Socialism Under Scrutiny

Introduction

The growing gaps between the classes has the wheel of history turning again towards the socialist mantra. However, many of those who tout it do not understand what they call down, the weight of historical precedent or the actual results thereof. Like the first who embraced the paradigm, many people are unwittingly seduced by the concepts of equality without effort. Every attempt at socialism throughout history has led to the collapse or near collapse of the society which attempted it as oligarchies siphon off the best of the people’s work and leave them with little less than crumbs of industry to sustain themselves. However, without even the barest illusion of freedom the human spirit crumbles, and all productivity grinds to a halt in the face of desolation. 

The Historical Example

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” 

In 1905, George Santayana said these immortal words as he gazed out over the vista of the new century. The balance of power in a country’s culture and economy is a complex web of corresponding motivations, and the strongest motivation for the growth of opportunity is the capacity to be rewarded for one’s efforts. After all it is the creatives, the makers, the entrepreneurs, and the business people who know how to keep industry flowing through mutual support are those who create value. Historically, the government has tried to lay claims to the fruits of these efforts without supporting the mechanisms through which the value is sustained. As a result, socialism and communism both involve ceding to the state control over the distribution of goods and services for the masses. This involves giving up individual rights, and giving the state a good measure of control over our personal lives. This road always leads to tyranny, no matter what you pave it with, and no matter what you name it. (Morabito)

Even if the lower aspects of human nature did not take over at this juncture, often the people in government do not have the skills to create and maintain value like the business magnates do. Their very involvement is often a roadblock to success. In The New Intellectual, Ayn Rand comments, “The alleged goals of socialism were: the abolition of poverty, the achievement of general prosperity, progress, peace and human brotherhood. The results have been a terrifying failure—terrifying, that is, if one’s motive is men’s welfare” (Rand). This is a result in part of the fact that the rules of Socialism are too binding, and do not allow the freedom and plasticity which free markets require to grow and change. Thus, the results of socialism is most often violence, which is seen through history:

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Those rules often involve heavy regulation, and even heavier taxation with the corresponding welfare which such structures create. As a result, “Instead of prosperity, socialism has brought economic paralysis and/or collapse to every country that tried it. The degree of socialization has been the degree of disaster. The consequences have varied accordingly” (Rand). This is the result of fixated and tyrannical leaders who chose not to see that without the freedom to chose and excel, the very spirit of mankind is unmotivated to try. In this context it is often much wiser to become a dependent of the state via welfare if in fact they are rewarded the same as those who work to create value.

Such welfare support has been the case in socialist Sweden up until the later 20th century when the country began to move away from the implosion of this practice. Sweden has claimed a low rate of unemployed and homeless people as evidence of socialist success. However that is because, the state subsidizes them to live in optimal conditions and to provide little work - and if they are put into labor, it's in a public enterprise run by the government, to help reduce the official share of unemployed people. Workers can earn up to 570 paid days off a year (that's no typo - we know there are only 365 days a year - Swedes can earn more paid days off than days they actually work). (Paroracle). These policies have created economic stagnation which has forced the nation to begin liberalizing toward capitalism to survive (Lowry).

Ultimately, socialism places greater faith in leaders than the public. Those who tout the mechanism gloss over the fact that “Socialism requires a power clique—or, as Lenin put it, an elite ‘vanguard’—in order to pretend to function. This means going heavy on executive power and rubber-stamp light on the legislative” (Morabito). However, these leaders are very similar to those who live off of the welfare of the ill garnered taxes of the producers. After all, the leaders do not create value, and in a socialist they do not support those who do create value. These types of leaders simply take the biggest slice of the welfare pie, misrepresent the productivity of the people, and establish a nation of beggars.

