E-Newsletter No. 86 February 2021
Last month, we pointed out the
fact that Socialism has an unbroken record of failure everywhere and every time
it has been attempted. We also asserted
that Socialism is immoral. Before we get
to the question of morality, let’s review the primary reasons why Socialism has
its history of failure.
Socialism runs directly opposite
of the American Dream. It promises to
create equal outcomes, but it actually creates a vast inequality between a
country’s citizens and the government elites (i.e., the Bernie Sanders types in
Washington DC). This is true in every
Communist / Socialist country in the world.
Socialism takes away the benefits of hard work as it strives to create its
“equality of outcomes.”
Politicians believe individuals
are not capable of making important decisions, so they decide to intrude, rather
than allow an individual to make his / her own decisions about what they want
out of life. Socialism inevitably
tramples on an individual’s Liberty. A government must use force (coercion) to
implement the elites’ decisions.
Freedom of choice is severely limited or eliminated. This goes well beyond the issue of goods and services in the marketplace. Taken to its (historical) extreme, Socialism has placed limits on an individual’s ability to choose their own calling in life. Under a Socialist regime, your ability to keep your current job, or even change careers or follow your own dreams can become severely limited.
Under Socialism, all of a country’s
citizens suffer. Mild Socialism lowers a
country’s standard of living. Severe
Socialism leads to mass poverty and deprivation. This has been proven over and over again in the
historical record – – The USSR, Maoist China, North Korea, Cuba, and most
recently, Venezuela. Socialism has left
nothing but disaster in its wake.
If “everyone” owns the resources
and means of production, then nobody truly owns them. Socialism is an awful steward of assets. It makes people careless and wasteful, and it
eliminates pride of ownership and any sense of personal responsibility. It should be noted that not all “renters” are
bad people, but they have less of an incentive to protect what they have.
“Robbing Peter to pay Paul” is simply
morally wrong. There is no way to morally
justify or rationalize it. On the other
hand, voluntarily using your own time and money to help another individual or
family is called benevolence. Charity
and compassion are virtues. Compliance
with government coercion does not provide a moral equivalent. To demand that everyone pool their resources and
the fruits of their own individual efforts into a giant pot to be redistributed
by politicians and government elites is morally corrupt and doomed to fail.
Inevitably, power is consolidated
within the government. The forced
redistribution of wealth damages the web of relationships we rely upon to live
full and meaningful lives. The recipients
of government-granted welfare become trapped in dependency. Socialism seeks to suppress (replace) the
human relationships that are fostered by religious congregations, social
services agencies, charities, and other civic organizations. The government becomes tyrannical when it tries
to silence alternative ideas that are at odds with the state’s agenda.
Socialism creates dissent and
stifles freedom of speech. Government
control and regulation of the media, political speech, and elections are the norm in Socialist countries. Anyone with “free thoughts” or who dares to oppose
the growing power of the government is viewed as being a threat.
As noted above, Socialism creates
dependence instead of freedom. It destroys
peoples’ drive to be self-sufficient or to improve their lot in life. Within a free society, a person’s creativity,
innovation, and hard work are rewarded.
In a Socialist country, only the well-connected are rewarded. Oftentimes, those rewards are bestowed simply
for being a loyal member of the nonproductive bureaucracy.
Friedrich Hayek wrote a book that
was published in 1944 entitled The Road to Serfdom. Hayek warned of the danger of tyranny that
inevitably results from government control of economic decision-making through
central planning. As many of us know, in
medieval times, a “lord of the manor” would rule over his lands and his serfs,
who could live on his land in exchange for a place to live, so they could grow
crops for their lord and for their own consumption.
Our Editorial Board has decided
to update Friedrich Hayek thesis, by advancing it a few centuries, and bringing
it home (to this side of the ocean) to our country’s Southern states in the years
that led up to the Civil War, as we make the case that Socialism is Slavery –
Socialism-is-Slavery.pdf
(f2ppr.org)
US Debt Clock – – January 1st – $83,400 per citizen / February 1st
– $84,150