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I can remember when I was a young boy in elementary school, studying about the rest of the world in World History class. I guess, up until then, I assumed everyone lived basically the same kind of life as me, and we all had the same kind of democratic government, with liberty and justice for all. The thing that puzzled me, when we began to study about Communism, Socialism, Fascism, Totalitarianism, etc., was how did the people ever come to adopt such governments? It was always easy to see that American government was superior to, say... Nazi Germany, or the Ottoman Empire... but American government seemed to be such a simple concept, and I couldn't imagine how people managed to adopt other philosophies of government. Later, I would learn that many people simply never had a choice in the matter, these other forms of government had existed for centuries, and the people had very little power to control it or effect a change. Some were ruled by Kings, others by Dictators, and these rulers governed what laws the people lived by. Still, I couldn't understand, why would they not prefer freedom and liberty? I finally decided it must be, because they had never known freedom and liberty, so they had no idea of what they were missing. If you lived your entire life serving a master, do you know freedom? And isn't it much easier to lack desire for something you don't know and never have? I also realized there were places where the people never were allowed to see how Americans lived in freedom, they were kept isolated from this by their rulers. But I never could understand how places which had known some kind of freedom, could fall to Communism, Socialism, and Fascist Dictatorships... how did that happen? How could humans who had tasted freedom and liberty in some form, ever succumb to these barbaric forms of oppressive government? It never made any sense to me, and I have struggled with an answer my whole life.
Thanks to the past 40 years of watching the liberal progressive movement in America, I am suddenly starting to realize some answers to these questions. It occurs to me, some people are not comfortable being free, and actually have a desire to be taken care of by someone else in exchange for their freedom. It's easier that way, there are no decisions or tough choices to make, someone else will do that for them, they just want to follow and have the security of knowing they are being cared for. This is how Socialist movements always begin. It is sold as a means to provide for the people, things they are unwilling to do for themselves individually. The premise being, the society as a whole, will be a much better place. People actually cede their freedom and liberty, for the promise of something better. It is rooted in greed, because they are giving up one of the most precious human rights for the hope of greater things.
I could run down the long list of Socialist regimes which have failed, the history book is full of them. In fact, most of them fail within a few decades or generations, because they all seem to follow the same pattern of demise. They start off sounding lovely, but result in dividing society into two classes, without a middle class. You have the State, the elites... living in lavish luxury... and you have the Peasants. This happens every time, because Socialism doesn't reward individual accomplishment and effort, it stifles it. Any time you destroy human creativity and imagination, you also destroy motivation to achieve and accomplish. The people become mired in hopeless despair, and never bother trying to succeed... because, what is the point? If the State is going to take it from you and you are destined to remain in poverty, why would you want to do anything more than what the State required you to do?
With Obama's Socialist transformation of America, we can see the makings of what will become the Elitist State. We already had the Labor Unions and Teachers, as well as Congress and Government workers, and now we have added the Financial sector, the Automotive sector, and soon to be, the Health Care sector and Insurance sector. Later, they will add the Energy sector, the Media, and a few other key components, and there will be no turning back. For the next 40-60 years, we will see those who control State power, get much wealthier, live much more luxuriously than ever before, while those of us not fortunate enough to be part of the Elite, struggle for our very survival. And the problem will be, there is no America to come save us from this.
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Shouldn't the thread title be "I don't understand Socialism?"
You could use a primer...
A sad commentary on we, as a people, and our viewpoint of our freedom can be summed up like this. We have liberals and conservatives, Democrats and Republicans, yet those very people look at Constitutionalists as radical and extreme.................so those liberals and conservatives, Democrats and Republicans must believe that the constitution is radical and extreme.
Yeah - great "facts." This is about the 1,000th time that McCarthy here has screamed "socialism," and about the 10,000th time a rightie on this board has. It's fearmongering, and BS - and it becomes tired & meaningless through constant repetition.
Nothing Obama is doing is "socialism." If YOU think it is, or if Dixie or anyone does, then you don't understand "socialism," and have never studied it. Period.
If I say "the Republicans are Nazis", do you take people to task for not trying to "refute" me?
Socialism is gov't control of business & the means of production. That isn't happening in America on a large or even small scale; if you think it's happening at GM, you're cracked. Period.
You know after seeing what happened in Dubai I wonder about Capitalism also.
it is happening at GM....the government owns 60% of GM and forced out the last CEO....if you don't think that is control of the business and means of production you're cracked...
healthcare is a socialist program, so is medicaid, and SS....how do you believe they are not socialist programs?
btw your piont about you calling people nazi's is a false analogy...if you wrote a post like dixie did and didn't just make a wisecrack.....then you'd have something....
Argument from ignorance.
When they taught me about socialism in elementary I found the concept intriguing. In middle school I was a Christian socialist who thought that we needed to return to prohibition. It was only in high school that I recongnized that socialist institutions were, at best, equal to certain capitalist institutions. I never lost faith in the necessity of a welfare state, however.
And your diatribe about "HOW COULD PEOPLE NOT CHOOSE FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY!?" just shows an insane amount of ignorance about anthropology, history, and political science.
"Do not think that I came to bring peace... I did not come to bring peace, but a sword." - Matthew 10:34
As I said, watching 40 years of the progressive movement in America has taught me a lot. I now see the reason people chose Socialism over freedom and liberty. It is actually rooted in greed... the desire for something more. You take for granted what is most precious, our freedom and liberty, and you seek to give this away to the State, so we can all be cared for and nurtured by the State. In your thinking, we will all be collectively better off, except for the wealthy, who will have to come back down to Earth. This absolves you from any personal responsibility, and enables you to be a dependent of the State, where no decisions ever have to be made by you... it's easy to be a sheep.
The problem with Socialist models is, they don't ever work. They look good on paper, make sense in a philosophical viewpoint, but in practicality, just do not work. I believe the primary reason for this, is because Socialism stifles creativity and imagination, which kills motivation. It makes it virtually impossible to thrive and prosper, because all resources are controlled by the State, and subsequently, they reap all the benefits. The individual has no motivation to succeed, when they know the State is going to take it from them. At first, people work in good faith, thinking it will pay off in the end, but decades pass and the economic situation only worsens. The harder you work, the more the State demands and expects from you. Eventually your will to succeed is broken.
"Do not think that I came to bring peace... I did not come to bring peace, but a sword." - Matthew 10:34
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