Rightwords... Prudent Conservatism

Work or not, you live well---maybe!

The Socialist dream will never die, simply because it promises a free ride to everyone regardless of their contribution to society or their indigence.
Those in favor of Socialism slather at the prospect of:
--free education through university, including subsistence.
--free healthcare.
--free or well under market value housing.
--free and paid six or eight week vacations plus 9 or 10 holidays a year.
--full employment and a protected job for life.
--worry-free retirement
--guaranteed living wage to everyone regardless of their being employed or not.
--very low-cost loans guaranteed by the government to buy furniture, appliances, automobiles, clothes and vacations.

All of these goodies would be paid for by the taxpayers, both private parties and businesses, through onorous tax burdens reaching 80-90% of profit or income at the top income levels.

This is the promise of Socialism--but it is a false promise that cannot be met for very practical reasons.

What isn't stated clearly is the thrust by Socialists for income leveling; that is, the CEO would make merely three times what the janitor would make. The incentive to get ahead would be lost. Then, too, a Socialist state has a built-in progression from a citizen's paradise to a more totalitarian state over a very short time in historical terms. Thus there would be the priveleged "haves" and the underpriveleged "have littles and have nots" rather quickly, which was the situation in Soviet Russia for 75 years.

The final blow to Socialism is the necessity to own and manage the economy, which is such an enormous task that even in this age of massive computers and a few intelligent men we still cannot account for all of the variables in an economy of any reasonable size. Thus there would be shortages, no output and overproduction of everything, including food, as was the case in the USSR.

It takes gall and hubris, not to mention stupidity, for anyone to think that they can do it better the next time around, mainly because it is completely contrary to human nature. Even Marx understood this!

Labels: Socialism

# posted by Mannning @ 11:52 AM