Socialism: What it is

Socialism: What it is and what it isn’t

When you say the word ‘Socialism’ most people will immediately think communism. And this is understandable since communism is a variation of socialism. But socialism is nothing like communism. Communism basically takes the ideals of socialism and perverts them to the point where you have an oppressive dictatorship. This is not what socialism preaches.

I don’t mean to sound like a cult leader or fanatic, but as Americans, we are led to believe that democracy is the savior of the free world. We are taught that anything other than a democracy is not a free government and therefore is the enemy. But in fact, democracy is not really a free government. In democracy, majority rules. Most would agree with this and again I understand this. If the will of the majority is put into place, more people are happy and the minority obviously was wrong. But say the majority is made up of racist, oppressive people. And say the issue on hand is moving nonwhite people into separate parts of the country. The majority is not right in this case. The issue would be voted in favor of and nonwhite citizens would be oppressed and discriminated against. Socialism is a society that works in the best interests of all the people, and not just the majority. If there is a dissenting opinion on an issue, the people would work to reach an agreement to both sides of the argument and decide on which side would be in the best interests of the people or perhaps something in the middle. Socialism is mainly a community of individuals who respect and accept other ideas as valid, unless these ideas threaten the freedom and safety of other members of the community. On the community level, the government is run exclusively by the members of the community. On a national level, this would not work as there are just too many people. In this case, a group of individuals would be needed, each representing a certain group of people, much like a united nations. These representatives would not just vote in favor of the issues that would benefit their specific group, but rather in favor of the issues that would benefit every one within the country. If not everyone can benefit from the issue, the representatives would work to make sure that the minority is treated fair and justly. This would be very complicated as it is human nature to vote in favor of an issue that would solely benefit your people. But as human beings, I believe we are smart enough to accept that not everyone is the same and must be accepted and treated just as fair and just as everyone else.

Many people think that the businesses in a socialist society are run by the government. Maybe in communism, but like I’ve mentioned earlier, communism is an oppressive government and truly is a threat to the freedom and safety of the people of the world. In a socialist society, the businesses are run by the workers, and not just a group of aristocratic CEOs who do no work whatsoever. The business would be owned by the people who actually work in the factories or in the cubicles and not by the people sitting cozy in the office or their island getaway. As always businesses would be run in the best interests of the people, as they are being run by down to earth average citizens.

Religion would play no role in the governing of a socialist state. Religion is not a universal item. Many people have different religions and all must be respected and accepted as valid, unless the teachings threaten the safety and freedom of others. If a religion calls for human sacrifice and other perverse practices, the religion is viewed as a threat and will be removed from the society. This also applies to ethics and teachings. If a group of people teach racism and prejudice, this would be viewed as a threat and unacceptable in a socialist community. In America, groups like the Ku Klux Klan and the Aryan Nations are protected under the first amendment. But their ideas threaten the safety of minorities and are therefore unacceptable.

I’ve talked to people about socialism and how everyone is equal in a socialist society. They say that this robs a person of his or her individual freedom. This is not true. By equality, I don’t mean that everyone is forced to be the same as everyone else. By equality I mean that no one is better than someone else because of his/her ideals, or what he/she has. Socialism is about brother and sisterhood. We are all human beings and underneath our exteriors we are all the same. For instance, there would be no social classes. Social classes promote the belief that one class is better than another. Nobody is better than anybody because they have more money or a better standard of living. We must all work together to insure that everyone can live a happy and fulfilling lifestyle without prejudice or injustice.

In a socialist society, war is viewed as wrong and disgraceful. In my opinion, war is the lazy man’s solution. The rulers and governments of nations are too lazy to try and think up alternative solutions to war with another nation. There is always another solution, but we try to look for the quick and easy way out. If any of you have seen Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, Master Yoda tells Luke that the quick and easy way leads to the dark side of the force. I believe that this applies in real life. War is never a good solution to a problem. It costs money, and lives on both sides and creates further animosity between nations. If maybe, androids were the only ones dying and fighting in a war, then maybe I’d have a different opinion. Machines are expendable, but young men with bright futures are not. You cannot bring back the dead. What’s done is done. And the money that goes into training a military is sickening. We Americans seem more worried about the state of our military force than poverty in the big cities and racism. And to think many people consider themselves compassionate. Norman Thomas, a socialist speaker, said that the United Nations should call for a universal disarmament down to a police level. This would take some time, but this would be the best solution. As children we were taught that violence is not the answer. But why to we still support war?

Back in the thirties and forties, there was a man by the name of Adolf Hitler. Hitler governed his country in a cruel and oppressive way called Fascism, which is fueled by patriotism. Now don’t get me wrong, patriotism is not necessarily a bad thing. I have friends who are patriotic. But when you take patriotism and put the sovereign state above all else, then you have a bad thing. Under Hitler’s rule, Germany’s nation anthem ‘Deutschland Uber Alles’ which translates to ‘Germany Above All’ truly means what it says. He played on this and brainwashed the entire German population (except for the Jewish part) into thinking that all Germans were superior and those who were not German, inferior. In a country such as ours, the ten commandments have been changed a bit. God has since come to be represented as the sovereign nation. In the words of Norman Thomas: ‘I am the Lord, thy God. Thou shalt have no other Gods before me. Thou shalt not take my name in vain for the Senate and the House committees will not hold him guiltless that taketh my name in vain. Thou shalt not kill, retail, but thou shalt at my command kill quite indiscriminately, as science has enabled us to do. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor, unless perhaps it is in the good cause of fighting communism somewhere in the world.’ Patriotism must not be overdone as to prevent another Nazi Germany.

I hope in this essay I have brought light to the subject of socialism and my views on government and other issues. In closing, I leave you with this comment: Ask not what you CAN do. Ask what you WILL do.