that it buys: doctors, nurses, scientists, and engineers. Under socialism, these workers would have more professional autonomy because they wouldn't be restrained by capitalist instruments of control: massive student loans, and research funding predicated on producing profits for the investors. With this autonomy, I think their labor would follow statistics; i.e. the most labor would be directed toward the diseases and issues that affect the largest portion of the population. If you're a doctor or scientist, you would probably choose to work on issues that

affect people you know (Melissa)

, and those issues are likely to be the most common issues.

Where's the line? If a person is born with 9 fingers, do we cover getting a 10th finger attached because that makes them "normal" in terms of the "standard" human body? Do we set a

"standard" for a human body (Melissa)

? What if somebody wants an 11th finger grafted?

I'm not passing a value judgment on gender reassignment surgery or cosmetic surgery. I hope eventually we'll make it trivial to perform these surgeries due to our advanced technologicqueal (look at the music) capabilities. At that point, there won't even be a divide between "necessary" and "cosmetic"...it will all just be called "surgery."

I hope my perspective came across as fair and reasonable, rather than incendiary.

Music:

2 Bit Pie - Colours (CONT'D)

,

Orbital - Technologicque Park

We learn in season 3 that Boo was a bookie, so let's assume she's in prison for that reason. Gambling should and would be legal under socialism for similar reasons that

drugs should and would be legal

. Therefore, Boo would not be incarcerated.

Improved social relations (see Vee's segment) would increase the odds (see what I did there for the bookie?) that Boo's mother would accept and respect her for who she is, and they'd be able to have a healthy family relationship. Similarly, the level of acceptance and respect for Boo in society would also increase.

I'd like to share my interpretation of Young Boo's near death microwave experience. Since she has long hair and eye makeup, I'm thinking she had been dressing and behaving the way her mom and religion had dictated to that point in her life. After not seeing God during her near death experience, she concludes that she's being fed a bunch of bullshit, and she decides to be the person she truly wants to be. Maybe the sudden change is what makes it so difficult for her mother to handle?

In the first 2 seasons, Boo seems to only exist to advance plot lines for other characters. That changes in a big way in the 3rd season. Lea DeLaria is terrific, and her scenes with Taryn Manning are a big part of the reason I think Manning deserves an Emmy.

There's no video for Boo because I made the videos (hastily) before season 3 in an (unsuccessful) attempt to get invited to OrangeCon. I wish I put more Immortal Technique in the videos, so here's another song from him...

Music:

Immortal Technique - The 3rd World

The underlying reason why Watson's in prison is men are intimidated by strong women. We see her continually shunned by boys because she refuses to play the role of the doe-eyed damsel. This is a very deep seated issue that will take a long time to unroot, even under socialism. As you can probably tell, I'm a fan of strong women; but that puts me in the slim minority of men.

In order to meet her need for peer approval, Watson aids in the robbery of a liquor store and gets busted (sadly ironic due to her athletic speed). This unmet need for approval is dangerous, and in the world we live in,

she does belong in prison

. We see another example of this in season 2 when she gets roped into Vee's criminal syndicate due to her desire to fit in with the other black girls, and she ends up getting thrown in SHU (again).

BTW, the first time she gets thrown in SHU is because she's intelligent enough to see the systemic racism and exploitation of the prison system, but she wasn't (at the time) able to channel her anger in a useful direction. Yoga Jones helps her mature this part of her personality.

I was hopeful in season 3 that Watson would take Poussey's lead and embrace her strength and individuality. One of my two criticisms of the 3rd season is the scarcity of Watson (the other is Piper becoming Walter White). I was hoping to see her mature through Poussey's example. Poussey's story took an unexpected (and entertaining) turn...but I really

missed Watson

.

Music:

Dead Prez - Behind Enemy Lines

It's tragic that she shot and killed the kid, but Yoga Jones doesn't belong in prison. She's

not a danger to society

. Under socialism and

legalized drugs

, that situation would have probably played out differently.

Maybe her land would be farther away from residential property. Maybe she could go to the authorities for help with her deer problem because she'd be running a legitimate business and wouldn't have to operate in the shadows. She could communicate better with her neighbors about what she's doing because, again, it would be legal.

