By Orval Strong
The main scare tactic used by El- Rushbo and his brainless cronies on the talk radio circuit is to brand anything they don’t like or disagree with as socialistic. As if to say that if you have anything to do with socialism, you are dangerous. They haven’t a clue of what real socialism is. To them Joseph Stalin was the epitome of a socialist.
But nothing could be further from the truth. Part of the definition of socialism is “aim of operating for use rather than for profit, and of assuring to each member of society an equitable share of goods, services, etc.” In Stalin’s regime did everyone in Russia have an equal share of the country’s bounties? Oh, no. In name the U.S.S.R. was a socialist country, but that was in name only. In practice it was more of a capitalistic society with those lucky enough to be at the top like Stalin skimming all the goodies for themselves.
As in all human enterprises, a purely socialist society would have some who take advantage of others. But there is not one governmental system that wouldn’t have that problem. Do any in this capitalistic society take advantage of the work ethic and generosity of others?
Overall it is (in my opinion anyway) the best type of governance humankind has come up with yet. The main difference between capitalism and socialism is the pronouns me, I, and mine and we, us, and ours. A capitalist would brag about being a self-made man and pulling himself up by his bootstraps. One of the complaints I’ve heard about universal health care in this county is that it would allow illegal immigrants to receive free health care. I have no objection to that at all. Instead of looking upon them as illegal immigrants, we should see them as fellow human beings and treat them as such. Fat conservatives like to remind us of the scripture (II Thessalonians 3:10) which says, “If any would not work, neither should he eat.” The Apostle Paul here clearly shows himself to be a capitalist, but what about his redeemer, who said in Luke 12:27–28, “Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. If then God so clothe the grass, which is to-day in the field, and to-morrow is cast into the oven; how much more will he clothe you, O ye of little faith?”
Which kind of governance does Luke 12:27–28 seem to be sanctioning here? Doesn’t the New Testament describe a socialistic society when it talks about the early church? So, pray tell, what is so wrong with socialism?
Orval Strong is from Gerber, California.
This article appeared in the Jan-March issue of the Northern California CCDS Newsletter, the final print issue. Additional articles will be posted on this site.
The image at top of this article is from an article at Wikipedia, http://bit.ly/cDMLwp, asking people to contribute to the collaborative encyclopedia, with the slogan, "Sharing with others makes you happy."
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