Posted by
voice_of_reason on Tuesday, June 26, 2007 8:03:53 PM
After 11/9 (the fall of the Berlin Wall), a few left-leaning countries such as China and India got the message. In their own anemic way, they have started privatizing their nationalized industries.
We Americans, however, have continued to slouch Leftward, despite the proven success of Capitalism as an ideology. Our two dominant political parties seek to push new entitlement schemes down our throats. And we seem to accept the inevitability of this process. A majority of Americans either (a) don't believe in our own successful model, or (b) simply don't understand it.
On this blog I try to analyze the reasons for this disconnect. Others do a fine job in enumerating the mistakes of those who believe in Socialism. I try to identify the lapses in our thinking process that predispose us to incorrectly believe in the goodness of Socialism.
Consider the following:
* the free lunch syndrome explains the predisposition of the beneficiaries (I call them the parasites) towards Govt largesse.
* obviously, most 'parasites' don't spend a lot of time thinking about the immorality of their actions. However, if any of them felt the slightest twinge of moral compunction, it could be easily assuaged by using the glory of victimhood. But, what is the source of the moral code that allows them to claim that mantle?
* how do we explain the acquiescence of the producers (victims)? Why would they sign onto a 'free lunch plan' with themselves as the entrée?
* without the acquiescence (tacit or otherwise) of the producers, there would be no loot for the Govt to give away.
* politicians of both sides (but more often the Leftists) understand that they can benefit both from the 'free lunch syndrome' of the parasites and the guilt of the producers.
* It's a double win for politicians - encourage the victimhood of the parasites by means of the funds extorted from guilt-ridden producers; collect votes from both sides everytime they pass GO (which is every 2 or 4 yrs)!
* many of the 'producers' have a moral code based on the virtues of sacrifice, altruism & charity. As a result, they are susceptible to politicians who subvert the producers' moral code - forcing them to accept an unearned guilt for their well-deserved success.
* many who disagree with my viewpoint make a lot out of the voluntary aspect of charity vs. the confiscatory aspect of Socialism. They suggest that it makes all the difference in the world - and maybe they have a point in some spiritual context! But, in the political context, it does pre-condition us to accept the premise that producers exist for the sake of non-producers.
* once it is accepted that producers exist for the sake of their parasites, the rest are just mechanical details of noble-sounding but destructive redistributive economics!