Would she have gotten such a harsh sentence (8 years) if she was growing okra instead of marijuana? Or if marijuana was legal and the same thing happened? I'd say definitely not. The judge gave her 8 years because she was growing an illegal substance and killed a kid. Punishment; nothing to do with logic or public safety. If it was okra, it would be seen as what it was: a horrible accident.

Music:

Dead Prez - Behind Enemy Lines (CONT'D)

Black Cindy is possibly affected by the de-stigmatization of prison. The Sentencing Project study mentions this concept, stating that the more common it is for people to get sent to prison, the less stigma is associated with imprisonment. We see this as a factor in Cindy's life when she's driving her "sister" (daughter) around the neighborhood, and she runs into a friend who just got out of prison.

Fewer people would be locked up under socialism and

legalized drugs

, therefore getting sent to prison wouldn't seem so popular to her, and she'd probably be more hesitant to steal shit while working for the TSA. Of course she might not even be working for the TSA under socialism, because

she wouldn't need to do it to survive

. Her relationships with her mother and daughter might be different as well, but I'm not getting into that because there isn't enough information about the family history (season 4?)

She needs to mature; in the world of this show and the one we live in,

she belongs in prison

. It would be good if she could be counseled by someone she respects to become a comedian or some kind of entertainer because she's very funny and intelligent. I can't think of anyone from the show who could fit that role because Cindy seems to not respect anyone.

I made these videos before season 3, so Cindy's turn to Judaism I guess bears some mention. It will be interesting to see how this manifests in her behavior in season 4, but what I can say for sure is she was outrageously funny in season 3, the funniest character. So maybe she's on the way to her true calling.

Shana tovah......and have a nagila. I wish there was a .gif of this; I'm too lazy to make one.

Music:

Dead Prez - Behind Enemy Lines (CONT'D)

,

Porcupine Tree - Fear of a Blank Planet

I'll talk first about Michelle Hurst, the actress who plays Miss Claudette. She was in a coma as the result of a car accident at the end of 2013. Thankfully she has since recovered. Her family and fellow cast members took to social media to raise $25k for her medical care.

Under socialism and free healthcare

, that wouldn't be necessary. Something like that happens to you, you get the care you need.

Something else interesting to think about is that she has connections like Stacey Keach (aka Natasha Lyonne), who now has over 200k followers on Twitter. Quite a fund-raising network to tap into. What if Michelle Hurst wasn't on this show and was just some random person; how much harder would it be for her family and friends to raise that money?

Let's look at this in the context of white privilege and Piper's furlough. The other prisoners are pissed at Piper for getting furlough. Rather than being pissed at her, they should be pissed at the fact that they're not getting furlough. Everybody should be getting it. So in this case I'm not saying anything against Michelle Hurst having famous people help her, I'm saying other people without that kind of a network should also be able to get the care they need, and that's accomplished via socialism and free healthcare for everyone.

As far as Miss Claudette, I'll discuss Haiti's child slave trade, which is the largest in the western hemisphere, and 2nd in the world to only Mauritania. The Spanish wiped out the native population of Haiti and brought slavery there, much like slavery was brought to the United States. There have been numerous revolutions since then, but whoever has taken power has always continued the economic and slavery systems.

In the video, I started talking about potential socialist US military intervention in Haiti. I should have preceded that by saying there are avenues other than military intervention that should be pursued first, and could very well be successful. But I'll repeat the military discussion here because Miss Claudette was the only character that afforded me the chance to talk about the military in a socialist future, and it's an important topic.

Would military intervention go through the United Nations? If you have a combination of socialist and capitalist countries in the UN, they will have competing interests, since the capitalist countries will be benefitting from Haiti's slave trade, directly or indirectly. So instead of cooperation through the UN, we'll likely have a Cold War situation with socialist countries forming alliances, and capitalist countries forming alliances.

Here are some theoretical changes to the military under socialism. Use of the military would have to be authorized by the government AND the governed (citizenry) since it's such an important decision that affects us all. Furthermore, each member of the military would be able to choose whether or not to participate in military action. Joining the military wouldn't involve signing your life away; you'd still have autonomy to do what you think is right without fear of reprisal.

