Dear Readers,
It has been a while since I did a political post, and current events have gotten me reflecting on Socialism. The election of Alexandria Ocasio Cortez to the US House of Representatives, the rise of socialism as a force in the Democratic wing of American politics., President Trump's statement at the State of the Union address that "The United States will never be a socialist country," are all pointing to a shift in American thought, potentially toward a more socialist agenda. I have decided to share a few thoughts on Socialism as an ideal and as a practice.
As a Christian, and as a student of early church history, I have a great deal of respect for socialism as an ideal. I believe that in an ideal world, all people would share the benefits of their labor freely with their neighbors and the less fortunate. Examples of this are actually seen in the early Christian church, where they "shared all things in common;" building up the community and taking care of the less fortunate. Such values were also temporarily embraced in Puritan New England as well, where settlers determined to prioritize the benefit of the colony as a whole through the redistribution of resources to the entire community.
While socialism is a beautiful ideal, unfortunately, it is less successful in practice. As was discovered by the Puritan settlers in New England, and by many countries that have embraced socialist ideals, such a system is incredibly susceptible to corruption. One need only look at the historical examples of the Soviet Union, Communist China, Cuba, and currently, Venezuela, to see the tendency for socialist regimes (although founded upon the purest ideals) to become corrupted.
The problem for those who would advocate socialist policies in the United States is that they are already advocating against a system of corruption. The reason they support a change of policies is because they have recognized the ways in which the current system is built upon the wealthy taking advantage of those who are not, a system built on business and government working behind the scenes to cut each other deals at the expense of the "little guy." It is entirely idealistic to wish to change such a system, and I applaud the heart behind such a stance. The difficulty, however, is in the assertion that a socialistic system would be better. As I mentioned before, socialism is extremely susceptible to corruption. It is incredibly naive to think our country, which is already demonstrably rife with corruption, would become better with more socialist policies. The corrupt (whom the socialists are fighting against) would still be corrupt. You cannot legislate proper behavior. Those who already take advantage of "the system" in order to benefit themselves would continue to do so, regardless of what "the system" is.
This is why I refer to myself as an idealistic socialist and a practical capitalist. While capitalism as a system can is certainly is corrupt, it is a system that functions off of incentivizing less corrupt behavior. If workers are not paid properly, then capitalism say they can leave their job to go work for a company that pays them better. If two companies make the same product, and one company makes it more cheaply, capitalism says that that company will be able to sell to more people and will be more successful. Corrupt self interest becomes the incentive to act "less" corruptly. Of course the system is flawed, and of course there are abuses. The difference between the two systems, however, is that capitalism recognizes the inherent corruption of human systems and attempts to channel that corruption productively, while socialism attempts create a world where there is no corruption through government legislation while failing to recognize that government is also a human system that will inevitably become corrupt.
Perhaps my view is cynical, but I believe it is founded on a realistic view of humanity. I also believe that room for hope exists. People are not always corrupt. Capitalism is not a system that only rewards corruption. People who believe in a better world can proactively help build it through a conscientious application of capitalism. The idealist can support those in the system who are less corrupt... I can spend a couple dollars extra to buy products that made in factories where workers are paid higher wages, or I can refuse to patronize businesses that demonstrate corrupt practices. In this way, businesses can be encouraged within a capitalist system to pursue less corrupt policies. There is no such this as a perfect system, because there is no such thing as a perfect person. I believe, however, that capitalism best embraces and non-perfection of the human condition in order the channel corruption in productive directions in order to build a better world.
Well, that was a bit deep, even for one of my political posts. Sorry about that. Next time should be something a bit lighter (probably a movie review).
Well, back to reality.
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