(My Clovis News Journal/Portales News-Tribune column for September 7, 2011.)
Collectivism or socialism, in whatever form, is like a deadly parasite excreting a poison into its host. As long as your society is vibrant and healthy it can support a small amount of this societal poison. The collectivism feeds off of the rest of the society, dragging it down a little, but not enough to be noticed by the majority of the people who are busy with their own lives. A healthy society is resilient.
If the society starts to become less healthy for some reason, or if more socialism is added since "just a little more won't hurt", the effects will start to grow. Little economic problems will take longer to recover from. Each new problem will have a slightly bigger effect. A feedback loop begins.
At some point there will be too much socialism for the society to sustain. At that point there are two ways things can go from there. Either you get rid of the socialism or you watch the society die.
You can't shield your favorite bits of socialism while demanding that someone else get rid of theirs. Entitlement programs are all equal in the effects they have. Just whom "The Entitled" may be is of no consequence.
Regulations and taxation, too. Everything that is a hindrance to private property and a disincentive to be productive has a broad reach- crippling more than just the intended target.
Each bit of collectivism takes a small bite out of liberty and weakens your society just a little more. Add an intrinsically worthless fiat currency to the mix, such as the US dollar, and you have a recipe for disaster.
After a while, if the situation goes on long enough, it isn't only your society in danger, but much of civilization.
Civilization today is no longer strong enough to indulge collectivist myths and delusions. You want socialism? Then you pay for it yourself and leave the rest of us, who choose to opt out, alone. You'll have to let civilization recover for a couple hundred years before it can weather another round of your statist disease. Perhaps by then our descendants will be smart enough to realize that collectivism always fails, every time it is tried, no matter what you call it or how you justify it. It's just a matter of time.
If the society starts to become less healthy for some reason, or if more socialism is added since "just a little more won't hurt", the effects will start to grow. Little economic problems will take longer to recover from. Each new problem will have a slightly bigger effect. A feedback loop begins.
At some point there will be too much socialism for the society to sustain. At that point there are two ways things can go from there. Either you get rid of the socialism or you watch the society die.
You can't shield your favorite bits of socialism while demanding that someone else get rid of theirs. Entitlement programs are all equal in the effects they have. Just whom "The Entitled" may be is of no consequence.
Regulations and taxation, too. Everything that is a hindrance to private property and a disincentive to be productive has a broad reach- crippling more than just the intended target.
Each bit of collectivism takes a small bite out of liberty and weakens your society just a little more. Add an intrinsically worthless fiat currency to the mix, such as the US dollar, and you have a recipe for disaster.
After a while, if the situation goes on long enough, it isn't only your society in danger, but much of civilization.
Civilization today is no longer strong enough to indulge collectivist myths and delusions. You want socialism? Then you pay for it yourself and leave the rest of us, who choose to opt out, alone. You'll have to let civilization recover for a couple hundred years before it can weather another round of your statist disease. Perhaps by then our descendants will be smart enough to realize that collectivism always fails, every time it is tried, no matter what you call it or how you justify it. It's just a matter of time.
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