Posted on 06.11.2018

America and Socialism

With the prominence and support Bernie Sanders achieved in the last presidential election cycle, and the fascination of so many of the young voters find in him and other socialist political hopefuls, the possibility of a socialist administration at some time in the future cannot be ignored.

As one who was around for the onslaught and the demise of the Cold War, and has seen every socialistic experiment that has been attempted for the last three quarters of a century fail miserably, leaving behind the residue of ruined economies and nations totally out of step and poorly prepared to reenter the world of commerce and progress, I despise socialism and all its implications and applications.

One has only to take a look at Venezuela, socialism’s latest victim, to see the disastrous results, a starving population and a country that should be thriving, in tatters.

When the Iron Curtain fell and Western businesses rushed to be among the first to take advantage of the new acceptance of capitalism McDonald’s set up shop in some of the former Iron Curtain countries and there was a mad dash by the populace to get the - by their standards - well-paying western type jobs.

Then the problems began.

Due to the work ethics, they had developed under the socialist system, where the amount of work you do or your production achievements neither punishes nor rewards you in the “one size fits all” atmosphere of the socialist workplace where the basic attitude is, I’ll make the same whether I work hard or sluff off.

The upshot was about a 300% turnover in the early days when the new workers would work a while and then sit down and read the newspaper or engage in some other non-productive activity and were basically stunned to learn that they would have to deliver a full day’s work for a full day's pay.

But such are the fruits of socialism, when incentives are taken away, ambition means next to nothing and your world becomes a gray hopeless place, where every aspect of your life is controlled by an all-powerful, central government, an endless treadmill of knee-deep bureaucratic mud, where your healthcare, your kid’s quality and degree of education, in fact, every aspect of your private and public life is decided by a bean counter sitting in an office somewhere with two rubber stamps, one for approved and one for rejected.

And you have no recourse, no appeal and, eventually, no rights.

The reason being, it is impossible to live under true socialism without a totalitarian government which eventually becomes so top heavy with agencies for the administration of this and bureaucracies for the enforcement of that, that it becomes so expensive to maintain that after the taxes are finally raised as high as they can possibly be and society is deprived of everything they can be deprived of, it collapses under its own weight.

Look at the Soviet Union that got so far down that they couldn’t even pay their military and look at the Peoples Republic of China, who, although still repressive governments, had to adopt some capitalistic measures to right their economic boats.

I fear that the young people of today are looking at the pie in the sky of Bernie Sanders promises of free everything and not at the ramifications of such a reality.

The word “free” when applied to government is an oxymoron because the government doesn’t have anything “free” to give to anybody, they can only obtain resources by taking it from the people and businesses who earn it, and when the burden becomes too heavy on the businesses they simply move out of the country and manufacture their goods offshore.

When the burden becomes too heavy on the affluent taxpayers they simply stop investing and the economy slows down, producing less taxes, necessitating raising the taxes on the dwindling number of taxpayers left to foot the bill.

And socialism creates its own voting base, by maintaining an unsustainable entitlement society who always votes for he who promises the most.

Socialism is a recipe for the worst kind of political disaster, a one-way street to third world status, capable of reducing a great nation into an also-ran in brief fashion.

Run from it, America.

It's poison.

What do you think?

Pray for our troops, our police and the peace of Jerusalem.

