Gilligan's Island:Socialist success story.

A local station started playing old episodes of Gilligan's Island. Don't worry, no discussions of who is hotter, Ginger or Marrianne? We all know Marrianne won that debate years ago. Ginger would be too high maintenance, constantly whining about her hair and make up, not to mention the fact she'd only settle for you until some other studdly castaway showed up. Marrianne on the other hand was unpretentious and looked like she might like to frolic, shall we say, on the beach or at the lagoon, and more likely to hang out with an averge guy who treats her well.

But something else struck me about that first season, that I think says alot about this country. Its hard to deny that the early and mid sixties were a time of profound social change. I call it evolution, but that is a point of debate. Is it merely a coincidence that techological innovations like color television paralleled the civil rights movement? Did the emerging space program, color television, satellite technology, the cold war and increased intercontinental travel feed some social sub-conscious, enhancing our awareness as a species. Did they assault the  feudalism that evolved into nation-states and empires to remind people that we are, in the end, all the same? Did images of the fragile earth set against the backdrop of cold endless space, or the specter of annihilation of the planet through a nuclear exchange assail the subjective and superfluous nature of bigotry and hatred?

The answer, in part lies in the theme song for Gilligan's Island. That first season, that first black and white season, the theme ends with a round up of castaways, "...Gilligan, the Skipper too, the millionaire and his wife, the movie star and the rest, are here on Gillgan's Isle." And the rest? The two average folks on the island don't even rate a mention!

But then something interesting happened. The next year the castaways are in living color, and suddenly the theme goes "...Gilligan, the Skipper too. The millionaire and his wife, the movie star, the Professor and Marrianne are here on..." Well, you know where. That little island was suddenly a more egalitarian society. Everyone was equally represented. Was color the key? Were we seeing more clearly a world previously hidden to us?

And that is the reality of socialism. It isn't communism, which is designed to erase the individual in favor of state collectives. Interestingly, the current super aggressive style of capitalism-greed capitalism championed by the Right has the same goal in mind, only instead of the state, it is the corporation. True conservatives should embrace socialism as a temperance to exploitative, and ultimately anti-democratic and anti-American ideology and practice. True Socialism defends the individual, while mandating a responsibility to the strength and health of the society. Indeed, if not for socialism those of us hot for Marrianne might not have been given the choice and would have to live anxious and miserable fantasy lives with the likes of Ginger, the movie star.

Just a thought.