It cannot be otherwise. Socialism does not work without government oppression, and you can't have truly effective government oppression without the gulag and the concentration camp and the mass grave. All these things fall under maintenance of terror, and it is fear of what the government will do to those who disobey that keeps the people from rebelling.
Of course liberals get incandescent with rage when you point this out.
But it is worth noting that in the 1930s, the American left just loved Hitler to death. They thought he was the bee's knees and that fascism was the future...and that lasted until Hitler attacked Russia.
* * *
Why are so many of these shows that were on CBS? At least, as I recall Diff'rent Strokes and Facts of Life were CBS shows. (Weren't they?) I liked DS, but I never saw the nightmare episodes they discuss here.
* * *
Today I got called into work at the last minute, getting a text from my boss about 3:30 asking me if I wanted to work today. I was there by 5, and ended up staying until 10 PM in order to get everything done. The counter wasn't exactly mobbed but I worked continuously, with only about ten minutes somewhere around 7-ish for a brief rest and a snack. I had a pretty good day, though, and I made some money I sorely need.
Can't argue with that.
With tomorrow's regularly scheduled shift, this'll be a 15-hour week...and that's the biggest week I've had this month. I'm told that things will probably improve more in the next couple of weeks, so here's hoping.
* * *
Well, in other news, I've made the decision to submit #RELEASE_CANDIDATE_ONE to Castalia House as soon as I can get time to bang out the required one-page summary of the story and a brief bio of self. After that (regardless of how it goes) I intend to submit another story, something that was originally meant to be published as 1.5 page vignettes in a periodical, but which I should be able to rework into a novel. Their model doesn't give an advance, but does give a good royalty, and at that I wouldn't have to do all the other things that accompany self-publishing, like buying cover art, getting an ISBN, and so forth...none of which is cheap. (Reportedly an ISBN is about $100. Yeesh.)
Although I know how to build a text file that can be converted into a PDF or other ebook format with chapter marks and such, I don't know how to publish anything. That's why I'd prefer to have a publisher deal with all that stuff.
So, wish me luck.