Haiti needs socialist revolution (just like we do), but they need it to be the right revolution. They've had numerous revolutions which haven't worked out. Realistically, revolutions don't always work out. Lots of times they don't. Most of the time they don't. That's why we don't have global socialism.

BTW, revolution is not synonymous with violence. It's possible to overthrow a government via the ballot box. That's our intended approach. (Something else I wish I said in the video.)

Music:

Porcupine Tree - Fear of a Blank Planet (CONT'D)

Would Fischer even be a prison guard, or a checkout clerk at Fairway in Red Hook for that matter? (I go off on Piper's reusable bag negligence at this point in the video). Maybe she wants a Kia and needs a job to get money for that. But under socialism, with

all of life's necessities being provided

, she could pay off the Kia a lot faster because all of her income could go toward payments.

Assuming she becomes a prison guard, she probably wouldn't have Fig and Caputo crawling up her ass telling her to be tough on the inmates. The prison administrative culture would be about

treating these women as human beings and rehabilitating them

.

Music:

Porcupine Tree - Fear of a Blank Planet (CONT'D)

,

Apollo 440 - Electro Glide in Blue

The NYTimes article that I referenced at the beginning of the full video mentions the concept of "aging out" of crime. The example they give is of a 25-year-old armed robber posing far less risk to society by the age of 35 or 40. Under socialism, as mentioned in the

purposes of prison video segment

, there would be well-trained social workers making determinations about whether an inmate could be released without posing a danger to society.

In the context of the show and socialism, I think it's safe to assume that some (if not all) of the Golden Girls would have been released from prison long before reaching their current ages. Taslitz (stabber of Vee's back doppelganger) is an interesting case. They were all getting along peacefully until they got involved with Red. Perhaps the prison environment is more likely to produce criminal behavior than if they were released into the general population.

Music:

Apollo 440 - Electro Glide in Blue (CONT'D)

Rosa is a danger junkie for sure. Capitalism glamorizes wealth, greed, and materialism; this is surely part of why Rosa directs her energy toward bank robbery. Under socialism, the culture would be more likely to drive her danger junkie passion in a different direction (see the Daya and Aleida, and Morello segments for more on capitalist vs. socialist culture).

She'd be

able to get the cancer treatment she needed

in prison, no question about it. Prisoners are human beings, and should be afforded equal access to medical care. The only difference between them and everyone else is they've proven themselves untrustworthy in the general population, and they

need to be in prison until proven otherwise

.

She also may have been released from prison at a younger age due to "aging out" which I discussed in the Golden Girls segment.

Music:

Apollo 440 - Electro Glide in Blue (CONT'D)

She represents the failings of the left over the last 30-40 years. Sister Ingalls enters into activism with a great deal of idealism, but over time she sees no progress is being made, so she figures why not be selfish, what we're doing isn't working anyway. If the left had a better strategic direction and had been making more progress, she would've been less likely to become jaded and self-involved.

Music:

Apollo 440 - Electro Glide in Blue (CONT'D)

Soso would have less reason to protest due to

improved social and economic conditions

. Even if she did protest, it's less likely she'd be arrested because a

true democracy would provide venues for all people's voices to be heard (Ariel)

, and more space for political debate among the populace.

However, there will always be problems and room for improvement, it's always a work in progress: life, society, evolution. People with Soso's passion for producing positive change will continue to be necessary.

I also know from my extensive experience in Occupy Wall Street that many of them would not be happy at all with a socialist government; they're against leaders and structure. I was heavily involved in OWS (Occupy Staten Island specifically) for a year, and I see it as a year of wasted effort. I didn't join the movement with any illusion that their approach would lead to the formation of a long-term mass movement.

Philly Socialists formed in 2010 when the two founders, whom I formerly organized with in New Brunswick, NJ, came to Philly and started it. Instead of joining them at the time, I stayed in Staten Island because I wanted an opportunity to organize something similar in the place where I grew up, and because it would make it easier for us to spread the movement to the rest of NYC.

I agreed with their approach, which consists of:
1) providing social services to the under-served and oppressed in order to embed us in communities and
2) having a long-term strategic direction of forming a socialist political party and vying for power.

