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What Is Liberalism?
a.k.a. Socialism Introduction The Cave Man I didn't live in the stoneage, but I think this is a fairly accurage description of what must have happened at one time. A strong man seized control of the tribe and he was thereafter their leader. As he grew older, he had already formed alliances and was revered for his wisdom. Therefore when another strong man came along, he may have been able to repel the stronger one. If not, the other strong man took over. In the meantime, the leader would rule the tribe in both the interest of the tribe and in his own interest. After all, if the tribe was destroyed, he would be destroyed, so he had to preserve the tribe. On the other hand, if he was destroyed, the tribe would be without his leadership, it might also be destroyed, but more importantly, he would be gone or dead. He would have lost everything. Therefore the strong man, the leader, would have to rule the tribe to his own best interest as well as the best interest of the tribe. From Cave Man to King Kings - and other rulers - reigned over their countries and did what was best for the king. Again, the assumption was that what was best for the king was best for the country and what was best for the country was best for the king. However, always, the king came first. The country would suffer first, and then the king. Summary So, what do I want you to remember from this introduction? That from the oldest time, the nation, group, tribe or people existed for the pleasure of the king, sovereign, or whatever you please to call him/her. Along Came Karl Marx The Start of It All Karl Marx (1818-1883) proposed a new world view in his books, The Communist Manifesto (1848) and Das Kapital (1867-1894). In it he proposed that the government exists to benefit the people, not to benefit the sovereign. Of course Marx's theories covered more than just that. He dealt with his concepts of economics and religion. In dealing with religion, he also dealt with his concept of humanity, what it is to be a human. What is right, what is wrong, and so on. Karl Marx's theories on economics and religion still influence socialism (liberalism) today, but for right now I'm only going to deal with the explosive new idea that the government exists to benefit the people and not the other way around. It Sounds Good The theory of liberalism sounds good. It sounds excellent. "The government exists to benefit the people, and not the people exist to benefit the government." If that is all there was to it, I might be a liberal today, too. Ask the Second Question Always ask the Second Question. Don't accept statements from politicians on their face value. Ask the followup questions, "How?" "Why?" "Where?" "When?" "Who?" or "What?" When you're being conned, the argument falls apart on the followup questions. In the case of the beginnings of socialism, let's ask a few questions.
The Questions Answered The Desired Outcome The Desired Outcome is easy enough. Socialism desires good things for society. The Logical Outcome Ah, but we must ask the Second Question. Sure, that's what the socialists want, but is it reasonable? If it is the government the provides all good things, then look at what will happen. What is the logical outcome? Who Cares for Whom? A government is not an alien life form. It is people following a system (however faulty they are at following it). In a country of two hundred million (200m) people, forty thousand (40k) of them are work in the government. Is it reasonable to think that 40k people can care for the needs of 200m people? How about you? Can you meet the needs of your family, and in addition solve the problems of 5 million other people? Would it not be more reasonable think that 200m people are better adept to meet the needs of 200m people, rather than 40k people meeting their needs? Is it reasonable to think that 40k people are smarter than all the other 200m people? Or are they on a par equal to all the other people? The conclusion is that forty thousand people cannot provide for the needs of two hundred million people. 1. Where does it end? Partial Socialism does not work because, in an infrastructure, all things are connected. If we had socialized medicine, the hospitals are also connected to transportation, food, laundry, linen, employment, safety, glass, elevators, construction, air conditioning, and so on. For Socialism to work properly, everything must be socialized. If we have a government that controls and runs everything, what is it called? It is a totalarian government. The logical outcome of socialism is a totalitarian government. You cannot get around it. That is what's going to happen. 2. What about non-conformists? Everybody is different. Everybody has an opinion. In every group you have that person who is more different than the others. In a very large group, such as 200m people, you will have a very large number of non-conformists. What will happen to them? In the philosophy of liberalism, the government exists for the good of the people. What happens when someone opposes the government in any way? Opposition to the government is a crime against the people. That is a heinous crime which is punishable to eradication. Even if a person outside the government comes up with a better idea, a better way to do things, he is contradicting the government which exists for the good of the people. He must be stopped or else the people running the government must admit they are not doing a good job at it. 3. What about progress? Progress is the development of new inventions, new methods, new ways to do things. What is the purpose of socialism? It is to provide for the needs of the people. That both ignores and stops progress. In Socialism, everybody has a job. What happened when the automobile was invented? People who made carriages were put out of a job. That contradicts socialism. What happened when trucks and the highway system were developed? It severly hurt the railroad industry. That contradicts socialism. Besides that, if everybody has a job, who is paid to invent new things? New things that put people out of work? A few years ago (you might remember this) some people were trying to stop the use of computers in business because it put so many people out of work. The fact is, new inventions create new jobs. Because of the invention of the automobile, we have the oil industry, the tire industry, the gas stations, asphalt and concrete roads, and a host of other businesses. However, if everything were socialized, progress would come to a halt. Examples of Socialism Well, those are the desired and logical outcomes of socialism. What really works? Do we have any examples of socialism where it's been tried? We do indeed. Let's look at them and see what really happened. Communism Communism is the left-wing brand of socialism. Many countries adopted communism: Russia, China, Cuba, Viet Nam, North Korea, and others. What happened? Every country became totalitarian (logical outcome #1) Fascism Fascism is the right-wing brand of socialism. Some countries adopted fascism: Germany, Italy, Japan. What happened? Every country became totalitarian (logical outcome #1) Socialism Socialism exists when the government is in the process of developing full socialism. It has not yet become a totalitariam state. Several countries are implementing Socialism: France, Canada, Sweden, Finland, Belgium What is happening? In every country the government is becoming more and more pervasive, controlling more and more of everybody's daily life, such as where to work. (logical outcome #1) In every country people are losing more and more of their rights, such as that of free speech. (In France, speech against homosexuals or Muslims is a crime, but speech against Jews is defended, ignored or applauded.) (logical outcome #2) These countries had progress, but it they were shortlived (1933-1945, 13 years) and they were living on developments already made. Adolph Hitler promised a People's Car (Volkswagen) to every German family, but it was never delivered. All the money collected went into the war effort. We don't know if any progress would have been made in a fascist country. What was Unexpected... To Be Continued Based on faulty economics Based on prejudice against religion Methods used are always the same Human nature contradicts Socialism No new inventions
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