USA and Socialism

 To continue on the same topic. True, USA is the country of an ultimate individualism. However let's talk about San Diego Balboa Park. The park is open to public and has a huge parking lot at Inspiration Point (300 spots? not sure ) plus plenty of free parking on the street along Park Boulevard, plus plenty of free parking at San Diego Zoo. Everybody can come and lay on the grass, picnic. There are plenty of museums, some expensive, some free. And here it is, the true diamond of Balboa Park: Balboa Park Recreational  Center.  This is the place to play badminton, ping pong and volleyball, 7 days a week.  It is an indoor facility! There is about 30 badminton courts there.  Here it comes... The facility is free to use by everybody. It is supported by property taxes and perhaps by some personal grants (?). You come, sign up and play. 

How does it compare to other countries?  Indoor sports facilities in Europe are expensive.  When I lived in Sweden, it costed about $5-$10 per hour  to play.   China is the badminton center of the world. Yet as I hear from my Chinese friends, playing badminton in China is expensive, it is the sport of the chosen few and rich.

The classical argument is: yes playing at Balboa Recreation Center  is free but only rich folks know about it and play there; the poor people are too busy to put their food on the table and are not there. However, this is not what I see there. This place is truly a melting pot of incomes, cultures, and nationalities.  You can see rich, very rich, poor and very poor people playing together.  You can see Chinese, Vietnamese, Filippinos, Indians and Whites all playing together. You can see young people, children,  old and very old people, all playing together.  Perhaps it is an illusion of a social peace, but it is there.