The Result Of Socialism

The following came to me from Iryna a native of Russia who now lives in Anchorage, Alaska. She says the following illustrates how conditions were in Russia under socialism.
An economics professor at a local college made a statement that he had never failed a single student before but he once failed an entire class.
That class had insisted that socialism worked and that no one would be poor and no one would be rich, a great equalizer.
The professor, then said, “OK, we will have an experiment in this class on socialism. All grades would be averaged and everyone world receive the same grade so no one would fail and no one would receive an A.
After the first test, the grades were averaged and everyone got a B.
The students who studied hard were upset and the students who studied little were happy.
As the second test rolled around, the students who studied little had studied even less and the one who studied hard decided they wanted a free ride too so they studied little.
The second test average was a D. No one was happy.
When the 3rd test rolled around, the average was an F.
All failed, to their great surprise. Then the professor told them that socialism would also ultimately fail because when the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great, but when government takes all the reward away, no one will try or want to succeed. Iryna asked, could it be any simpler?
There are indications President Obama is moving us toward socialism. When I write anything about him that is not complimentary it has nothing, for celerity I repeat nothing, to
do with race and everything to do with ideology. I grew up in Mississippi in a family with no racial prejudice when racism was the norm. As a child I was with my dad on many occasions when he took the unpopular position of being an advocate for all races. I have never been a racist, but I do love the American capitalistic free enterprise system that rewards excellence.
The illustration of what happened in the economics class is played out in countries where socialism prevails. Socialism would do the same thing to our work force and economy it has done elsewhere. Russia is exhibit “A” of the failure of socialism. Many older Americans observed the demise of the ideology and related economic system it embraced in Russia. It has never worked in any society. That leaves many musing over why any American would be inclined to advocate any form of it.
Capitalism is far from perfect but when allowed to freely operate it is far ahead of any governmental system that comes in second. The free market has its liabilities but it has more assets than any alternative.
Those in the above illustration represented as making F’s are ultimately the losers under socialism because eventually the producers, like the A students who quit studying because it profited nothing, quit working hard and the economic system fails.  Then everyone suffers.

What Is Socialism?

Increasingly it is being said our nation is becoming more socialistic. There is a vast mass of adults who have little or no idea what that means.
Karl Marx gave us a good working definition: “From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.”
The government determines your ability and sets your production goals. In doing so they determine your needs as a producer and they take the rest.
Under our free enterprise capitalistic system the owner/producer is free to operate the business, make a profit as desired, pay salaries and taxes, and give to the causes of his or her choice.
Under the communist form of government the government takes your business, runs it, and keeps the profits to distribute as they wish.
Under a socialistic system you continue to own and operate your business, the government determines what your needs are and allows you to keep enough to meet your needs. They take all the profit to distribute as they please.
This takes away the freedom of the free enterprise system and inevitably results in a decrease in initiative. Socialism is an economic system with government having considerable control over the wealth of the nation and property to dole out the profits as they see fit.
This is done under the guise of social justice. The problem is the bureaucratic elite, the government in power, defines what social justice is. They determine what is fair not the people.
Consider this scenario. You own a plant that manufactures widgets. For those of us who have lived our lives under a republic form of government and have worked in a free market it is hard for us to realize socialists consider you owning the factory as being exploitation. Regardless of the pay scale and your benevolence toward the workers and charities it is still considered exploitation and this is what they sell the masses on.
In a socialist state if you decide to build what you consider a new and improved widget you have to get the permission of your unmotivated work force. You must incorporate in the design the innovations government dictates. The government also decides how the profit is to be used for the good of society.
Pause a moment before we go further. Who now would be in control of your business? There are people in government now running our bureaucracy. Are you pleased with the job they have been doing? These are the kinds that will indirectly run your business.
Socialism necessitates a larger government to make the decisions for the businesses and decide on the social good. The power no longer remains in your hands but in the hands of an unelected elite group of unknowns.
As formerly productive people become more and more burdened by the power of the many over the few they become less and less motivated. Businesses become less productive. The pattern through the years has set the stage for government to move from socialism to communism and take your business. Its  a short step.
Now a more formal definition of socialism. “Various theories or systems of social organization in which the means of producing and distributing goods is owned and/or controlled collectively by a central government that plans and controls the economy.”
Abraham Lincoln said, “If the voters get their hind side too close to the fire they will just have to sit on their blisters.”
In the last few months America has gotten closer to the fire. Some blisters are beginning to show.

