This is an excellent article and should be read. On Thu, Jan 1, 2009 at 12:30 AM, M.A. Johnson <[email protected]> wrote:
> > *Socialism Is Cruel > *by Bill Butler > > Many today view socialism as the kindest and gentlest method of organizing > civilized society. Dyed-in-the-wool socialists are referred to as "bleeding > hearts" because of the popular perception that they possess heightened > empathy for the downtrodden. The sellers of socialism – whether left-wing > Fabian > socialists <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fabian_socialism> or right-wing > revolutionary > socialists <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolutionary_Socialism> – always > peddle their theory as the best means for society to provide a social > "safety net" for those who are left behind by the ravages of the free > market. The truth, however, is that socialism is incalculably cruel and > particularly cruel to those it attempts to benefit. > > Socialism as a political philosophy was best summarized William Graham > Sumner in his 1883 "Forgotten Man" > essay<http://www.swarthmore.edu/SocSci/rbannis1/AIH19th/Sumner.Forgotten.html> > : > > As soon as A observes something which seems to him to be wrong, from > which X is suffering, A talks it over with B, and A and B then propose to > get a law passed to remedy the evil and help X. Their law always proposes to > determine what C Shall do for X or, in the better case, what A, B and C > shall do for X…What I want to do is to look up C …I call him the Forgotten > Man…He is the man who is never thought of. He is the victim of the reformer, > social speculator, and philanthropist, and I hope to show you before I get > through that he deserves your notice both for his character and for the many > burdens which are laid upon him. > > Although Sumner and his followers, including Henry > Hazlitt<http://www.mises.org/store/Economics-in-One-Lesson-P33.aspx?AFID=14>and > other Austrian economists, correctly point to C as a victim of A and B's > social engineering, they fail to recognize that it is really X who is most > victimized. This is because the only thing that is taken from C is property, > which can be replaced, while the theft from X is of things dearer that can > never be replaced – X's time and social utility. This is because in a > perfectly free market everyone is "doing" things that they love to "do" and > receiving receipts from the market – for the moment, dollars – for their > service to the market. Spending our most valuable and ever-depleting > resource – time – doing the things that we love to do, is the key to > happiness and success. If you doubt this, find the increasingly rare person > who is so happy with their job that they say "I would to this job for free." > If you ask this person what they most like to "do," you will find that their > job involves doing the things that they most like to do. These people have > found their niche, their place in the market. When A and B decide to employ > X or direct X to behave in ways that they, not X, desire, they are wasting > X's time, social utility and thus wasting X's life. > > For example, when A and B (e.g. President Elect Obama and the socialist > Congress) see the temporary condition of X's unemployment, A and B seek to > "fix" the problem by employing X to "do" something that A and B deem > socially desirable – e.g. installing a nationwide system of high-speed > internet. A and B sell the program as a benevolent means of providing X with > work and further point out that the new system will also help disadvantaged > Y who does not presently have access to the internet. A and B do not tell C, > D, E or anyone else in the alphabet population that, because A and B have > caused the new system to be created, A and B will inherit the power to > regulate the most powerful means of communication and education in the > history of mankind. This comes later, after the entire alphabet population > has overcome its giddiness over the new "free" internet. When civil > libertarians who supported the charitable internet project object to A and > B's obtrusive regulation and monitoring, A and B or their successors claim > that they "paid for it" and so have the power to regulate it. If anyone else > in the alphabet has the temerity to challenge A and B's good intentions, J, > a judge appointed by A and approved by B, dutifully agrees with A and B. > > But what about poor X? X is an honest man and yearns to do the work of a > carpenter, building and improving permanent structures. He was sitting in > the unemployment line hoping and praying that someone in need of an honest > carpenter would hire him. Meanwhile, R, a real-estate investor who has > acquired several foreclosed properties in a beaten-down part of town, is in > need of an honest carpenter who he can hire to repair and refurbish his > properties and prepare them for resale. R wants to employ X and hire X to do > what he loves to do – carpentry. The problem is that A and B also want to > employ X but hire him to do what they want him to do – lay cable. In this > competition for X's labor, R is at a distinct disadvantage. R, unlike A and > B, does not have the power to tax and thus coerce others to pay for his > endeavor and further does not have the power to finance his operation by > selling below-market debt to CB, A and B's central bank. In short, A and B > can literally print X's wages and coerce others to pay for their endeavor > while R must use his own finite capital. > > Given A and B's bidding advantage, when X looks at his options, the thing > that he loves to do – carpentry – pays much less than the cable installation > job. Because there is no real market demand for the job, A and B must set > the wage price at a level that will cause X to abandon his dream of doing > carpentry. X has three little x's mouths to feed and so takes the > higher-paying job laying cable. Poor X spends eight years of his life doing > something that he does not like to do and something the market is not > demanding from him – climbing telephone poles, snipping coaxial cable, etc. > At the end of the eight years, X has died from overeating, abusing alcohol > and the health problems that result from his Faustian > bargain<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faustian_Bargain>. > R? Well R's houses sit vacant or are shoddily repaired and refurbished > because A and B have stolen X from R and forced R to hire people that are > not as qualified as X. A and B point to the shiny new cable lines and pat > themselves on the back for repairing the "market failure" and for providing > internet access to millions that did not have it before. A and B then turn > their attention to R. They excoriate R for being a slumlord that profits > from shoddily repaired homes. A and B decide to "do something" about the > problem and decide to expand their power to condemn and redevelop private > property. The economic bubble from the internet construction has now burst, > forcing X's son, little x, on the unemployment lines. Little x loves to lay > cable. A and B want him to be a carpenter. And so it goes. > > And what if X likes to lay cable (or build cars) and the free market offers > no jobs laying cable? Aren't A and B doing a public good by employing X to > do what he loves to do? No. The market is not static and neither is any > single individual. The most challenging part of all of our lives is managing > transitions – matching what we like to do with what the market wants from > us. If the market will no longer pay X to lay cable, we do X no favor by > employing him to do something that is economically obsolete. A and B are > still wasting X's time and therefore his life if they employ him to do > something that the market is not demanding. X the individual must search his > skill set and identify other things he likes to do and match them with > market demand. When he does this he serves the market and builds real > self-worth. The decision over what X does with his life is therefore a > decision that only X can make. A and B do incalculable violence to X and the > free market when they misdirect his labor and compel him to do things that > he does not love to do. > > Cruel, isn't it? > > http://www.lewrockwell.com/butler-b/butler-b10.html > > > -- *~@):~{> --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
