No Difference Between Communism and Socialism

Ayn Rand wrote "There is no difference between communism and socialism, except in the means of achieving the same ultimate end: communism proposes to enslave men by force, socialism - by vote. It is merely the difference between murder and suicide.”

Socialism is the robbing of the Productive by the Unaccountable.  Socialism is the primarily end result of Democracy because the Candidates who promise the most out of the public treasury are elected.  Socialism is having those who make very little money, with little or no taxes, decide how much taxes should be paid by those who make more money, by the elected politicians they have voted into office.

Winston Churchill gave the British, and the world, so much inspiration by the words he spoke, that are accepted as axioms but have been forgotten and ignored by the very people who should be listening.

• "If you're not a Liberal at twenty you have no heart, if you're not a conservative at forty, you have no brain."
• "Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inheriting virtue is the equal sharing of misery."
• "There is nothing government can give you that hasn't taken from you in the first place."
• "The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter."
• "The main vice of capitalism is the uneven distribution of prosperity.  The main virtue of socialism is the even distribution of misery."
• "You don't make the poor richer by making the rich poorer."
• "A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on."
• "We contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle."
• "I'd rather argue against a hundred idiots, than have one agree with me."

Socialism has False Golden Appearances and False Emotional Rewards

Socialism's tenants appear to be lofty and rewarding with the incorrect belief:

1. All people will work for the good of fellow men,   (False)
2. All people deserve the same benefits without the same extent of work, effort and/or sacrifices,   (False)
3. All people will have protection when participating in behavior that is known to be destructive based on a person's external appearances or beliefs,  (False)
4. Only a few people will take advantage of benefits without participating in the work force,   (False)
5. No one will abuse power in administrative government office and no one in the administrative government offices will make themselves unaccountable / above the law.   (False)
6. Both government services and government approved businesses owners will have benevolent management that are
   (a) good;  (False)
   (b) provide excellent service,  (False) and  
   (c) quality products to the people they serve.  (False)
7. Business competition is not needed and the choices for consumers will be good and suffice the requests of the people based on the decisions of the Socialism's Leaders.  (False)
8. Free enterprise will still flourish, and people will take financial risks starting a business despite the heavy taxation and requirement to guarantee jobs for employees.  (False)
9. Everyone will be happy and continent with what they are allowed and can achieve. (False)

Note that if you believe the list above is not representative of the socialism you want, then you are uniformed how a socialistic society operates.

Confusion on Desires for Socialism or Communism

Many people confuse Socialism with the belief that there should be free services and products such as education, health care, transportation and senior living accommodations.  Having these items does not make a society entirely socialistic.  Taxation can be done to accommodate the needs of the people without the mandated requirement that eliminate opportunities to select alternate services and products. 

People who live in places like Russia where education is free and the ability to continue in the education process for advanced curriculum is set on one's test scores, will look favorably on benefits that communism and the socialistic benefits offered.  In the high point of Russian Socialistic culture and perceive prosperity of the 1970s/1980s, it's citizens:

1. Did not enjoy the simplest of pleasures that Americans and Western Europeans had with food choices;
2. Maybe had one car that did not have hardly any features / accessories;
3. Have hospitals that only run during the day time where patients are left alone in the night time, without the possibility of proper pain medications, unless the family pays a Doctor or Nurse to stay through the night;
4. Good and services only have very narrow choices and availability. 

In recent decades, with the losing of restrictions, both Russia and China have new prosperity because of the infusion of Capitalism ideals.

The United States is following the path of many countries in Europe that have embraced socialism.  There are many areas in the United States that make opening a small business, that requires a building and a few employees, very expensive and difficult to start.  An interesting statistic is to use mapping tools to count gas stations or small convenience stores in suburban areas in the States that are historically governed by Democrats vs. Republicans.  Also do some research on companies moving out of Democrat controlled States in favor of Republican States for less punitive taxation that prohibits growth of the company.  Furthermore, Democrats, with their socialistic ideas have been destroying the Medical, Pharmaceutical and Healthcare industries.