An Entitlement Culture

Organizational planning usually involves reviewing past growth, performance, and policies. The future is planned for in light of the past. Evaluating those elements is expedient. However plotting the future only in light of what has been isn’t planning it is projecting.
Planning takes into consideration changes in clientele, new media for communicating, market need, and the emerging ethos, that is, the spirit of the culture.
As America moves forward it must learn from the lessons of the past. However, to try to make the garb of ghosts past fit the emerging society is a flawed pattern. The difference is America has never had to deal with a generation reared in an entitlement world. There is now in place in our society a large constituency that has been reared thinking it is the duty of the government to give them that to which they have grown to feel they are entitled.
Many of these who otherwise could be productive have moved from the work force to the dependent class. A less productive more dependent citizenry awaits their entitlement. They actually truly believe that is the role of government.
In our schools, in government, civic, and social studies classes we have not taught them differently.
Now back to planning. Present day economists are studying past performance of the stock market, reviewing previous domestic production charts, and other past economic tends. Using this date they are projecting our future. There is a new element in that equation. It is the generation that has grown up in an entitlement world.
Our future will involve a diminished work force, a loss of confidence in public figures, eroded ethics, a deemphasis on   spiritual values, and a more socialistic government. We are a new America.
To recover from this milieu the principles that made America great and the failures that flawed her must be gleaned, decoded, and taught. Past inequities need acknowledging so that we don’t repeat them and the values derived from the virtues need to be extolled. A new and enhanced America needs to be minted to replace the now “new America.”
To help achieve this the fulfillment of work, the joy of productivity, the thrill of accomplishment, the satisfaction of a job well done, the blessing of a free enterprise system, the reward of a good work ethic, the bliss of a guilt free conscious, and the peace of mind resulting from spiritual vitality needs to be taught and demonstrated.
Noah Webster said in 1788, “Every child in America should be acquainted with his own country. He should read books that furnish him with ideas that will be useful to him in life and practice. As soon as he opens his lips, he should rehearse the history of his own country.” We have failed to teach them.
The fact so many middle aged and younger people are complaining that thinks are worse than ever indicates they have no familiarity with the 1930s. Things were much worse then.
What America is experiencing now is not a projection of the past but a well planned change. If this current change proves not to work and becomes unwanted correction must be planned based on these noted signal values. Only then can a reliable self-responsible America replace our entitlement culture.

Will Our Stimulus Plan Work?

