E-Newsletter No. 114 June 2023
Last month’s newsletter was about Individualism versus Collectivism. So, the question has become – Do our country’s citizens want to continue to place a higher value on personal responsibility and “rugged individualism”, or do we want to succumb to the false promises of Socialism? There is no doubt that there has been a steady, ongoing effort by dedicated Leftists and their allies in academia and the media to “re-package” and market the “free” benefits of Socialism. But what exactly are they selling?
Socialism is a political philosophy that is characterized by the collective ownership of the means of production, along with the distribution of those goods and services. In other words, it is the government (the politicians, the ancillary political “elites” and the bureaucracy) that controls the country’s economy.
Let’s first address the production of goods and services. If you simply look at historical outcomes, this has always been the downfall of a Socialist economy. “Central planning” has never worked very well. Resource allocation has never been the government’s strong suit. (Free market capitalism has always been a more effective method of providing the goods and services that consumers want). A government generally needs to rely on its primary power (which is to coerce) and oftentimes consumers disagree with those decisions. Unless our current government’s stated objectives change, in a matter of only a few years, we will no longer be able to purchase gasoline powered cars or natural gas stoves.
On the other hand, Socialists have been much more successful in selling the “benefits” of the way they want to redistribute goods and services. One of Marxism’s primary tactics is to divide a country’s citizens into “subgroups” and then pit those groups against each other. Students of history know that the use of this tactic goes back to the mid- to late-1800s – – the proletariat versus the bourgeoisie; workers / unions versus business owners; rich versus poor. And now the Socialists are pushing for reparations for slavery that ended with the conclusion of the Civil War in 1865. And the Socialists also believe other citizens should pay off the student loan debt of the people who took out those loans, etc., etc.
Many of these initiatives are simply Socialist politicians buying votes with other people’s money. As Alexander Tytler Fraser once noted “the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury.” Unfortunately, many of our citizens have not yet made the connection that the funds being used to buy those votes are being “borrowed” from our children and grandchildren.
This past month, the federal government’s debt ceiling crisis was resolved by making the ceiling irrelevant until after the November 2024 elections. We put the word “borrowed” in quotes above, because the more appropriate term would be “stolen.” A lender in a regular business transaction consciously agrees to make the loan. That opportunity has never been given to our children / grandchildren who aren’t old enough to vote.
US Debt Clock – – May 1st – $94,765 per citizen / June 1st – $95,025