The Democratic Party Politicians have been pushing higher taxes and increasingly stringent small business laws against business owners, along with Americans of the middle class and higher for decades to pay for socialistic benefits.  Democrats claim they are only after the wealthiest of Americans for not paying more in taxes, but the tax laws made and passed by Democrats always have the middle-class paying more taxes and the wealthiest of Americans are given tax loopholes by the Democrats so that they can continue to get campaign contributions along with paid salaries for positions held at their companies which require no work.  Yes, Republicans are becoming millionaires (which is wrong and evil also) also but there is no history of tax increases that were initiated by Republicans for the purpose of hurting the low- and middle-class income tax brackets.    

We only need to look at the success of Socialism in history and today to discover it does not work overtime.  Socialism ultimately destroys freedom, eliminates incentives to excel in life because merit does will not reward under socialism, and socialism takes away hope in the human spirit, all of which, is Satanic in its design. 

Four Country Examples: Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland

Norway, a small population, is an example of Socialism appearing to be working but it is an illusion because the country uses massive oil revenues to support its welfare and economy where oil (a resource) is not a product of human work.  Furthermore, the income derived from oil, in Norway, requires a steady external country workforce along with purchased technology to augment missing labor and production. 

Sweden and Denmark face other problems in their perceived success. 

In March 0f 2019, Finland's entire government resigns after a breakdown of an agreement on welfare state reform because of the costs involved are beginning to go out of control by putting a system that will not be sustainable.  Data from Eurostat data, one-in-five people in Finland are over the age 65 which is the highest in Europe after Germany, Portugal, Greece and Italy.

Socialism Causes

• Socialism creates a threshold where income, lower than a specific level, causes loss of financial rewards for earning more because of forfeited governmental free financial income and/or benefits when working.  In other words, if an individual, is receiving free benefits from the government because of the income level that the individual is classified as being part of, starts earning more money than that puts the individual into a higher income bracket then the free benefits will decrease/stop, so the incentive goes away to earn more. 
• Socialism causes an underground black market for goods and services along with unreported income when cash is involved in businesses. 
• Socialism causes the family unit to suffer when there are incentives not to work.
• Socialism often negates the positive influence of either a head of the household role model or a father plus mother family unit as the financial provider(s) because a single parent household can receive more financial benefits.

An Ancient Jewish Proverb states "It is a father's duty to teach his son a trade" (Kid. 29a), and "He who does not teach his son a trade teaches him to steal" (ibid.). A man without a regular occupation was not permitted to act as judge or even give testimony (Sanh. 24b)."

Heart of Mankind

As we know from numerous scriptures such as Jeremiah 17:9 "The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?"  Socialism requires honesty, strong work ethics, compliance to not take benefits when not needed and so much more where mankind always does the contrary.

Democracy is Doomed to Failure

"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse (generous betowal of gifts and money) from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world’s greatest civilizations has been 200 years."  This quote is attributed to Alexander Fraser Tytler, Alexis de Tocqueville and Elmer To Peterson which has had several renditions but drips with truth because Democracy depends upon citizens honesty, self-reliance and most importantly not abusing aid from the government along with abuse of power by governmental.

In 1814, John Adams said "Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself.  There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide."

A starting point on some possible solutions to the problem of a country turning Socialistic

1. Limit voting rights to only those who own land, town home, or condominium/flat which cannot be a percentage of ownership such as a timeshare because this ensures those who have a vested interest in the economy potentially will vote for the candidate who is for development of the area along with the country at a whole.
2. Limit voting right to only those who are not on any government assistance with exception of those who are retired or disabled.  (Note that social security is not government assistance.)
3. Limit the ability to be elected to any governmental position form local to Federal to those who have no criminal records.
4. Limit government elected positions to two terms.
5. Elected officials cannot take on any job outside of the position to earn additional income while in office.
6. Elected officials, after leaving office, must stay away from any position dealing with elected officials.  This is often known as a Lobbyist.
7. Limit the ability to receive governmental assistance of any kind to a specified duration for those who are not
   (a) physically or mentally handicapped,
   (b) over a qualified senior citizen age and
   (c) who are not citizens of the country.
8. Require all elected officials to disclose all Tax returns for the previous seven years.

