On Socialism and American Culture

The true war in our day is the Media War.  Commercial interests in media have destroyed the wisdom of our stories. Self-interest has become selfishness because everyone is feeding off everyone else.  The immediate solution on most people's minds is really a part-time socialism.

No one said socialists are bad. In my understanding, socialists are trying to do good, they have a really great IDEA, but are merely short-sighted. Socialism doesn't work. It didn't work out for North Korea, the USSR, Germany, etc. And here's why: people are inherently self-interested. If we weren't, we would not eat or sleep.

However, in any instance of a third-party taking resources from the producers to give to the consumers, there is no incentive for the consumers to learn how to be producers or the producers to continue to be producers. Therefore, everyone consumes, but no one produces. Then the third-party has to FORCE the unskilled consumers to produce. A little bit of poison, merely kills the body more slowly.

In the free market system the United States used to create everything we now take for granted, business was about helping people... it was service.  Those who had the dream and ambition to serve above and beyond were allowed to keep the profits, much of which was re-invested in the business.  To accomplish this, a person had to learn godlike altruism, self-discipline, and long term thinking.  Their efforts created opportunity for those who were a little less ambitious, and the process repeated until everyone had opportunity.

Now, I imagine you'll ask about slaves... I agree, that was a flaw.  Consider this perspective: a slave was given housing, food, clothing, and even medical services by their masters, at their masters' discretion.  So their quality of life, and therefore happiness, was determined by the character of their master, rather than by their own work ethic.  The same is true of employees and their bosses, the difference is we determine how to spend our meager pay, but what we do with our time is controlled by someone else.  Still sounds like slavery to me.

Socialism ultimately robs the incentive from those who serve above and beyond and gives it to those who have not learned to do that yet.  As a result, we have high-level executives who are ignorant of the fact that every business is a people business, and who abuse their power to rob from the working man.

The working man then feels oppressed and is less productive.  If he is awarded money by the government, it does not change the relationship with his employer.  Therefore, the employer is squeezed from both sides (losing money to the government and productivity of his workers) until his business fails, and the working man is unemployed.

This is because we no longer teach integrity in business and we no longer have the opportunity for those executives to learn from their failures that people don't like that.  Massive organizations that do not give people ownership, do not give people responsibility.  True freedom built this country, true freedom will RE-build this country.

Attitude and the Lower Class

Since Truth in Fiction is a cultural movement, I feel it is important to share culturally relevant information. I believe wisdom is the understanding of connections, especially emotional connections between people. Often emotional involvement in seemingly minor events can significantly alter the results of a logically thought out plan. Emotional baggage is the invisible monster of man-vs.-himself, and is the unseen killer of progress.

A while back, I listened to a talk by Robert L. Dickie, Senior Pastor of Berean Baptist Church in Grand Blanc, MI. In the talk, he shares a quotation by an economist who asserts that the difference between "upper class" people and "lower class" people is simply attitude. I was intrigued by this perspective, and eagerly listened to what he had to say.

"The lower class individual, no matter what his race or color, lives from moment to moment. If he has any awareness of a future, it is something fixed, fated, beyond his control. Things happen to him, he does not make them happen. Impulse governs his behavior, because he cannot discipline himself to sacrifice a present satisfaction for a future satisfaction. He has no sense of the future. Whatever he cannot use immediately, he considers without value.

"His bodily needs, especially for action and pleasure take precedence over anything else, and certainly over any work routine. He works only as he must to stay alive. He drifts from one unskilled job to another, taking to interest in his work. Although his income is usually much lower than that of the working-class individual, the market value of his car, television, household appliances, and playthings is many times considerably more. He is careless with his things, however, and even when they are nearly new, are almost permanently out of order for lack of minor repairs.

"The lower class individual has a poor self image. He suffers from a feeling of self-contempt and inadequacy. He's often apathetic and dejected. In his relations with others, he is suspicious, many times hostile, aggressive, but he's always dependent. He's unable to sustain a stable relationship with a mate. Commonly, he does not marry. He feels no attachment to community, neighbors, or friends. He has companions, not friends. He resents all authority (for example, that of the policemen, social workers, teachers, landlords, and employers), and is apt to think he has been railroaded and want to get even. He is a non-participant. He belongs to no voluntary organizations. He has no political interest, and usually does not vote.

"So long as any city or nation has a sizable lower class, nothing basic can be done about it's most serious problems. Good jobs can be offered to all, but some will remain chronically unemployed. Slums can be demolished, but if the housing that replaces them is occupied by lower-class individuals, it will surely be turned into new slums. Welfare payments can be doubled or tripled and a negative income tax instituted, but some persons will continue to live in squaller and misery. The only thing that will bring people out of that kind of bondage and despair is a new attitude, education, [and] maybe religious regeneration."