At heart this is the function and aim of all oligarchies and Imperial perspectives, and is present in most societies one way or another. In America this is accomplished by the wealthiest individuals and their corporations paying virtually no taxes, allowing them to accumulate vast wealth while the poorer classes are taxed much more. Throughout history socialist movements have been based on ideals which do not correspond with reality. For those who have the eyes to see; socialism is not a movement of the people. It is a movement of the intellectuals, originated, led and controlled by the intellectuals, carried by them out of their stuffy ivory towers into those bloody fields of practice where they unite with their allies and executors: the thugs. (Rand)

Every case of socialism has failed, and has done so with large human rights violations as a reflection of the skewed logic of their ideal. Socialist “oligarchy claims to distribute in the name of ‘equality’…The historical fact is that the vanguard, the power clique, eventually takes control of everything that’s produced…Its members then bureaucratically ration out—as they see fit—the means of human survival” (Morabito). Sweden is often called the supreme example of socialist ideal in action, but this is largely due to the fact that the authentic socialist history of the country is unknown. When in fact, the socialist doctrine’s implementation supported many human rights violations;

62,000 Swedes were forcibly sterilized by the Swedish government over a 40 year period, until 1974, by government researchers who judged families as being ‘racially inferior’. These sterilizations included both the parents and their children. During this time period, a Swedish Television documentary revealed that Sweden lobotomized at least 500 "undesirables", in some cases without the consent of their families, and that lobotomizations may have numbered up to 4,500 people. These practices predated and surpassed the era of Nazi Germany. This is one of the chief dangers of a small vanguard choosing for the entirety of a people-a danger that one group will be singled out as worthy of purging.

Unwitting Support of Tyranny

The only way American youth could be supporting socialism is due to a profound ignorance of history. The American education system has been eroded to the degree that many of today’s youth have only a glancing understanding of history. This is the very lapse in critical thinking capacity which ensnares the idealistic with illogical promises of socialism. As a result of this it is the very Millennials who understand the corruption of American government, but do not have the context to see a way forward. Modern Millennials espouse: 

(List omitted for preview. Available via download).

While this is an accurate observation of the issues of corruption in America, Millennials make the jump to socialism as if the idealism of justice, and not the corrupt example of the history of socialism is the answer (May). Ignoring the fact that socialism would only exacerbate this corruption, Millennials tout, “let’s give the Washington Machine more money, more control over our lives. Let’s concentrate power in the hands of an elite few and trust them to act in our best interests, to choose a better distribution of winners and losers” (Kibbe). This represents a profound gap in understanding, wisdom, and education (Tamny). 

Conclusion

The desire to reignite socialism represents a profound isolation from history. Ayn Rand would say this is from the desire to abscond from personal responsibility to define one’s own life, values, and make one’s own way rather than relying on some big father figure for guidance. Anyone who studies socialism with an eye for reason will see this in the theory, but the examples of its application through history are even easier to see. Determining the collective will in America is done through engaging in democracy, but due to the corruption in the system fed by polarizing misinformation this process is often corrupted. However, a process which has a chance to work or be improved is a better choice than a process inherently corrupted with no chance of success.

Works Cited

Lowry, Rich. “Why Socialists Shouldn’t Cite Sweden as Success.” National Review, 20 Oct. 2015. Retrieved from: http://www.nationalreview.com/article/425800/bernie-sanders-socialist-success-sweden

 May, Clifford D. “Curb your socialism.” The Washington Times, 2 Aug. 2016. Retrieved from: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/aug/2/moderate-democrats-must-curb-socialism/

Matt Kibbe. “Socialism Kills.” The Conservative Review, 26 May 2016. Retrieved from: https://www.conservativereview.com/en/commentary/2016/02/socialism%20kills

Morabito, Stella. “Socialism’s Bloody History Shows Millennials Should Think Twice Before Supporting It.” The Federalist, 15 Mar. 2016. Retrieved from: http://thefederalist.com/2016/03/15/socialisms-bloody-history-shows-millennials-should-think-twice-before-supporting-it/

Paroracle. “Everyone around the World says... ‘Socialism WORKS!’” Paroracle.com, 2016. Retrieved from: http://www.paoracle.com/SocialismWORKS!/?sw=Sweden

Rand, Ayn. “Socialism.” Ayn Rand Lexicon, 2016. Retrieved from: http://aynrandlexicon.com/lexicon/socialism.html

Tamny, John. “Fear Not, Millennials Are Not Embracing Bernie Sanders-Style Socialism.” Forbes, 3 Aug. 2016. Retrieved from: http://www.forbes.com/sites/johntamny/2016/08/03/fear-not-millennials-are-not-embracing-bernie-sanders-style-socialism/#5ba9a4db3db2