We need power and we need resources. This is how you implement societal changes that capitalist political parties (Democrats and Republicans) are incapable of making. I'm sure some of you familiar with the Black Panther Party are thinking Philly Socialists' approach is similar to theirs: it is.

Shortly after OWS began, I wanted to shift the movement toward what Philly Socialists was doing. I realized very quickly that the DNA of the OWS group was immutable, and my efforts there would be pointless. However, I felt that devoting my efforts toward the much smaller Occupy Staten Island held an infinitely greater chance of success.

I was one of, if not the main, organizers of Occupy Staten Island. I thought that my hard work, dedication, and leadership would lead to some support for my ideas; I was wrong. I made a formal six point proposal to set our vision as forming a political party over the long term; not one person supported the proposal. Extremely frustrating. That's when I left Occupy.

Returning to Soso and relevance to OITNB: she's got a lot to learn. She can learn a lot from Piper (the first two seasons of Piper anyway) in terms of how to communicate with people effectively and how to reach people in a way that's relevant to them. Soso talks and talks without any concept of how other people are perceiving her words, until eventually Nicky shoves her face in her crotch (not necessarily an unenviable fate).

Let's consider how Soso may have ended up in prison. Was she one of the people who lays down and stops traffic? How effective is that tactic, when it's pissing off the very people you're trying to organize? Over time she'll hopefully figure out that there are probably better ways to communicate with the people who stand to be your allies.

There are also many bullshit cases where protestors are arrested as a form of political repression. The police will kettle people who aren't attempting to be unlawful, just to manipulate them into an arrestable situation. I'm sure some of you remember the Brooklyn Bridge protest near the beginning of Occupy Wall Street where 700 people were arrested. The cops let people onto the bridge, then surrounded (kettled) and arrested them.

Another example I witnessed live on the internet was in Los Angeles in late 2014, the night before Thanksgiving, during the Ferguson protests. The protesters were following the directions of the police, and then the police announced it was an unlawful protest and arrested everybody. The protest was headed toward Staples Center, where a basketball game was taking place, and the police wanted to avoid that situation, so they corralled everyone and arrested them.

Check out Nicky in that picture. She's rocking out to a song in her head to drown out Soso's blathering. Yoga Jones also not having a good time.

Music:

Apollo 440 - Electro Glide in Blue (CONT'D)

The best for last: Red. She's less likely to envy the rich wives. She and her family will have everything they need for survival. She won't feel like she has to make the bread to get by. There are the people that make the bread and the people that eat the bread under capitalism. Under socialism,

EVERYBODY EATS THE BREAD

.

The people who make the bread are the people who want to make the bread. Or they're the people who get paid to make the bread so they can have luxury, if there aren't enough people making the bread. I think there would be plenty of people making the bread. A lot of people like cooking for others, they just don't want to be forced to do it and have to bust their ass like Red does. Then she has to see these women come in with their jewelry and their fake tits...I understand her anger. Under socialism I don't think she'd feel the same anger.

It's also less likely those women would be rich wives. Their husbands would have fewer black market activities to engage in. Drugs, gambling, and sex work would all be legal.

I talked plenty about drugs already

(the first 8 segments), I talked about gambling in the Boo segment, and I'll talk about sex work now.

Prostitution should be legalized. It would be better for women. Sex workers would have legal recourse to go to the police when clients assault them. They don't have that kind of legal protection now because they operate in an illegal activity.

Under socialism, women wouldn't have to participate in sex work for survival reasons. They would do it either because they want to do it, or because they have some kind of addiction to serve. And incidence of addiction would be reduced due to legalized drugs, more emphasis on treatment, and better overall social relations (which I discuss in the Nicky segment).

This won't solve sex trafficking, but if bullshit like drugs, gambling, and consensual sex work were legalized, the police would have more time to focus on reducing real crime like sex trafficking.

BTW, I know Red said "serve" not "make" the bread. We're goin' with make.

This is one of the best videos. I got pretty excited. Both because I love Red, and it was the last one I filmed. Seriously, this one is worth watching.

Music:

If These Trees Could Talk - Red Forest