God Bless America

— Charlie Daniels

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Comments

Socialism
Preach on, Brother!
Posted by Mark
Socialism
YOU ARE 100% RIGHT The young kids today has no clue!
Posted by Ben
Socialism or Capitalism
A while back, Trump asked for more immigrants from Norway. Trump's beloved Norway has universal health care, free public education, a guaranteed living wage and pension, and overall a socialistic safety net the US has never had and likely never will. Markets are free and private ownership valued yet a Norwegian child has a far better chance of moving ahead than a child in this country. Gun control is mandatory, gun violence almost non-existent, yet gun ownership common. Poverty is much lower than the US. So, why are there not more immigrants from Norway? Perhaps they do not want to experience the out of control corporate capitalist run nation that we are subjected to. Perhaps a happy productive life appeals to some people. It will never catch on here.
Posted by dana
America and Socialism
I have five grandsons that are in their twenties now and I know several of them voted for Bernie Sanders. Charlie if you don't mind I'm going to send this to them. Couldn't have said it better. God bless you my brother.
Posted by David
socialism
Perhaps Dana would be happier living in Norway
Posted by Robert
Socialism
As others have posted, you are spot on with your opinion. The only people who benefit from socialism are the politicians who are in control. Years ago my college age son voted for Obama... now he is in the working world, paying taxes and supporting himself. He is now a conservative! Thanks again for your article, I always look forward to reading your thoughts and confirming the entire country is not losing their minds!
Posted by Steve
You can ignore the facts but you cannot deny them
Robert, I am an American. I was born here, married here, raised a family here, and I expect to die here. If that is a concern for you, get over it.
Posted by Dana
Socialism, Capitalism, Freedom
Charlie, I have studied the economies you speak of and found that the stories of Cuba and Venezuela speak best of the failures of socialism and capitalism. You pointed out the failures of socialism quite well. However, capitalism in its purest form leads to a totalitarian government as corporations monopolize power by corrupting the government. This is part of what is going on in Russia and China right now. Ironically, capitalism has been around since before the days of Rome as capitalism is simply built on the exchange of goods and services nothing more, nothing less. Different variations of capitalism have arisen and self destructed throughout history. Only when the concept of freedom was introduced, did capitalism start to become stable, as its self destructive forces could be checked and balanced through freedoms like due process and birth right liberty (aka the 14th Amendment). This freedom is now considered a burdensome regulation on business as global companies have found that nations with freedom are less profitable than nations without freedom. We need to protect freedom not free the market from freedom. There is an old saying that says: "You are the most free when there is the most competition for you." It is kinda hard to say there is competition when corporations are spending more time governing services you get access to and governing market share, instead of freely competing with each other. The government can be a competitor in a market we just need to make sure it ain't the only one.
Posted by Steven
Socialism definition in article
BS BS BS Bernie Sanders is NOT a Marxist Socialite which is exactly what this article is claiming.
Posted by Ann
WRONG
I see Mr Smarts did not talk about real Social democracy....don't see people in The Netherlands, Germany, Canada, Etc STARVING....the countries that he talks about did NOT FAIL because of social Democracy..they failed because their leaders were thieves..BIG difference...
Posted by Les
Freedom
Amen, Amen & Amen Charlie, Kris Kristofferson wrote and Janis Joplin first recorded the words, Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose, over the years I have found that you can get as many takes on the meaning of this as many people as you ask. The bottom line sir is as you stated Socialism is a one way street to third world status. When I think of Freedom I thank the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob for creating the greatest country on the earth, the men and women of the US military for the price they have paid and Donald Trump who up to this point in time is the greatest president elected to run the US in my lifetime. I say this partially because he has done more to give back freedom, which the last 4 have taken so much from us. As I have stated before I would rather die fighting WWIII under Donald J Trump than a slow death under the socialistic sodomite Obama. nuff said, remember the USS Pueblo and the Alamo, God Bless Plowboy
Posted by Plowboy
Too young to recall
That was Roger Miller, not Janis Joplin.
Posted by Dana
Too young to recall