There has never been a more truthful candidate for President than our current President. He promised change and the winds of change are blowing — gale force. We are getting what he promised and by our collective vote it was indicated what was wanted — by most but not all.
1980 the Carter administration was going out and the Reagan administration was coming in. Our nation faced significant challenges. Many who are now saying our nation has never seen times as difficult as these need to consider our history.
In the early 1980s unemployment was in double digits. Today it is approaching 7 percent.
Inflation ran rampant in the early 1980s with interest on loans between 13 and 17 percent. Today it is 4 to 5 percent.
During the Reagan years our nation enjoyed a recovery and a resurgence. There was no panic and claims of a catastrophe such as the current administration has declared. By the way what ever happened to getting away from the politics of fear?
Everything the Reagan administration did to achieve the revitalization the current administration is doing the opposite. This has prompted Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina to comment, “What we are doing is worse than nothing.”
The approach we are taking is not new. Eight times since World War II Japan has tried similar efforts without success.
Hidden in this stimulus plan is the rationing of health care for the elderly. It will require seniors to be more accepting of conditions that come with age instead of treating them. As an example, for a female 75 years of age with heart disease it could be calculated her life expectancy is 81 years of age. Consequently she has an estimated 6 years to benefit from the prescribed treatment to correct the problem. The Federal Coordinating Council for Comparative Effectiveness Research, not consisting of doctors would have a complete electronic medical report on every citizen and could use it to deny the treatment. Hence, if you are considered too old and sick to be given care in a “cost-effective” way you need to just go ahead and die. Can you spell euthanasia?
Another change involves the Census Bureau which has for years reported to the Commerce Department. Now it is to report to the office of the President. The census determines congressional districts and certain fund allocations. This change can enable the President to strengthen his party’s numbers.
Little comfort can be derived from the type of cabinet the president has assembled. Virtually every one has had to have a major flaw overlooked that would have disqualified a candidate in previous administrations. Some that finally made it through were the second person recommended for the post. Here is a chill. The people that selected those individuals might well be the people who select two Supreme Court Jurists.
It is said we are passing on to the next generation an enormous debt. That is not all together true. The debt tsunami is coming faster than that. It is going to be incumbent on younger adults of the present generation to face the deficit all this will create. Can you say “inflation?”
However, there is a bigger debt to be incurred. It is a moral debt resulting from avarice, rapaciousness,(in summary greed) and gullibility (in summary hearing a word like “change” and assuming it is all going to be good for everybody). These are symptoms of our moral condition. Until our moral and spiritual condition is changed we will never get out of this crisis. Oops, pardon that fear word.

The Cause of Our Welfare Overload

I am proud to be an American! I am delighted to pay taxes and receive such benefits as protection by our military and local law enforcement personnel, fire protection, the best roadway system in the world, schools, and many other advantages. America isn’t perfect but it doesn’t come in second to any other nation.
However, there is a limit to my ebullience over paying taxes. Some taxes goes for things I would not choose for it to go to. In reality governments take from me and spend on causes of their choice money I had rather keep and happily give to cause of my choice. Like all of us many of our preferred causes are under funded while those of the government’s choosing often get what they don’t deserve.
A case in point is Sharon Jasper who was displaced by hurricane Katrina. She has new government provided housing now. As a matter of fact Sharon has lived in government housing for 57 of her 58 years. Her children like her parents before her are now doing so.
Sharon reflected on her one year out of Section 8 housing recently: “I tried it for a year — you know, working and all. It’s not anything I would want to go through again, or wish on anyone in my family …” Your tax dollars at work.
She is back in Section 8 housing in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana. She made the above statement sitting on her sofa on her new hardwood floor by her 60 inch HD TV of which she said, “It may look nice but it is not plasma… Now they want me to pay a deposit and utilities on this dump….”
At a New Orleans City Council meeting Sharon could restrain herself no longer asserting: “Our families have been displaced all over the United States. They are being forced to commit crimes in cities they are unfamiliar with. It is a very uncomfortable situation for them. Bring them back, then let’s talk about redevelopment.” She concluded her diatribe, “I may be poor, but I don’t have to live poor.”
That mentality is more pervasive than we might like to think. Some folks need and deserve government assistance and I delight to pay taxes to help meet some of these legitimate needs, but….
John Marshall, longest serving member of our Supreme Court observed: “An unlimited power to tax involves, necessarily, a power to destroy, because there is a limit beyond which no institution and no property can bear taxation.” Are we there yet?
With gratitude I have served our state on the Board of Human Resources, the Child Protection Task Force, and other roles. I have seen compassion at its best and torpidness at its worst.
Those who abuse the system are professionals. Not professionals in the sense of being in the NFL or NBA but professionals at manipulating the system. They make a living, no they sustain their life, existing off tax dollars without paying taxes themselves. They are products of our society. They have been trained to expect something for nothing.
Meanwhile some very admirable causes go under funded and legitimate needs not met. Some hard working couples both have to work in order to pay taxes to support the Sharons in our society.
Times are tough and likely to get tougher. There will be more people with legitimate needs. I am thankful to be able to pay taxes to help a bit. Any person deserving help should not be reluctant to accepting it. However, to the Sharons of this world — get a life. It really is enjoyable. Work is rewarding.