- Most people do not understand the differences between Capitalism and Socialism.
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The news lately is filled with expressions of anger from leftist Democrats. They are angry about the country's immigration policies, believing our borders should be open to anyone wanting to enter regardless if they have a criminal background or not; they try to portray President Trump as a lying and immoral tyrant; they are demanding the elimination of ICE, as well as the general suppression of law enforcement, and; they are particularly angry the president will replace Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy with a conservative jurist, someone who will adhere to a strict interpretation of the Constitution rather than enacting law from the bench.
The Left has taken to the streets in protest and adopted a policy of harassment towards Republicans. This will only increase as we approach the 2018 midterm elections, and it goes well beyond the protests of 1968 as it is more akin to the visceral rhetoric preceding the Civil War. In particular, young people have become willing pawns of the Left in advocating anarchy and socialism.
It is disturbing young people do not truly grasp the nature of socialism or capitalism, probably because they were never taught these concepts in school, other than teachers and professors advocating the socialist agenda. As such, students are being brainwashed into believing socialism is good and capitalism is evil. While capitalism is commonly portrayed as another form of greed by the "10%" controlling the wealth, socialism is sold as a more "fair and equitable" solution.
In reality, capitalism is a celebration of the individual’s right to try and succeed, requiring a sense of risk. In contrast, socialism concentrates on the rights of the group overall, controlled by government, thereby suppressing individual ambition and risk. Unlike capitalism which allows for failure, there is no such sense of loss in socialism, nor sense of victory. Essentially, everyone receives a trophy, win or lose. The two socioeconomic programs are as different as night and day, and are simply incompatible.
Socialism's group dynamics may sound appealing to the uneducated, but it has a horrible track record over the years. Whenever it has been tried, and failed, life eventually returns to capitalism which is more natural to the human spirit. Whereas socialism is revolutionary, capitalism is more evolutionary as described by Darwin's Natural Selection. Under capitalism, the strongest company survives, and if a company fails, another will replace it learning from its failures, thereby promoting innovation, invention, and strength. In other words, capitalism naturally lends itself to higher production, not so under Socialism.
Under capitalism, the individual is entitled to enjoy the fruits of his/her labor, such as financial rewards. This is an important benefit derived from risk. Under socialism, there is no such concept, and instead of the individual benefiting, the wealth is evenly distributed to the work force, regardless if they earned it or not. In other words, a weak worker benefits at the same rate as a strong worker.
Today's American socialists believe in free entitlements for everyone, such as college education, food and housing, transportation, and jobs. This may sound enticing, but they have no clue as to how to pay for all of this.
John Stossel provides a fine video further describing the differences between "Capitalism vs Socialism."
To encourage entrepreneurship, our founding fathers took steps to safeguard the intellectual property of the individual. This specifically includes Article 1, Section 8 of the United States Constitution, wherein the powers of Congress are defined. It states, in part, "The Congress shall have Power...To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries;". This led to such institutions as the Patent and Copyright offices which were specifically designed to safeguard an individual's intellectual property. As early as 1790, the first patent and copyright were approved. At the time, safeguarding intellectual property in this manner was rare to the rest of the world. By promoting the entrepreneurial rights of the individual, our forefathers were embracing capitalism.
Interestingly, to clarify the ideological differences in this country, while the Democrats have embraced socialism, the Republicans have embraced capitalism. This also explains why Democrats want to do away with the Constitution, and why the Republicans embrace it. Taking it a step further, this provides the rationale as to why patriotism has hit a new low in the United States, according to GALLUP. Whereas Republicans are still proud of their country, there was a "sharp declines since 2017 among liberals, Democrats."
Another area of confusion is the fundamental nature of our government, is it a Democracy or a Republic? Under a Democracy, the people vote on everything which is unworkable to just about any size country. Instead, we elect people to represent our interests, specifically Congress and the White House. These are people whose job it is to study our problems, debate issues, and formulate policies and courses of action. Make no mistake, America is a Republic. As another key ideological difference in this country, whereas Democrats refer to America as a Democracy, Republicans refer to it as a Republic. This also explains why Democrats revile the Electoral College as prescribed by the Constitution, believing a popular vote should be the sole criteria for electing a president, not a representative based solution.
So, why are the Democrats so loud in their protests? First, as they have lost control over the Congress and Presidency they have become more desperate to regain control. More importantly, they do not want a country as defined by the Constitution as it interferes with socialism. This is why they want open borders, suppress the power of law enforcement, and do not want a Constitutional jurist as appointed by Mr. Trump. All of this gets in the way of their agenda.
Keep the Faith!
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Tim Bryce is a writer and the Managing Director of M&JB Investment Company (M&JB) of Palm Harbor, Florida and has over 40 years of experience in the management consulting field. He can be reached at timb001@phmainstreet.com
For Tim's columns, see: timbryce.com
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