Why would we want to expand on a monopoly like that?ĭo you like limited choices? How would you like it if only one cellphone manufacturer was allowed to exist and it wasn’t Apple? How about one type of shoe? One type of deodorant? Bernie Sanders had this to say in 2015: “You don’t necessarily need a choice of twenty-three underarm spray deodorants or of eighteen different pairs of sneakers when children are hungry in this country.” The feds already cost us more than they should and deliver services of low quality. And it has become much more intrusive and repressive with its enormous size.Īs big as it is, socialists want to increase the size and power of the feds exponentially. However, the federal government has ballooned in scope. The feds were the glue to hold the Union together and ensure basic human rights were not violated. The states were originally sovereign entities that could compete with each other, keeping the governments of the states in check, at least to an extent. The feds have no competition and this makes them a monopoly. The biggest monopoly in our country is the federal government. What is the biggest monopoly in the US you can think of? I’ll give you a hint-it’s not a corporation. This is why the feds have fought monopolies in the past (they have gone overboard in their zeal to protect us, however). Socialism and Monopoliesĭo you think monopolies are good? Monopolies are usually bad for an economy because the cost of the product or service is high while the quality is low. If you don’t like being forced, you shouldn’t like socialism. Therefore, force is a much bigger element in socialism than capitalism. But socialism by its very nature must have a massive government to administer its laws and control its people. The defendant may appear to go willingly with IRS officers so no direct force seems to be involved, but you better believe if the defendant did not comply, direct force would have been used.īecause government is force, it should be limited to its most minimal and basic functions: protecting citizens’ lives and property. Sometimes it seems not much force is being used, such as when someone is arrested for tax evasion in the United States. Some governments use brute force, such as when Fidel Castro murdered thousands of political prisoners in Cuba without trials. Government is force, no matter which economic system it oversees. Or it can be indirect, more subtle, such as when the government fines you for violating the Clean Water Act on your property. But there are many other different types of government handouts, including crony capitalists and those who receive federal grants.)ĭo you like to be forced to do something? Force can be direct, such as when someone robs you at gunpoint on the street. (I am not advocating getting rid of welfare for those who are truly poor-a country as prosperous as ours should leave no one wanting for food, clothing or shelter. If that bothers you, then socialism should as well.
They take without giving anything in return. But the rent-seeking recipients of such handouts are no different than the entitled classmate or lazy roommate. Taking excessive taxes from producers to redistribute to others is part of the socialist doctrine of fairness and equality. If you agree you would feel violated and taken advantage of in the above scenarios, you should feel the same way about socialist philosophy (in this article, socialism is an economic system that involves collective ownership of the means of production but also a catch-all for statist policies and mass wealth redistribution). How does the “clean and tidy” roommate feel about the slob? Probably annoyed and frustrated. That person who left clothes and trash all over the place? Piled up dirty dishes in the sink or on the coffee table? Somehow was never available to help clean up so you always had to? (Perhaps that person was you). If you had roommates in the past, maybe one of them was a slob. If you don’t think taking advantage of others is fair, you shouldn’t be a socialist. Did you ever have to do a big project with another classmate in elementary or high school? If so, did you find sometimes you were the one doing all the work while your teammate didn’t do much other than share in the good grade you earned? How did that make you feel? Probably angry and cheated, and you certainly had a right to feel that way.