PAST AND PRESENT A total failure

Let's turn away from the empty promises of socialism

By John Terry <a href="mailto:email@nwarktimes.com">e

Posted: August 8, 2009 at 5:16 a.m.

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There is no proof anywhere in the world, in any era, that socialism works for the good of the people. Rather, it isa form of government designed to be controlled by a few who lust for power over the people.

I plead with you again to go online, or go to the library and get a good encyclopedia or diary, and check the countries of your choice that have embraced socialism. You will find nothing in either source that should commend socialism to anyone.

Why, then, has socialism, over many decades, been so popular around the world as to entice so many countries to embrace it? There appear to be two primary reasons. The first is where socialism is attained by violence. The second occurs when people grow tired of the personal responsibility that goes with a free system and choose to put the load on government. This latter reason may take decades to realize. This quotation from The Standard Dictionary of Philosophy defines the matter well: "Among socialists there is a widespread belief in gradualism, the doctrine that the socialistic society could be attained by piecemeal reform within the capitalistic system, and that sudden change or contest of force need not be anticipated."

This has happened (and is happening) when a party within the democratic system begins to lust for more power and sincerely believes, as some of our founders did, that the people are not fully able to govern themselves.

People also have to play a role in this. When they become too lazy to fight the unending battle that exists in a freeenterprise system, they turn to government to solve their problems. However, what they end up getting is higher taxes, a lower standard of living and fewer freedoms.

What people give up for socialism is not always perceived in the beginning. For many, it is just a quick and easy way to get rid of an imagined problem. I use the word "imagined" for a purpose. We do not have a single problem in this country, apart from those common to man everywhere, that could not be fixed within the framework of the system that has made our nation the envy of the world.

But seeking solutions to our problems takes sacrifice, and people often get to the place that they don't want to sacrifice; they just want to be comfortable and undisturbed in the life they have planned for themselves. All too many Americans seem to have reached that stage now.

I have studied every country in the world that has accepted socialism without violence and have discovered a marked spiritual decline in all of them evidenced by lagging churchattendance, a reluctance to use the name of God in public, moral decline and a massive increase in crimes of every nature. I have also found declining per capita incomes stemming from short work weeks and longer vacations. In France, for example, the average work week is 35 hours, and vacationsrange from three to six weeks. All of this is dictated by labor unions, organizations socialists must have to keep the populace in line.

Socialism, and the labor unions they must have, decry anything economically visionary or personally ambitious. The more influence the central government has the less need there is for personal involvement in the system.

Never underestimate the importance of the "gradualism" mentioned. The cry now is "we just want to fix the broken health care system." Don't be deceived. There is nothing that so demolishes the prestige of a nation as does socialism. All of the major European countries could have once been called great. Now, several developing countries - which only a short time ago were called Third World countries - are outdoing the European countries that have sacrificed their greatness for the comforts of socialism.

After World War II the United States was said to "stand astride the world like a colossus." We had helped save the world from decades of tyranny. Will we now trade that position by becoming a weak, socialistic nation, sucking at the teat of big government? Such would be a disgrace to the Greatest Generation that Tom Brokaw wrote so glowingly about.

Socialism, from a fragile beginning, can totally destroy the soul of a nation until it is but a shell of its former self. We have lived under the grace of Almighty God for so many years and have enjoyed his blessings upon us. Shall we now give it up for a mess of pottage?

Our Congress, now sold out to ultra-liberalism, is a disgrace to our noble past. It will never get better until we have term limits and get forever rid of those who think they own us instead of serve us. Let us pray for some of the faith and the energy that made us great. Let us give up the empty promises of socialism, and follow these words of Thomas Jefferson, spoken in a speech in 1801, "Agriculture, manufacturers, commerce, and navigation, the four pillars of our prosperity, are then most thriving when left most free to individual enterprise."

John Terry of Siloam Springs is an economist, minister and veteran. His column appears every other Saturday.

Opinion, Pages 4 on 08/08/2009

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