I'm sorry that they deleted your post. That sort of behavior is uncalled-for, especially since there was nothing inflammatory about your post.
Originally posted by Bushido Kanji
Can someone please enlighten me on the reasoning behind the hatred of Socialism?
This is a complex issue that requires a good bit of education in economics, but a lot of it boils down to the fact that socialism is fundamentally
incapable of making good on its promises. I would recommend the site
www.mises.org... as a good starting point in learning why.
Aside from economics, another issue is human nature. Greed is not something that can be stamped out by government; if anything a from-the-top attempt
to stamp out greed will only magnify it in several ways.
For one, it will attract the worst of the worst to the positions of authority in the socialist system. There's a reason all attempts at Communism
have resulted in rule by sociopaths. This is not mere historical accident. It's exactly what you would expect from an attempt to implement Marxist
theory in practice, if you take into account human nature.
For another, the people themselves begin to mistrust and envy each other. Once "equality" becomes an ideology, in place of the more realistic "life
ain't fair but it's all about attitude" approach, any perceived "inequality" becomes magnified. I spent half a year in 2003 studying abroad in
Sweden, a supposed socialist paradise. In a casual conversation, one of my roommates who was Swedish (and spoke English like a champ) mentioned that
envy is a huge part of their culture, and affects their social interactions (it started with him talking about how much he secretly hates his friend
because, though they were both in college, he expected him to have a higher-paying job coming out). Maybe it was just this one guy's neurotic
problem. But it's just an example in any case. Anyway it seems pretty natural to me that an ideology of equality would breed envy, especially since
true equality is impossible unless we're all clones. That is, nature herself abhors true equality.
Lastly (for this post anyway), it's not real charity. Real charity, that is I voluntarily making a sacrifice for someone I can see is in genuine
need, results in feelings of gratitude in the person in need, and feelings of potency and righteousness in me. Socialism instead breeds feelings of
indignant entitlement and expectation in the receivers of government benefit, and feelings of unfair treatment in those who pay more into the system
than they get. Perhaps it's identical to charity in a physical sense, but emotionally socialism and true charity are two completely different
animals. Socialism is a cheap substitute for it.
Anyway, I could say a whole lot more on this subject. Suffice it to say socialism does not deliver on its promises. It sounds great to the naïve,
which explains its immense popularity in spite of its intellectual bankruptcy. But whenever actually implemented, it results in social stagnation,
envy and antagonism, and general misery.
edit on 17-9-2010 by NewlyAwakened because: (no reason given)