Letters for families based on the book “It Can Be Done” @studentsleadusa
None of us want to be bullied by having somebody force major life decisions upon us. We all share this common ground. We write today to encourage a realistic, accurate view of socialism, which, by definition, involves decisions by government force.
With “democratic socialism,” a majority at the ballot box votes for control over the minority who disagrees with the control. The control constitutes government force. Resistance to new taxes and regulation can lead to fines, property confiscation, jail, or some combination of these measures.
If an industry is not working right, in the opinion of the socialist, it should be taken over or heavily controlled by the government. If something costs too much, socialists believe the government should control prices. If wages are too low, socialists believe the government should force higher pay.
Socialism involves a few people in government taking power and making life decisions on their terms, which may not necessarily be our terms. The socialist thinks his opinion of right and wrong, or good and bad, gives him the right to decide who gets what. On this point, we should be able to share common ground – socialism is the opposite of freedom.
Even if we agree with socialist decisions today, we might not agree with them tomorrow. But once we surrender control, it’s hard to reclaim power for ourselves. Socialists, believing they can use the power better, won’t give it back without a political fight. As British Prime Minister Margaret famously stated, “Socialists cry ‘Power to the people,’ and raise the clenched fist as they say it. We all know what they really mean -— power over people, power to the State.”
Socialists also assume a few smart government people will work hard, and they will wisely run parts of the economy for the rest of us. They believe bureaucrats will not be lazy, greedy, selfish, or power-hungry. Unfortunately, experience teaches us that humans can, at times, be all these things and worse. Placing power over hundreds of millions of lives in a few imperfect humans is at best risky and at worst disastrous.
Frost Brown Todd LLC Member Rob Hudson is a Past Chair of the Northern Kentucky Chamber and a business lawyer. 2018 Independent Author of the Year Lauren Hudson is a Singletary Scholar at the University of Kentucky. Their next letter will explore common ground about support for free enterprise.When talking about a difficult problem, you may hear people say that government should “just fix it” or “just pay for it.” However, solutions do not appear out of thin air, at no real cost, no matter how much people say they care. Everybody, including socialists and capitalists, wants problems fixed. But saying “just write a check” or “we need a new government program” does not constitute a plan or a justification for more government action.
When it comes to business, no small group of human beings can manage a large, complex economy like ours effectively. Motivated self-interest and motivated service, across the population of an entire nation, has some natural advantages over centralized control. A government can never do a better job of creating new products, services, and solutions than millions of Americans, including tens of thousands of motivated geniuses.
President Abraham Lincoln, a strong supporter of capitalism, offered words to live and govern by, stating, “You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich. . . You cannot lift the wage earner up by pulling the wage payer down . . .you cannot build character and courage by taking away people’s initiative and independence. You cannot help people permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves.”
We should not turn our back on the land of liberty President Lincoln helped preserve.
I am now looking forward to a commentary on the flaws of capitalisim.
Ruth, there are non. Capitalism built the strongest most prosperous economy in the history of the world. Our poor and homeless live like kings compared to the average citizens of ANY socialist or communist country. Prove me wrong.