Leftwing Socialism – The Leftwing Mentality
Why the Left are Wrong
From each according to his ability, to each according to his need.
– Karl Marx
This most famous statement by Karl Marx tells us of the most fair, just and equitable political and economic system on the earth: Communism.
Yes. I said it. Communism is the best political, economic and social system on the earth – on paper only.
Communism isn’t a new idea, or maybe we should say communal Utopian societies aren’t a modern idea. Early Christians practiced a form of it when they held “all things [in] common” (Acts 2:34).
Thomas More wrote of a land that didn’t exist, but was perfect in its social, political and economic systems. The Pilgrims, when they landed in the New World, practiced a form of communism. Brookfarm, Fruitland, the Shakers, Oneida, the Mormon “United Order,” and the Equity Colony are all examples of trying to live socialist, communal lives. All failed.
Not only have those attempts failed to deliver decent lives to their participants, but so has the Soviet model of communism, as has the North Korean, Cuban, Venezuelan and others that continue to limp along in dictatorship and poverty. It doesn’t take much to see that socialist and communist states do not last very long and ruin the lives of those unfortunates trapped within. This isn’t theory, this is just plain old history.
So why do these types of government and social systems fail? Aren’t they supposed to be more fair, more just, more equitable? Isn’t everyone supposed to be working towards the common good? If we’re all working together, how can we fail?
Because we’re human beings. It’s where theory conflicts with practice. Combine communist (or socialist) theory with actual human behavior and you have failure. We’ve written about this in Scragged before in the Confucian Cycle series.
It’s so easy to see why the systems fail: Just observe children on a playground. Observe humans in a group.
Some children follow, others lead. Some bully, some will be clowns. Some just sit by themselves. Some want to play, but don’t have the ability to play well, so they’re ignored. Some are obsessed with winning. Some just want to have fun. A few strange children won’t go out to play at all.
That is, each child is different. Each one is motivated by different things. No two are alike. And we don’t change when we’re adults.
Of course, I’m stating the obvious, but it’s this very obvious point that we all miss. Some people want power. Some people are bullies. Some people have desire and drive, others are just plain lazy. Some are content with a little and others are never content. Some like blue and some like green.
As a result, each individual is going to go after his or her own self-interest. This is human nature. Self-interests can sometimes conflict. Sometimes they can be mutually beneficial. But they will always be there.
That’s why communist societies fail: human nature. There will always be those who want power. There will always be those who are lazy. There will always be those who want more than others. There will always be those who try to exploit others. There are always those who would rather take than give. Communism and socialism encourage self-centered types of behaviors because there are no natural mechanisms to correct them. Some people are greedy. Greedy for power, for wealth, for all sorts of things. Greedy people with the authority of government behind them are dangerous.
more at http://www.scragged.com/articles/why-the-left-is-wrong