The Socialist Advantage

There is an inherent advantage that the socialists have over advocates of individual freedom, and that is the illusion of compassion for the afflicted.

Just think about it. A socialist (that is, one who would see the government provide all goods and services for society) spouts off rhetoric filled with promises of handouts and free meals for all. How can they be wrong? After all, only they have compassion for the poor. Only they want to feed the hungry. Only they want to ensure medical care for all. And only they promise a house for every family, guaranteed jobs and wages for all, and grandiose 'robin hood' schemes to steal from the rich and give to the poor. And the sad part is, that is precisely what gets them elected.

What believers in this philosophy fail to see, is that these are all ways to fix the effect of the problem, rather than tackle the source. Take, for instance, the current "credit crunch." Politicians are quick to point the fingers at the big bad predatory lenders, or the greedy real estate speculators. But they fail to see the problem: the artificially low interest rates emanating from the federal reserve.

The result is always the same. The federal government gets involved, and proceeds to either exacerbate the problem or create entirely new ones, while expanding regulation and increasing its control.

Another example is the skyrocketing health care costs in America. Rather than examining the cause of our woes, such as the HMO Act of 1973, which provided for the rapid expansion of HMO's; the continuing influence that drug and health care companies have over lawmakers; the federally mandated free emergency health care for illegal immigrants in border states, the socialists speak of expanding government involvement and mandating a healthy society by force. The result will inevitably be the lowering of health care quality and massively increased government spending.

But the bigger picture is this: We, as Americans, must see through the socialist promises of a federally-mandated utopia. There are no free lunches. When these politicians seek to provide to the poor, the hungry, the needy, it's always at the expense of somebody else. And it's always at the expense of individual liberty.