Across the fruited plain, an ever-growing number of young Americans say they want socialism and call for an end to capitalism. Asked whom they would support for the president, most name Bernie Sanders. Bernie isn’t a new phenomenon. Karl Marx came many years before.
At this point, it is helpful to explain the economic differences. As noted in most dictionaries, socialism is a Marxist economic theory but capitalism is an economic system.
The usual and customary argument that socialism has never worked before in history does not dissuade the folks who clamor for it.
Let’s look back over our shoulders a backward glance. Throughout our formative years, we first looked to our parents for all our needs. Gradually, we took on parttime paying jobs to supplement those things not available from mom and/or dad.
Here in America, according to research by polling institutions like Pew, the majority of American adults believe in God, but our number is declining, year by year, 92% in 2007, now down in the 80 percentile.
However, the body of Nones (practical atheists) is a growing rapidly and this is why they (the Nones) crave socialism. Allow me this explanation.
We who believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, generally recognize that God is our provider, our Jehovah Jireh. So it is we look to God with thanksgiving for what we receive and thank God for his provision.
Atheists naturally spurn any notion of a provider God they cannot see, electing instead a pseudo-god, the state that they can see.
In contrast to capitalism, socialists believe shared ownership of resources and central planning offer a more equitable distribution of goods and services. In short, they hold that workers who contribute to economic output should expect a commensurate reward. This sentiment is crystallized in the socialist slogan: “From each according to their ability, to each according to their need.” – Investopedia: What Exactly is a Socialist Economy?
A recent foray into official socialism here in this country is the Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare). The promise was 100% coverage, but coverage actually became less as families elected to pay the fine instead of purchasing the insurance.
In a socialist society, a great deal of government control is required to assure everyone equally participates. Ultimately, socialist societies become ruled by oligarchies, people to whom the rules do not apply. Cuba, for example. Venezuela, for another. I hasten to add ObamaCare as still another example – Congress initially exempted itself from the Affordable Care Act.
Congress and their staffers certainly do get special treatment, but the grand result is they still have to pay a portion of their premiums and they are still on the same ObamaCare plans as normal working-class Americans. – ObamaCare Facts
The federal government subsidizes federal employees who pay only a very small portion of their ObamaCare costs.
The enforcers of socialism in any given socialist country all get special treatment and incentives to force the rest of the population into compliance. This is what I refer to as the oligarchies.
No argument, no attempt to rationally discuss the demerits of socialism can dissuade the mindset of the Nones. Instead, only a genuine revelation of Jesus Christ can change the minds of the Nones. I point to Holy Scripture, Matthew 16:15-18 in which Jesus asked his disciples, “But who do you say that I am?”
The people of all socialist countries voted for socialism, except Cuba.
Why does socialism always fail? Because, as Britain’s famous Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher wisely said, “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people’s money.”
I suggest a corporate strategy of prayer for God to supernaturally impart divine revelations on the realities of finance to millions of wannabe Nones.
John White
Rockwall, Texas
Vox Populi Non Peri 