Socialism and Socialists: A Conversation with a student

Glenn Beck has been running kind of newsessaytorials. Ok, I made up a word to describe his particular brand of investigative journalism. He consistently point out how much of the Obama's administration is based on socialist principles. Oh, he's quite PC to remind folks that Obama is not a socialist or communist but the line is so thin that his intent is clear.

It doesn't seem to matter though because just recently I was involved with a conversation with a person in their late 20s to early 30s. We were talking about the collapse of the EU which he was specializing in as a major (Modern European Political Science) in our local university. Finally he was so frustrated with being unable to answer my questions that he finally blurted: "C'mon Frank, what is so wrong with Socialism? It's a system just the same as Capitalism."

I almost fell over and asked him again were he went to school. You see, I was dumbfounded that this person, who was supposedly specializing in political systems could confuse a political system and an economic system. So I asked what he meant and he went on to give the arguments of private use of public resources and . . . I'm not going to bore you with the rest because if you are reading this, you are politically aware even if you don't agree with my positions.

He continued on and I just listened. When he finally finished his point, I pointed out that he was comparing apples and lead. The two had nothing to do with each other. But that didn't phase him. He honestly wanted to know why it would be so bad if America became a socialist paradise like he thought the EU had become.

Now, for any of you reading this and wondering the same thing, I would suggest a few reads. If you haven't done so, read any of the Soviet dissidents. They gave a clear picture of the ills of planned economies and the excesses of government control. If you think Capitalist greed is bad, it is nothing compared to the excesses of state run systems. Also read anything by Ayn Rand, "The Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole and the "almost" Libertarian bible: "The Road to Serfdom" by Hayek. By the way, the Ayn Rand Institute has a performance space/lecture hall called the A. F. Hayek Auditorium. Ok, it's just a multi-purpose auditorium but performance space sounds sexier.

So my assignment to this student was to read some of these books over the summer and see if his question isn't answered. Let's see how deep the cerebral ossification has become due to educational propaganda.

FB