What if we choose socialism? What should we expect? Does Marxism have merit? Socialism as an economic system does not work. With that said, it might be the most attractive political ideology ever.
Related: Liberty and Freedom
Believers
It’s not surprising that some very intelligent people believe in it. What is surprising is the religious fervor of their belief. Socialism is not about mental acuity, rather it is about faith. A faith strong enough to overcome the evidence of its results.
There are a large number of successful people who believe in and advocate for socialism. Roger Waters, the Pink Floyd co-founder is an advocate for Socialism. He advocates for socialism because he’s above the fray. His “net worth is about $310 Million dollars. He’s one of the richest rock stars in the world.
Tony Blair is a socialist. Helen Keller was a socialist. Indira Gandhi was a socialist. Oscar Wild was a socialist. George Bernard Shaw was a socialist. Eugene V. Debs was a socialist. Gamal Abdel Nasser, Upton Sinclair were socialists.
But socialism means scraps for everyone else while the rich and famous live in opulence. The politics of envy and greed have been used to attract many people. It is especially attractive to young people. They are just starting out, have the least in most cases, and most lack wisdom. Socialism is governmental stealing with the authority of the law.
Utopia
It is portrayed as being a Robin Hood philosophy of “taking from the rich and giving to the poor.” But, when the rubber meets the road socialist policies take from everyone who has anything. The wealth accrues to the governmentally connected. The poor get the placebo of promises which largely go unfulfilled. Socialism widens the gap between rich and poor. The end results are always the same; tyranny, poverty and death.
Don’t believe the portrayal? What about Mr. Socialist, Bernie Sanders. He is a millionaire even though he has never worked outside of politics. Why is that? If he believed the Robin Hood story wouldn’t he spread it around? Why does he continue to advocate for picking your pocket? He doesn’t give from his. Where’s the charity in his heart?
There’s a point here, socialism is a goal that can never be attained. Socialism denies the existence of an essential human trait, human nature. Marx borrowed from the Enlightenment. He declares that human nature is malleable, not constant.
Reality check
Lenin’s socialist state tried for seven decades to create an entirely new human being, Soviet Man. Reality came crashing in back in December 1991. Mikhail Gorbachev gave up trying. That was the end of the world’s most spectacular failure in human engineering. Tens of millions of people died in the efforts. Socialism does not depend on the will of the people. Rather it is reliant on the dictatorship, the tyranny and the intolerance of the Party.
Many of the things Marx asserts are wrong, factually and theoretically. More importantly, his predictions of future events have proven systematically incorrect. Marx and his thoughts were the the rationalization for many of the genocides and terrors of the 20th century. Stalin, Mao and Pol Pot worshiped at the altar of socialism.
Giving the devil his due
His criticism of capitalism has had use. For better or worse, elements of his work power current public choice theory. Three such elements are: First, Baptists and bootleggers. Second, interest groups and collective action. And third, rent seeking and antitrust. Market advocates are sloppy in labeling all government growing proposals as Marxist. Certainly, many such proposals are contrary to the founders intentions. That does not, however, justify the Marxist label for all.
Give the devil his due. We should recognize some of the criticism Marx made of capitalism had merit. But never forget; the problems with Marxist theory and the things they actually have produced. Socialism has consistently yielded tyranny, poverty, and death. No only that it has done so on a scale dwarfing even world wars.