You’re Already a Socialist. Yes you.
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My friend Keith Morgan kindly gave me permission to post this up here. It was originally posted on his Facebook account, but I thought it was such a fantastic essay, it deserved to get out. I hope he writes some more like this…
You’re Already a Socialist. Yes you.
by Keith Morgan on Wednesday, July 7, 2010 at 9:27pm
Given how many “conservatives” are in my social circle, trust me, an awful lot of people are reading that title and thinking either “he’s out of his flippin’ mind” or “he’s talking about anybody but me.”
Except, I’m not.
A thought occurred to me. I can’t take credit for getting the original ball rolling. But it was one of those cascading thought processes that led me to this conclusion. Bear with me.
A while back, I (with a group of people) was asked, “When was the Revolutionary War won?” I remained silent, as lots of answers were bandied about. Each time, the questioner smiled sadly and shook his head. “No,” he responded, “The Revolutionary War was won generations before the military conflict. It was won in the hearts and minds of men who discovered liberty and the right to govern themselves.”
Oh. I’m so with that answer. Love that answer. Believe that answer. Truth!
Then, while partially mentally grinding away at the concept of this perpetual revolution that lives on and on in the hearts and minds of free men, a chilling thought hit me. It hit me as I watched “conservatives” attack Barak Obama for his abject failure in dealing with the gulf oil crisis. Now, don’t get me wrong. Obama is an abject failure in my opinion on many things, and certainly that list includes his response to the gulf oil spill. But, then something clicked. Something horrible.
It dawned on me, that we are already socialist. We are socialist, because we, as a nation, in our hearts and minds, look to the government for our solutions. We looked to the government for making everything better again after Katrina. We look to the government to make everything better after this gulf spill. But think about this. What does a “conservative” betray when he attacks his political enemy for his failure to handle our problems? When liberals attacked Bush for his failures on Katrina, well, that’s kind of expected. Liberals are, by and large, statists who tend to believe that government is the answer. So there’s no surprise there. But conservatives doing the same thing, well, that belies the terrifying reality that everyone, on the left and right side of the isle alike, believes that the solutions to our problems universally lie with our government.
Pause for a moment and consider the following hypothetical. Suppose a massive hurricane had rocked Boston in 1770. Boston, at that time, was the world’s largest sea port. Trade in the colonies would have been devastated. Now, can you for one minute imagine John Adams, Paul Revere, John Hancock, or (ha!) Samuel Adams declaring that King George has to come and rebuild their seaport? What a ridiculous concept! No, the men of 1770′s Boston would have clearly understood that King George rebuilding that seaport would have come with some very heavy shackles indeed. Dependence upon government comes with shackles. Always. They would have rebuilt. Themselves. As free men who wished to remain that way.
Imagine if a large shipping company had gone bankrupt. Can you imagine ANY resident of 1770s Boston advocating that the King buy that shipping company? No. They would argue, let them fail! Yes, it will impact everyone’s lives for a while, but ten entrepreneurs will be lined up to take up the slack. Free men, would be chomping at the bit to build and sail ships, or buy the assets of the failed company. The concept of a bailout by King George would have been ludicrous to them.
So look around you. Particularly conservatives. Consider how much you rely on government. Consider how many times you have slid your wrists into the shackles of dependence. Consider how many times you have laid blame on a President (particularly a liberal one) for things our founding fathers would NEVER have considered a President or the government’s problem.
See, now, in the United States, when something goes wrong, we expect the government to fix it. In our hearts and minds, we are already socialists.
Keith can be contacted at kmorgan@wvcdl.org
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From the first pack of hunter-gatherers to the first agrarian village, to the first group of villages that created a city and the first state, human beings have been social creatures. Benjamin Franklin became famous for his work setting up the fire department of Philadelphia, and the border patrols against Indian raids. John Adams became famous for his pro bono work. George Washington was respected for his service to duty, not for any business or political acumen. And as for Boston- arguably, the entire war was one to protect the rights of Massachusetts. Taxes were borne until Boston was attacked and occupied, at which point life and liberty and personal fortune were risked by Virginians and Georgians and Pennsylvanians and New Yorkers to defend their countrymen, lives laid down for a common good, money laid down for common good, as many of the colonies’ wealthiest men bankrupted themselves supporting the war.
What you call socialism, they would call civic duty. And you’re right, civic duty runs deep in our culture, and this despite the best efforts of the cult of Ayn Rand.
And for the record, the Revolutionary War ended in 1783. The same way that the General Theory of Relativity was published in 1915 despite being based on work traceable to Aristotle and reaching further back than that.
You need to sort out your understanding of words and what they mean before lecturing.
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I’m not a socialist. But I agree with the author, the republicans certainly are.
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The entire Revolutionary War was predicated on attacks against the rights of Bostonians. This is the worst conceivable argument.
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The entire Revolutionary War was predicated on usurpation of generations of self government in the colonies. I could write pages on the “causes” of the Revolutionary War. But there’s no need to duplicate the work of others.
If you think this is the “worst conceivable argument,” tell me with a straight face that John Adams, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine, or any of the other founders would have endorsed a “stimulus” from the crown. And try to do it with a straight face. Bahahahah.
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You should really look up the word socialism before writing anything. Just because the right uses the word incorrectly to smear a Democrat doesn’t mean you should use it incorrectly also. The federal government providing relief, programs or support has zero to do with socialism.
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You keep telling yourself that, Mike. You keep telling yourself that looting from the productive to give to the “needy” (you call it “programs”) isn’t socialism. You keep telling yourself that an entire class of people isn’t forming (currently 50% of the population of the United States that doesn’t pay a dime in taxes) whose chief contribution to society is the manufacturing of “need.” You keep telling yourself that stealing from those who produce by force of government, to give to those who “need” isn’t socialism. You keep telling yourself that. Based on the current electorate, MANY fools will believe you.
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Sorry Keith, I prefer the actual definition of socialism, when the government owns, operates and profits from industry, then we’ll have socialism. You keep redefining the word so you can use it to slur, but you’re wrong.
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Helpful blog, bookmarked the website with hopes to read more!
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Hey, I can’t view your site properly within Opera, I actually hope you look into fixing this.
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