The understanding that stealing is wrong doesn’t seem to make a deep enough case to hold socialism accountable for its warped ideology. There is no doubt that most in Western civilization find slavery utterly despicable. It is puzzling why socialism is not met with the same ire. Slavery is an abusive utilization of labor, and so is socialism. This may seem like an extreme correlation, but fundamentally it is not. Whether the laborer is subjugated by either the whip or the vote does not make its implementation any less immoral.
Slavery is a sinful blot on the history of the United States. It was awful, and inexcusable. The United States also did something that most of the West has not done. America allowed capitalism to validate the efforts of the individual in addition to ending slavery. Instead of the government determining the worth of one’s labor, one has the opportunity to assess one’s own worth. Unlike socialism, true capitalism allows each individual to assert what they believe their skills and labor are worth. A free market, with little government interference or regulation, gives individuals the liberty to negotiate what they are willing to exchange for acquired skills.
Socialism is the “gateway drug” for government control. To assert that socialism is any less nefarious than slavery would be a complete distortion of the nature of a socialistic system. Imagine the economic system of a local plantation which has expanded into an entire state or country. The individual is forced to contribute, but is not rewarded for the skills they have developed. Over half of what the individual grosses is directed back to the state through taxation. The state will then provide a uniform amount of services, irrespective of one’s contribution. Neither the state nor the individual can negotiate for better quality. The state is limited by what individuals are willing to give, and individuals are unable to increase their net worth sufficiently in order to contribute more to the state. When an individual no longer has the authority to define their own worth, they inevitably become a slave to the system that governs them.
Margaret Thatcher famously declared, “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people’s money.” She couldn’t be more correct. Socialism and communism alike always create limitations by squashing creativity. These systems will never do good by their citizens. Socialism promises equality, and fails miserably. Governments which adopt socialistic and communistic practices produce two classes: those who rule and those who serve. Those who rule live lusciously in exchange for the lack of resistance from those who serve. It is a losing game of acquiescence.
Every revolution is virtually no different than the one before. France, Russia, Germany, Argentina, Cuba, Venezuela were and still are ravaged by their adoption of socialism. How? Through a massive lie that came at the cost of poverty, torture, and war.
Headlining this week’s news is the death of Cuba’s dictator Fidel Castro, a truly despicable human being. Fidel fed off the discontent of the Cuban people during Fulgencio Batista’s control, and led them into a socialistic hell hole. Fidel decided to strengthen ties with Soviet Russia, bringing communism within 90 miles of the United States’ back door. Castro promised equal wealth, security, and health. Instead, Cuba was met with a dictatorship that jailed, tortured, and murdered its citizens. Fidel Castro’s leadership was so harsh that two million people fled Cuba during his rule. How could anyone admire such a man?
What has been even more astonishing is the world leaders’ responses to Fidel Castro’s passing. It can almost be taken as a litmus test for moral reason. Leftists have praised Castro as a “fighter for social justice.” Meanwhile, the conservatives refuse to ignore and omit Castro’s heinous acts of repeated human rights violations.
English Historian, John Emerich Edward Dalberg-Acton (best known as Lord Acton) simply understood the subjugation that socialism brings, and expressed his disdain for it by saying, “Socialism means slavery.” He continued, “…[N]ow that we have seen a new form of slavery arise before our eyes, we have so completely forgotten the warning that it scarcely occurs to us that the two are connected.”
Fidel’s acts of evil were inarguably gruesome, but to minimize them is to leave generations vulnerable to man’s capability to exploit one another. Be vigilant; be relentless.
By: Rosemary Dewar