Thanks for the correction Dana, but if its age related in my case it is probably ol timers setting in, cause I always was a Roger Miller fan. As far as Janis Joplin I never followed a lot, but once worked with a guy that went to High School with her in Port Arthur Texas and had the great pleasure of meeting Dallas Coach Jimmy Johnson, another of her classmates, at Acapulco Joe's Restaurant in Indianapolis shortly after they won the 1993 Super Bowl and he backed up most of the stories. The question that begs an answer in my mind today is how sick BILL MAHER has to be to state the other day "I feel like the bottom has to fall out at some point. And by the way, I’m hoping for it. Because I think one way you get rid of Trump is a crashing economy. So please, bring on the recession. Sorry if that hurts people, but it’s either root for a recession or you lose your democracy." How evil is it not to care if children go to bed hungry because you want their parents to be jobless so that Trump might get voted out of office? nuff said God Bless, appreciate the correction, Plowboy
Posted by Plowboy
Socialism
I'd rather live and work under Bernie than this failure of a President and get back to progressive issues that help the people who really need help. Bernie 2020!!!!
Posted by Thomas
Socialism
Keep on speaking out. I agree with you totally. 💖💙 God Bless You.
Posted by Rebecca
The reason why socialism always fails:
Eventually you run out of other people's money.
Posted by Allan
Scandinavia
If Scandinavia is such a socialist Valhalla, why aren't people from all over to the world flocking to it for a better way of life? Whenever the subject of socialism arises, deniers immediately tout the successes of this very small and extremely cold area of the world. Does economic prosperity exist there? Are people truly happy there, and if so, it is truly related to socialism and a guaranteed floor beyond which nobody will go? The problem is, if you cap the floor, you must also by definition define a ceiling, thereby curtailing work ethic and incentive. Americans don't roll like that and never will. At least not the ones who want to stand up and be counted among the free and productive.
Posted by Robert
To Plowboy
What Maher is saying is that Trump will destroy the economy and there is no way to avoid it. Since it is inevitable, he hopes it comes sooner than later so Trump will be voted out of office and not have the chance to destroy the US forever. It is somewhat reminiscent of the language used by the right after Obama was elected. Believe it or not, Fred Foster and Charlie Daniels were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame on the same day, long overdue for both. Bobby McKee was in the audience and Kris Kristofferson sang Me and Bobby McGee. Must have been something.
Posted by Dana
To Robert
Thanks for dropping the ‘why don’t you move to Norway’ nonsense. Yes, people are flocking to Sweden. And, yes, the Nordic countries are routinely listed as the happiest by the folks who compile such lists. If socialism is the evil Charlie says it is, these countries should not exist. Would the Nordic model work here? I doubt it. But capitalism sure has its nasty side if folks like you would face up to it.
Posted by Dana
Socialism
Charlie, most of them know that our healthcare system basically sucks. It costs way too much to go to school. You don't have to go totally Marxist socialist to get better health care and better education. Many countries do it now quite successfully, but don't mention them
Posted by Philip
Socialism vs. Communism confusion
There seems to be a common misconception that socialism = communism, with an intermingling of ideologies in the way that best benefits one's argument. The former Soviet Union and current People's Republic of China are communist, which includes elements of socialism, but is not true socialism. England, Canada, France, and MOST OTHER "free states" can be considered socialist. Charlie mentions the workers who would not work a full day "due to the work ethic developed under the socialist system" but mentions they were from former "Iron Curtain" countries- they were COMMUNIST countries! Imagine workers in Canada, England, etc not working They would be FIRED. But these countries are SOCIALIST countries. There is no government control of employment- that is "communist". Socialist countries are not usually totalitarian. The danger in intermingling socialist and communist theory as one sees fit to prove their point lies in the misinformation spread to those who blindly accept statements as fact. Socialism does not "take incentives away", that would be more accurately attributed to communism, in which all industry is government owned. The "socialist countries" like Canada, England, etc. have free markets, citizens own businesses and property, workers are paid, and citizens vote in honest elections (vs. communist/totalitarian regimes with sham elections). The people of these countries happen to believe that affordable healthcare for all is a basic human right, much like we believe self-defense is. Mixing ideals of communism with socialism just to attempt to justify your own ideals is deceptive, immoral, and a disservice to those who truly want to simply make an informed decision.
Posted by Jeff
Socialism
If anyone has any doubts about socialism ask an American Indian how the reservation is working out for them!
Posted by Dave