Socialism has made a move to become established in the United States like it never has before.
Once again those who favor capitalism have had to raise the volume on their arguments against socialism. What is so bad about socialism that those in favor of capitalism must get so excited about one political party that wishes to build the government around socialistic policies?
This then must raise the question, “Do we understand what socialism is and what capitalism is?” “Is one good and the other bad.” Or, “Are they both good, but in different ways?” Or, “Are both bad and another platform should be considered?”
I would like to address these three questions in this blog.
Is one good and the other bad?
There are many that believe that this is the situation. But it depends on who you talk to which is good and which is bad. If you are a Democrat you lean toward socialism as a good thing. Some Democrats like it more than others. There are some who do not like it at all. Then there are those who admit that they are socialists and are not ashamed of it.
On the other hand, those in favor of capitalism tend to be among the Republicans. These are usually business oriented people who have participated in growing a business of their own or have worked to a high position in a corporation. These people are very money oriented and attuned to the workings of Wall Street. To them the bottom line is all that is important, or so it seems.
To those in favor of socialism, capitalism is evil. To those in favor of capitalism, socialism is evil. Could it be that they are each correct in their analysis? Or, are they each incorrect? Maybe there is some right and some wrong in each of their reasonings.
I would like to present some good and some bad about each approach and then let you decide for yourself which you would prefer.
What is good about socialism
Socialism comes from the same word that society comes from. A society is made up of people who have certain thing in common such as language, traditions, interests, common history, experiences and so forth. To form a society they emphasize their commonality as a good thing and a way of coming together to achieve certain goals. This is a good thing and from that definition society and socialism is good. Much more good can be accomplished when people join together in a common goal than when there is a lack of direction when individuals seek their own personal goals without consideration of others.
For instance, if when laying out the routes for the interstate highways of the United States if each state, or even each county had gone about setting its plan for the route to be taken through their particular geography, there would have been nothing but chaos. By coming together and finding a common goal of providing an efficient way of promoting commerce throughout the country, they provided a great system of travel for all the individuals as well as the country. This is a benign form of socialism in which some lesser rights of the individual states, or counties, were sacrificed for the good of the whole. (Remember this concept as we continue.) So, there are times when socialism brings about great good. There are other ways, also, but we shall let this example suffice for this article.
What is not good about socialism
We have seen how socialism in its benign form can be beneficial for almost all involved. However, there are times that socialism is not so kind. If socialism is promoted by the whole society, it tends to bring about good. There must be a great amount of shared knowledge or it can easily be manipulated so that it is not beneficial to the whole society but to just a few of the governing class.
When this happens, socialism becomes and evil tool in the hands of those who wish to manipulate others. Their “socialism” is a term that is used to group all but the governing class into a defined “common” populace. The common populace have very little to say about how they are governed or about what they aspire to accomplish. The society is molded into what the ruling classes decide. Instead of a continued changing of leadership, there becomes an oligarchy of rulers who all come from the same cloth. There is then a new aristocracy among which all the wealth is centered and all the ruling power is invested.
When this is the case, socialism is a most evil thing.
What is good about capitalism
Many think that capitalism is the best way to build a society. Those in favor of capitalism tend to be conservative in their views. They will usually identify as Republican or conservative or libertarian.
Capitalism would prefer that the government would allow people to use their money as each sees fit. If it were possible they would desire to pay as little taxes as possible. The fact that government bureaucrats are wasteful in the use of money is quite evident. So, capitalists would prefer a less intrusive government.
Capitalism allows for individuals to use their assets as they see best. This promotes individuals to launch businesses and invest in themselves and other businesses that they think will prosper and bring a service to the society as a whole. In this way they can prosper as individuals and as a society. As one prospers he or she is able to benefit the whole society by providing jobs or services that help other people.
What is bad about capitalism
There are some that think that capitalism is only good. But, if one is honest, we know that there are some bad fruits of capitalism. We hope that most people in a free society have the attitude of wanting to better their society and help those who are members of that society. Unfortunately, there are some who use the capitalist construct to attain power by which they can manipulate as many people as possible. If a society is relatively free those seeking to do this will be corrected by other functions of society.
We saw this occur in the 20th century when small groups of wealthy men sought to abuse the average working man. They used the average citizen as a pawn to increase their wealth without due consideration of the workers. (I must say that this was not true of all or not necessarily a majority of the capitalists.) But there were enough of those who abused their workers that there arose the need for a common front to approach the abusive rich capitalist barons. Thus arose the labor unions. In the beginnings unions were good. But they too became infested with the few who wanted to get rich on the backs of the working men and women. They became their own form or socialistic capitalists.
Even today we have many ultra rich capitalists who have built their companies through hard work and smart investments to a point that they are rich beyond anything before imaginable. Though they achieved that goal honestly they have now begun to stifle others who would strive for the same. Instead of promoting capitalism they have yielded to the temptation of getting more riches for themselves.
They have become a capitalistic socialist.
What is the answer
It seems that there is good and there is bad in each system. What is the answer which can bring about good for the whole society.
The society is not the foundation. It is the structure that is built on the foundation. Without a good foundation, no form of society can long endure. When the founders of the United State of America formed that “more perfect union” they did not seek out socialists teachings or formulas nor did they study capitalists writings and teachings. Instead, they went to the foundations of Christian teachings, which is the Holy Bible. The document they produced is called The Constitution of the United States of America.
You will find that people who do not live lives that seek to conform to the teachings of the Bible are people who will also seek to subvert the virtues of the Constitution of the United States. When they ignore or belittle the teachings of the Bible they will naturally move next to doing away with the foundational principles of the Constitution. No matter how good a rich man seems, consider his stand on the teachings of the Bible when you desire to know where he is headed.
If a rich man ignores the Bible he will ultimately bring about evil, whether he or she is a socialist or a capitalist. If someone honors and upholds the teachings of the Bible, then no matter what his or her label is, they will bring about good.
So, socialism or capitalism is not the label by which one should be judged, but by whom they honor. If one honors the Creator, then one will act honorably toward His creation, and especially toward His highest creation, human beings.
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