Socialism is bad for one reason. It does not work. The problem with the Left is they won’t take failure as an option. Granted, there is a certain admirability to determination to succeed. However, the problem with Socialism is that it has never worked.
Social Democracy is what you are confusing, intentionally, with Socialism. A Social Democracy sees the need for a Safety Net. When someone falls from the ladder of life, the net stops them from hitting rock bottom. I can agree it is a valid set of social programs. Socialism is not a safety net however.
Socialism is control of the society, and economy, of a nation. It has never worked. The reason is that it is impossible to create the system that Marx dreamed of, each according to his abilities, each according to his needs. You see, there can never be a system which is fair for all, and allows enough freedom for innovation.
All of the great things, have been a result of competition. Someone came up with a way to build a better mousetrap. The Apollo program. One of the highlights of the 20th Century, was both Government, and Private. Companies like Latex Products Incorporated spent a lot of time, and money, developing the products that the Astronauts used. Grumman spent a ton of money doing the research needed to put forward a competitive bid on the Luner Module. Before they ever saw the contract, they had spent a year or more doing research and engineering development.
North American spent just as much money and time developing the Command Capsules. Each part, each piece, was the result of someone spending a lot of time to innovate for a chance at a contract.
But let’s take GM. Yes, General Motors. They spent more than a year developing the Lunar Rover. In theory, and in model form, the idea took shape. They proposed it to NASA, after spending a year on a product which NASA said was not feasible. There were only a few made, but they allowed a much wider area of exploration. That isn’t Socialism, that is Capitalism. Risking your company, investing in the future, without even a modicum of Government Approval. GM did much of the research and design work before NASA had approved the contract.
The computer you are sitting at, someone had to risk a lot of time, and money, into developing the company, in the hopes that they would be successful. How many products are no longer with us?
But what I am most afraid of regarding Socialism, is freedom, and the subsequent loss of individual liberty. It must happen under Sociaist administrations, because control of the people, and the economy, for the social good, is required.
Life is like a bowl of cereal. The Cereal is Liberty, the milk is Equality, and the bowl is life itself. If you have too much cereal, your equality is soaked up and eventually the liberty is flaked away in the wind. If you hav too much Milk, your Liberty is soaked and soggy and disgusting. It must be in balance, and that is where Socialism fails. Every single time it is tried.
China exists because China has managed to strike a delicate and every changing balance between capitalism, and socialism. But the rules they used last year to govern it, aren’t applicable this year, and won’t be used next year. China is allowing in just enough Capitalism, and freedom, to stay competitive, while clinging to the power, and control of the socialist government. Eventually the incompatibility of the two systems will tear itself apart in China. And china is one of the “successful” socialist nations. Where human rights are trampled regularly, individual liberty is struck down with brutality. Human Rights organizations regularly file long winded and well researched reports on how awful China is for things like freedom and liberty and justice.
You asked why I am afraid of socialism. Because I know that liberty, freedom, and civil rights are vital for a people. I also know that those vital things are absent in every Socialist nation. So I will continue to oppose Socialism, because the rights of the people are cherished, and non negotiable in my mind.
