The governmental system of socialism has been tried and failed before. It has actually failed every single time it has been implemented. What makes younger Americans believe that it will work now? It has been found that 57% of Democrats and 51% of those ages 19-29 have a positive view of Socialism (Boaz 2018). That is almost on par with those that have a favorable view of capitalism. Those numbers should scare you.
Those in politics that have been pushed to the forefront, such as Senator Bernie Sanders and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, are a major reason there has been a resurgence of the support for socialism. The problem you will run into is the fact that these politicians in support of socialism are not willing to tell the entire story. They may be able too, so at the very least they choose to ignore the past of socialism. I will be going into what socialism is, the past of socialism, and why we don’t want it in America.
I would like to discuss the idea of a corrupted human nature before I jump into the weeds of socialism. It is no surprise that those individuals that don’t believe in a God believe that we can perfect socialism. These individuals do not believe in a corrupted human nature from birth. Therefore, it makes sense logically to them that we can perfect socialism by having good people. As Christians, socialism should be our worst nightmare. Socialism wants to stomp out any resemblance of anything that suggests there can be evil and corruption. When you admit that people in the system can be corrupted, then the system as a whole can be corrupted. If you acknowledge that one fact, the idea of socialism starts to fall apart. The whole idea of socialism is everyone gives and everyone gets. In reality, socialism helps to breed corruption. “In most cases, socialism’s monopoly on economic control also fomented corruption by government officials, as was especially apparent in Latin American and African socialist regimes” (Calomiris). Not only corruption, but “socialism produced mass starvation in eastern Europe and China, as it undermined the ability of farmers to grow and market their crops. In less extreme incarnations, such as the UK in the decades after World War II and before Margaret Thatcher, it stunted growth” (Calomiris). These don’t seem like things that can even be improved upon, and there are those that argue that socialism can be perfected.
There will be those that argue that socialism may be bad, but capitalism is worse. Many don’t even really know the difference. Socialism is an economic and political system in which the government controls all means of production, whereas capitalism is an economic and political system in which property, business, and industry are owned by private individuals and not by the state. The goal of socialism is economic and social equality through redistribution of wealth. The goal of capitalism is to create wealth through private ownership of property and businesses (Student Daily News). “The difference is that in market-based systems (capitalism) taxation is regarded as an unfortunate burden, which is employed out of necessity to ensure that other priorities are achieved. In contrast, in socialist regimes (socialism), taxation is not regarded as an undesirable consequence, but as a means to prevent individuals from counter-productively controlling their collective economic destiny” (Calimiris). It comes down to the fact that in socialism the central government tries to protect the population from itself. Capitalism builds off the idea that people can choose their own destiny, whereas socialism is the idea that individuals can’t choose their own destiny, and the government can’t let you do too much or you are taking away from others.
There has been a long past of socialism. There was even a form of socialism that was explained in the Bible in the book of Acts. The common thread is every time the system failed. There is a book authored by Robert Lawson of Southern Methodist University and Benjamin Powell of Texas Tech University in which they delve into the past of socialism and what it has accomplished (Henderson 2019). In their book they have chapters such as, “Starving Socialism: Venezuela,” “Subsistence Socialism: Cuba,” “Dark Socialism: North Korea,” “Fake Socialism: China,” “Hungover Socialism: Russia & Ukraine,” “New Capitalism: Georgia,” and “Conclusion: Back in the USSA” (Henderson 2019). I will not go into each case and you can get a better understanding by going to the article that is referenced. The understanding is that socialism always fails. Even the one outlier, China, relies on the free market almost as much as America. There will also be those, such as Bernie Sanders, that point to counties such as Sweden as a template of what America will be like. Sweden will be the first to tell you that they are not socialist. They have a robust safety net that is propped up by a free-market economy. The idea that America needs a revolution, which is what Bernie Sanders is calling for, is just flat out wrong. We can have a discussion whether or not to increase out safety net by raising taxes, but the idea that we should become socialist is insane.
The final issue I want to touch on is how America would look under socialism and how much things could change. The idea of socialism is that the government takes control of every industry and utility. That means they control all the energy, telecommunications, transportation, and food industries. The government will control everything you can think of. If you are someone who is innovative, the idea of government taking control of what you do is crushing. If America was a socialist county would people like Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, and Bill Gates want to do what they do if it means losing control to the government (Ozimek). There is the fact that with all this money the government can just provide all this innovation. They can use their resources to be innovative. The problem is; what stops people such as the Gates of the world from moving to a non-socialist county to start their business? Why would people want to stay and help America when they can actually make a profit off of their ideas? This will turn America into a Russia or China who are behind when it comes to these technologies, because these countries have to wait and have to play catch up. America on the other hand is leading the pack when it comes to innovative technologies. America leads the pack on environmental technologies, health technologies, telecommunication technologies, and in many other areas. This is the direct result of the free-market capitalist system that America has built. That is why the world looks to America.
In the battle between socialism and capitalism there is an obvious winner. Capitalism helps to build wealth throughout the world, whereas socialism helps to destroy and halt the creation of wealth. The evidence that is there can’t be refuted. If you doubt this keep in mind that people that are in these socialist societies flee to America (James 2018). There is no one that will flee towards socialism. When deciding whether you are for or against socialism, just think about whether you want to control your life or the government?
Sources
Boaz, David. (2018, Oct 25). Young People like ‘Socialism,’ but Do They Know What It Is?. Retrieved from https://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/young-people-socialism-do-they-know-what-it
Calomiris, Charles. (2018, Nov 14). Socialism: The Opiate of the Corrupt and Ignorant. Retrieved from https://economics21.org/socialism-opiate-corrupt-and-ignorant-calomiris
Henderson, David. (2019, Aug 7). Socialism Has Failed. Period. Retrieved from https://www.hoover.org/research/socialism-has-failed-period
James, Kay. (2018, Oct 26). Socialism vs. Capitalism: One Clear Winner. Retrived from https://www.heritage.org/international-economies/commentary/socialism-vs-capitalism-one-clear-winner
Ozimek, Adam. (2017, Feb 12). Socialism Is Bad. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/modeledbehavior/2017/02/12/socialism-is-bad/#686fc8c83d79
Student News Daily (n.d.). Socialism vs Capitalism. Retrieved from https://www.studentnewsdaily.com/socialism-vs-capitalism/
Politics with Kegan Prentice 