[Ed. This post is by Jorge Gato, TDV Education Correspondent]
The general populace, it seems, refuses to learn from the vast annals of history. Students and teachers I come across still cling to the idea that collectivism will save humanity. They particularly choose the form of socialism/communism. I label them as one and the same for it was Vlad Lenin who stated socialism was merely the road to its ultimate goal: communism.
You see, when the Soviet Union collapsed because, well, communism is a failed system (heck, even Fidel Castro says so!), unsuccessful government businesses were shut down. In the free world, if you do well you are rewarded and when you don’t, you suffer the consequences. In the communist world, even when the state fails it keeps trudging along at an immense loss and millions of people must suffer for this stupidity. In the USSR, up to 60 million were led to the slaughter.
Yet the blood sacrifice is never enough for the collectivists, for even after this macabre experiment, they will tell you that yes, still more is needed. You must crack a few eggs to make an omelet, we haven’t gotten the recipe just right but we’re almost there!
Free Market = Innovation & Prosperity
After Soviet collapse, four Estonians labored for three years to develop the free communication tool Skype which now nets an annual $800 million for its subscription service. Its motto: by helping others, you help yourself. The entrepreneurs had nothing and were forced to come up with something. There was no state involvement or necessity of such intervention. In fact, they themselves say there are currently too many restrictions by the state (the New European Soviet) which prevent such prosperity to increase.
Now, I use this free application at my private institution of higher learning down here in México. Note I said free application. Yes, there exist many free things in the non-communist world as well.
There is an experiment resembling the Virginia colony experience I expect to test out myself soon. A teacher once told a class that on exams, everyone would receive the average score of all students. Finally, test after test, they went from A to B to C to D to F.
Charity vs. Brute Force
One of the keys to understanding why collectivism fails is humanity itself. There is that old principle of charity or voluntarily doing good to others. In a society that practices charity, moral fiber runs high. It is accustomed to good deeds and that becomes the cultural norm.
Once a society moves away from such a willingness to give, the only place left for it to go is a parasitical society which only wants to take. By declaring that we must take from the rich and give to the poor, the communist is essentially admitting their failed moral state. Otherwise, that communist would be out there working hard to accumulate capital and give it to those in need.
By not trusting that people are good enough to practice voluntary charity, they declare that people are evil and greedy. And so we must trust people (in this fallen evil and greedy state) to take from those that work hard and give to those that don’t work hard (and the occasional poor person). You can see where this is all headed. The problem then becomes there are no longer any decent people out there, including the redistributors of wealth.
A Climate of Cognitive Dissonance
In a recent discussion I had with Margaret Thatcher’s science advisor, Lord Monckton, a young college radical told the world’s most famous climate skeptic that capitalism kills children in Africa. As in the Estonian example, it was their capitalistic labor which enabled the creation of a free tool which benefits any 30 million users logged on at any one moment. All of this without state intervention.
Monckton has sold his house to fund the second stage of research for an AIDS drug, again utilizing the principle of charity and voluntary giving. He will not see a return in his lifetime. Yet, the student, not willing to actually hear the factual evidence provided to them still expressed disgust at Monckton’s desire to have money and a nice house, conveniently blotting out his previous statement (he sold his house) which contradicted with the collectivist’s religious-like belief, one based on an empty pure emotional faith. When confronted with factual truth which contradicts ones worldview, this is simply called cognitive dissonance.
This communication tool has allowed me to freely connect with experts from around the world, who are willing to give their time, in order to discuss their views and work with young minds. Never before in history could one have dreamed to do such a thing.
Ultimately, the true nature of collectivism reveals itself. An undercover FBI agent who had infiltrated the radical communist Weather Underground discovered that they had absolutely no economic plan post-revolution. They in all seriousness and cold calculation, calmly stated that all 25 million or so capitalists and such thinkers who would not be “re-educated” would be slaughtered, just like the 60 odd million Soviets. Some things never change.
Neither was Jesus a socialist. He called for men to voluntarily give up all they own and to help others, stressing a moral accountability upon which it was better to be self-sufficient so one could give to others instead of being a burden upon them. I pray for those that suffer such delusion before they reset history and doom us all.
Jorge Gato lives in Mexico and is a social sciences educator who is in the trenches daily, warding off severe cases of cognitive dissonance, mass indoctrination and unhealthy reasoning. You can reach the dissenting professor via dissidentthinker [at] hush . com. He writes at http://dissidentthinker.wordpress.com/
