The incompatibility of socialism and liberty

So, how do you like your free, 60-day trial of socialism so far? Yeah, me neither, and to think that this is just a free sample, imagine what it could look like when you’ve enrolled in the full program? Ancient famous sayings aren’t famous because they’re ancient; they’re famous because they’re true. Hence, the old adage about the human nature/socialism cocktail making you puke at the end of the night is invariably true. But, I’m getting ahead of myself.

Nothing happens unless The State makes it happen

What we, in the so-called ‘Free World’ are now experiencing as a “temporary” state of affairs, is the permanent state of affairs in a large part of the rest of the world, particularly countries that fall under the socialist banner. The people of China, with a population somewhere on the order of 1.48 billion, have been living under these (and worse) conditions since WWII, as do the people of North Korea, Cuba, Venezuela, etc. But you get the picture: All are so-called socialist countries and all have the following in common: Philosophically, socialism doesn’t believe in personal responsibility. Thus, socialist states require coercion to gain obedience from the people. The state, i.e. the Politburo, the Reichstag, The Provisional Revolutionary Government or even your ‘elected’ neighborhood representative on City Council can vote any damn thing they want, often with outcomes diametrically opposite those intended, Socialist jurisdictions are often touted as models the West should emulate. Sure. Anyone here want to live like the average Cuban? Anyone? Show of hands. Okay; well how about the average Venezuelan? Or the Average Chinese or Ethiopian peasant? Didn’t think there would be any takers. The harder the brand of socialism, then the harsher the consequences. Both the Soviet Union and Maoist China were governed by lofty five-year goals, none of which they achieved, but despite obvious evidence to the contrary, they chose to ignore the famines.

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Millions of peasants starved because of the falsification of food production reports in both the USSR and China, reporting outcomes in line or above those demanded by The Party. The bureaucracy accepted the reports as gospel, while millions of Russian and Chinese peasants starved between the 1930s and the 1970s. Western media couldn’t be bothered to report it. The New York Times’ Pulitzer Prize-winning Walter Duranty, bureau chief for the Times from the mid-twenties to the mid-thirties, didn’t seem to think the famine in Ukraine that took nearly 8 million souls fell into the category of “All the news that’s fit to print,” the Times’ motto since 1897. And since we’re back in America, that ‘neighborhood representative’ mentioned above is casting votes for programs and tax expenditures that most of us don’t even know about or even care. But every vote that increases the overall size and scale of government is one vote closer to living under the most extreme form of socialism. Let’s face it, socialism’s a really hard sell no matter how you package it. Socialism can only thrive and survive if it’s disguised as something else, like ‘fairness,’ or social justice.’

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Under socialism the state controls the individual absolutely

I’m sure we all agree that there are substances not exactly beneficent to one’s health. After all, who among us hasn’t had an adult beverage or any of the other vices, some of which are taxed by governments as so-called ‘sin taxes’ and represent large volumes of revenue. Alcohol and cigarettes come to mind. What better way to impose “morality” on the population than to enact so-called ‘sin taxes’ on alcohol, tobacco, drugs and other non-necessities that society deems ‘fun?’ A libertarian might say, ‘It’s my body I can do as I want with it.’ (for some reason a lot of women say this to thunderous applause.) But if the government provides full health care and finds out about the so-called ‘deviant’ and ‘risky’ behavior of its’ citizens doesn’t it make sense that government should take control? It’s not like anyone hasn’t attempted to control our behavior in the guise of ‘protecting our health.’ It was just seven years ago when New York City enacted a bylaw that forbade the sale of sugar-laced soft drinks in quantities larger than 16 oz. The ban applied only to restaurants, movie theatres, drive-ins, etc. In effect, the entire hospitality industry. It took just over a year for the New York State Supreme Court to rule that the Government exceeded the scale of its authority and nullified the smiley-face fascist law.

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There is nothing that is free

The sweet tune of socialism, like that of the Pied Piper of Hamelin, promises all the things that you lack and many others enjoy so effortlessly, if you just adhere to the precepts of socialism: “From each according to his ability; to each according to his needs.” So, the only question is who determines one’s needs and who determines one’s abilities? Those are basically simple answers; both the peoples’ needs and abilities are determined by the party or the current cadre running the party. That’s why so many wealthy politicians and celebrities are all in the can for socialism because they are at the top of the heap and it doesn’t affect them. Has anyone ever asked America’s most famous socialist why he’s now a multi-millionaire, when his first paid job as mayor of some Podunk hamlet came to him at age 40? I’m sure through reflection we will find many instances of prominent politicians who went off to pasture as multi-millionaires. And it had nothing to do with wise investments and prudent money management, it was more about money laundering as in instances where the Government of Russia paid a former American president $500,000 to make a brief speech. I’m always struck by the poor Canadian boobs who brag about our “free healthcare” system and tout it as the best in the world. Except when it isn’t. But hey, we’re spending more per capita than a majority of G-20 nations and our outcomes are nothing to write home about, given that Canada ranks 30th in the world in providing quality healthcare.

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Socialism is like a down-filled bed…

…that turns out to be stuffed with chicken feathers and teeming with Cimex lectularius, one doesn’t really feel the effect until it’s too late and the itching and bleeding starts. Gotta admit, that mattress was comfy…for a while. Politicians who offer to solve all the nation’s problems are a dime a dozen. But, has anyone ever stopped to think what good throwing Bazillions of dollars at a problem somehow solves it? In most cases there were unexpected consequences, some good, some bad, but in the vast majority our government is making decisions based on our eventual acceptance of socialism to show that we are a virtuous and ‘inclusive’ people. Somehow translated in to the light of day, what improvements have any of these Grand Experiments we’ve conducted over the past 70 years produced? When I left Meridian, Mississippi in the summer of 1969, I took one last drive through the black part of town and saw tarpaper shacks, outhouses, barefoot kids and bare board siding. I returned to that neighborhood in the fall of 2013 and the houses hadn’t changed one iota, except for the large flat-screen TVs. Need I remind anyone that in 1964 Democrat President Lyndon Johnson, ushered in his Great Society, which would forever eradicate poverty among Americans. In those days unemployment among blacks was nearly one in five. The employment numbers among blacks in America didn’t really begin to accelerate until the policies of the current president took effect, meaning all those feel-good, Head-start, Neighborhood Youth corps and other programs for which trillions were wasted didn’t change a thing. That’s socialism at work.