Politics; Obama, Churchill, and Tyler Durden

Up until this past year, I hated politics. I didn't know much about them besides always hearing that politicians were dirty, lying tricksters. However, after my first year in college, I began to ask questions and gain knowledge on the different facets of liberalism, conservatism, capitalism, and socialism. For the first time, I was able to formulate my own opinions, instead of just going along with what people around me said they believed.

Now hear me out: I do not claim to be an expert on any of these things. I am merely expressing thought through the knowledge that I have gained. I'm sure there is more that I have yet to learn. But just because I am not an expert on something doesn't mean I can't blog about it.

So here it goes. Our current president, Barack Obama, is often pinned as a socialist. For the most part, people like the idea of that. To reluctantly quote Fight Club, "We'll redistribute the wealth of the world." Minus the whole anarchy thing, I think Tyler Durden might have voted for Obama. I mean- it doesn't sound all that bad; if everyone works hard, and some people just get lucky, why shouldn't their wealth be distributed evenly among men? Other people just missed the mark; it isn't their fault.

It sounds generous. It sounds unifying. It sounds good.

But if you could ask the late Winston Churchill what he thought. He'd disagree.

 

"Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery."

- Winston Churchill

 

A little harsh? Perhaps. But upon careful inspection of the flaws of socialism, it makes sense.

 

"If we can't all be as rich as the richest, let's make the richer poorer by giving their money to the poorest."

 

"Okay, Robin Hood. But some people just missed the mark. And that sucks for them. But tough luck."

 

And that's a taste of the flaws of capitalism. It's the reason we fight for the closer parking spot; the reason we rush; the reason we strive for the best name brands. It's why some products have over a 500% mark-up rate. Capitalism creates the cut-throat, money-thirsty society in which we live today.

 

Both systems have flaws just like any system if one looks close enough. But the fact of the matter is: The United States of America is a capitalistic society. It was created that way. Why? Because freedom means capitalism. It means people are FREE to do what they'd like with their money.

 

Socialism doesn't take away all of that freedom. You can still do whatever you want with the money you get to keep. But some of your money is going to be taken away and given to the people who didn't work quite as hard or just didn't manage to hit the sweet spots.

 

And here's why I believe socialism won't work: if all Americans and born and bred in this society I'm talking about, they're used to capitalism; it's the natural way of American life. Go ahead and argue that it's taught. Go ahead and argue that nothing like this is "natural," rather that Americans are "conditioned" to a capitalistic lifestyle. Whatever. The point is: trying to convince Americans as a whole to be naturally socialistic isn't going to work. BECAUSE in order for a society to truly want to be socialistic, they have to be willing to be selfless. Because they don't get to keep everything they work hard for, and some of it might end up going to someone really undeserving.

 

Not only does this go against American nature, but it goes against HUMAN nature. And that's a tough thing to beat.

 

Which leaves government leaders with the option of force. Joseph Stalin tried this; remember how that turned out? Hundreds dead, ruined economy, paranoid government. No big deal.

 

All I'm saying is, I don't see a way of reiterating American society to truly operate socialistically (which, again, means selflessly) without the application of government force.

 

Like picture this:

"I KNOW you worked hard to buy that new bike, but you must let your sister use it just as much as you do. She doesn't have as good a job as you so SHARE! NOW!"

 

... I'm not saying capitalism is the only way to go; I'm not saying it's perfect. I'm not saying socialism is terrible. I'm just saying, is it really possible to change this without compromising what the United States was founded upon anyway?

 

All right. All right. I get it. My last post was how I stopped reading controversy blogs. Which I have. But that doesn't mean I get to avoid all controversy. The world is full of it, and it doesn't just lie in articles on the Internet. Plus, just because I don't read them doesn't mean I can't write them, and it doesn't mean you can't read them either.