It is now 9:17 at night and I'm giving myself a limit until 9:50 to be done so I can get to bed at a reasonable hour.
Recently I had a discussion about socialism with a very conservative, very intelligent friend. He made some interesting claims about socialism. I should say that I'm not a socialist. Actually, I am a socialist. But I don't think America is ready for socialism and probably won't be in my lifetime, so I am a democrat. Religion moment: I do believe Zion will be centered in America and that it will be Communist. There are many scriptural evidences for this. But this post isn't the place for that discussion.
Exhibit A: "Socialism is the bed-partner of communism, and communism is the single
greatest killer of people in the history of mankind. They are impossible
to separate, and so you get one when you support the other."
No, socialism is not the "bed-partner of communism." Of course, communist governments are socialist but not all socialist governments are communist, anymore than all rhombuses are square. Socialism is the idea of the government providing anything for the people besides protection (ie military and police) and infrastructure (roads, bridges, etc.). Communism is the authoritarian form of socialism but--contrary to popular belief--can have capitalist leanings as we have seen in China recently and can be pro-human rights as we have seen in Vietnam. Most countries' socialism bears only slight resemblance to "communism" in the Stalinist or Maoist sense. Switzerland, Canada, Kuwait and Poland--to name just a few, the list continues extensively--have some of the most stable economies and the Finnish--a people "oppressed" by socialism--consistently rate at among some of the happiest people on earth. Be still, my soul. Compare that with Zimbabwe, Mexico and Colombia, places that are freed of the coercive powers of communism by being capitalist. Albeit, capitalism is not evil. Singapore is very well-to-do and is just about the most capitalistic economy in the world.
No, communism--neither socialism--is not the "greatest killer of people in the history of mankind." Have communist powers done some terrible things? Yes. Did Stalin and Mao both kill way more people than Hitler ever did? Yes. But last I checked, death is the "greatest killer of people in the history of mankind." No governmental system killed anybody. Bad people--or good people doing bad things--taking advantage of any governmental system killed people. It's like the gun-rights argument: guns don't kill people, people kill people. But gun-rights will be a discussion for another day.
Exhibit B: "There has really never been a good communist government and to say that
there has been, I feel, is denying the lessons of history. Of course
bad people are responsible for killing millions, but there has never
been a communist country that hasn't killed its own people."
Just look at Vietnam. Sure its history hasn't been perfect, but neither has any country's. They're not killing their own people now, and that's really what matters to the matter at hand.
Also, even if it were true that there has never been a benign communist or socialist government--and this is not an argument for communism, only a poke at a flaw in logic--that does not mean that it would never work. That's like saying "Man will never reach the moon because man never has."
Exhibit C: "It is the greatest enemy of freedom in the known world."
First of all, this is a very vague statement because nobody can agree on a definition "greatest," "enemy," or "freedom." And I'm not even going to deal with the "known world" bit. The Confederacy disagreed with the Union about what "freedom" meant, the Union was split about the definition of "enemy" and the word "greatest" is inarguably ambiguous. With what do you measure? But I think we can all agree that he's saying that it--referring to socialism--is the most oppressive force in the "known world."
Secondly, neither socialism nor communism mean oppression. Oppression means oppression. A people entering into an agreement to pool their resources and make a better life--the most basic socialism--are not being oppressed. Of course, that isn't to say that a greedy person won't take advantage of the situation, but I've already covered that issue. On the other hand, slavery is oppression by definition and slavery happens to thrive very well in capitalist countries, the government being unwilling or unable--for whatever reason--to intervene.
Exhibit D: "Just because a nation can be successful doesn't mean it's just and moral."
This is very true. But a culture will change without the government's intervention and as soon as you start arguing for government control in culture you start arguing for authoritarianism. My friend cited Sweden's "Sexual Revolution." A: There are plenty of socialist countries that aren't going through sexual revolutions. B: There are plenty of capitalist countries that are, the United States for example. C: Governmental punitive action against those involved in the sexual revolution is not just reminiscent of but is an example of Fascism. And let's not go there.
Exhibit E: "My only remaining argument is that if you want a socialist system, go
to somewhere that supports socialism. America is a republican capitalist
nation. If you want that for your life, that is totally fine, but
America is a capitalist nation."
And that couldn't ever change? It already has. The socialist and communist parties were integral in the formation of America as it is now. Hence the practice of socialist ideas, such as Social Security, public education, governmental loans and grants for students, welfare, eight-hour work days, minimum wage, child labor laws and now socialized healthcare, albeit most of these implementations do need some fixing. So yes, we are a capitalist nation--that is almost undeniable--but we do have socialist leanings--which is utterly undeniable--and have for generations. Therefore, no: if you are a socialist and love America--and those two things are not mutually exclusive--please don't leave. Stay and help make America better. Capitalists also please stay. Sometimes we leftists need some reigning-in. We do have a tendency to be idealistic and a good amount of pragmatism is healthy in society.
And now it is 10:24 and I have been at this computer for way too long, so I am going to bed. Also, I have to pee and my head hurts.
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