The United States

The United States is described as a Republic and a Democracy.  In most people's minds this is exactly the same thing but that is not true. 

• Democracy implies a direct rule by all of the people by their vote and everyone's vote is equal.
• Republic implies a system where the will of the people are mediated by representatives, who might and should be wiser, better educated than the average person.

In the early years of the American Colonies, voters had to own land to be allowed to vote.  The establishment of the Electoral College was set up with the intention to cushion or run interference between the government from the direct expression of the popular vote which might be not for the betterment of the people.

(A T-Shirt being sold in a Flea-Market store.)

Fascism

The term Fascist is often used as an insult towards people who are conservative.  Conservative People are those who believe in self-reliance and everyone earning their own way with help to only the truly needy and are often regarded as Capitalists.  The best definition for Fascism comes from "The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics":

"As an economic system, fascism is socialism with a capitalist veneer. The word derives from fasces, the Roman symbol of collectivism and power: a tied bundle of rods with a protruding ax. In its day (the 1920s and 1930s), fascism was seen as the happy medium between boom-and-bust-prone liberal capitalism, with its alleged class conflict, wasteful competition, and profit-oriented egoism, and revolutionary Marxism, with its violent and socially divisive persecution of the bourgeoisie. Fascism substituted the particularity of nationalism and racialism—“blood and soil”—for the internationalism of both classical liberalism and Marxism.

Where socialism sought totalitarian control of a society’s economic processes through direct state operation of the means of production, fascism sought that control indirectly, through domination of nominally private owners. Where socialism nationalized property explicitly, fascism did so implicitly, by requiring owners to use their property in the “national interest”—that is, as the autocratic authority conceived it. ... "  by Sheldon Richman

Caveat

Some may argue that there are aspects of Socialism and Communism that are actually good such as protection for elderly workers, social financial income and healthcare for those over a specific age or disability, projects to provide work for economically poor areas, etc.  The question is "are these ideas inspired by Socialism or Communism?" where the answer is not necessarily yes or no.   

In previous generations of Americans and also currently in many places in the world, the family unit provided the elderly, disabled, mentally impaired a place to live with loving and respectful care.  It was very common in the USA, prior to the 1970s, to have grandparents living in the home with their married children and they assisted / participated in the grandchildren's rearing and contributed to the whole family's benefit.  Additionally, Churches in communities also provided assistance.  There were hardly any assisted living homes or places to "ship off" members of the family because they were socially unacceptable or a burden to one's lifestyle.  In our current world, there is a place for assistance for the extreme or unique cases of the human condition, but the problem now is it is used all the time when it should not be used.

It should be obvious that this topic is dealing with the inevitable problems of government by a socialistic or communistic society.   It is not the purpose of this topic to list out a plan or solution to avoid or remove a socialist or communistic society.

What to read next?

(1) Liberalism and the arguments used, (2) Historical Racism, (3) Media's effect on Racism, Cultural and Christian Prejudice, (4) Racism Test, (5) Cops Kill by Race?  (6) Illegal Immigration - USA and Mexico with those who cross into the USA illegally (7) Democrat vs. Republican control of USA since the 1960s (8) USA in the Bible (9) Political Party Blind Allegiance (10) Political Party Control in the United States since the 1960s (11) Peaceful People are Irrelevant Point.

Gloria Alvarez

See this excellent video from Gloria Alvarez where she is explaining the differences between Socialism and Capitalism.