Why Socialism Must Become Totalitarian

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Why Socialism MUST Become Totalitarian

Posted on September 5, 2010

by dancingczars
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Ludwig Von Mises Institute

Why Socialism produces poverty.





Many of the things that are refered to as “capitalist” are not free enterprise, but are monopolist. Communism is a state monopoly; which is not unlike the monopoly robber barrons. Communism is just a BIGGER monopoly.

“Protectionism, Socialism, and Communism are the same plant, in three stages of development.” Frederick Bastiat

A communist is just a socialist; who is in a hurry. Socialism MUST ultimately be totalitarian.



A must see video, economics based on reality in a video The Incredible Bread Machine







The basic premise of Socialism is:

“To each according to his need. From each according to his ability”.

Giving to each according to his need cannot be accomplished without getting from each according to his ability.

Getting from each according to his ability cannot be accomplished without one of two incentives:





There are two types of incentives: Reward or punishment.

Very rarely, is it possible to provide psychological rewards that will replace material rewards. The exception would be among people of strong religious faith.

“To each according to his need” usually implies that material rewards cannot exist. More or better work does NOT bring more or better rewards. Workers are rewarded in accordance with their NEED; which is not greater because they have been more productive, or more creative.









This is why every form of socialism MUST be totalitarian.

WITHOUT THE ENTICEMENT OF SPIRITUAL REWARD IT CANNOT BE ANY OTHER WAY.

Force is needed to require labor from people; who are not allowed to keep the fruits of their own labor. Even with forced work quotas, productivity is minimal.

Free societies have millions of salesmen trying to market the excess.

Socialist societies have millions of ration clerks trying to divide up the shortages.

The cliché is that social economies are based on two pretenses:

The people pretend to work and the government pretends to pay them.

Which countries GIVE foreign aid, and which countries RECEIVE foreign aid?

Where is the “bread basket of the world”?

Socialism has its greatest impact on creativity. Creativity cannot be forced.

In what country was the telephone invented?

In what country was the airplane invented?

In what country was the light bulb invented?

In what country was the cotton gin invented?

In what country was the computer invented?

In what country was the automobile invented?

Do your own Google search.

It is possible to find HUNDREDS of inventions listed, along with the date, and the country where the invention occured. Try to find an invention that was invented under Socialism.

The only time that you will find an invention, that was invented under Socialism, will be when the invention serves to needs of the state (weapons of war etc.)

In what country was electricity discovered?

In what country was atomic energy discovered?

What made “the Dark Ages” so dark?

There was an absence of liberty; world wide.

If you think that Socialism is our future, study up on the dark ages.

Poverty is solved by only one means: increasing productivity.

Redistribution of wealth does not decrease poverty.



Redistribution of wealth increases poverty.

Redistribution of wealth removes the incentive for productivity;

both from those who receive without working,

and also from those who work without receiving.

Redistribution of wealth makes everyone equally poor.



John Perna

The Incredible Bread Machine Film

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycGRERrGsMo

OR

http://www.youtube.com:80/watch?v=ycGRERrGsMo&feature=channel_page

Many thanks to the Mises Institute for making this classic available again for viewing. Released in 1975 by World Research, Inc. this film includes an introduction by then-Secretary of the Treasury, William E. Simon, and interviews with professors Walter Heller (University of Minnesota) and Milton Friedman (University of Chicago). Moderated by Dr. Richard Rogge (Wabash College). The film also features a cameo appearance by Murray N. Rothbard. Written by Karl Keating, Susan Love Brown, Patrea Post and Stuart Smith.

Wow! What a fantastic trip down Memory Lane! I used to show this wonderful film on the TU campus when I was a young libertarian activist, in the days before DVDs, before VCRs, using an old reel-to-reel projector. Its powerful message of the inter-relationship between personal freedom and economic freedom still resounds loud and clear. This is still a radical message. Its been decades since I last saw it but it has remained fresh and timeless in my memory.

The dramatic examples of government abusing the rights of citizens used in the film shocked people at the time. Today, 34 years later, most persons have become so complaisant and resigned to government thuggery that such incidents have become everyday occurrences, and are likely to turn up on Youtube shot from someone’s phone, not to shock but simply to amuse the clueless masses.

It was great to see Murray Rothbard again in the movie. He is the professor gleefully discussing the pitfalls of urban renewal as the film repeatedly shows the demolition of public housing projects from around the nation, such as the infamous Pruit-Igoe complex in St. Louis. And it was good to see Milton Friedman again. Notice that the filmmakers did not pair these two rival economists together. That was because there was more substantial disagreement between these two, the Austrian School Misean Rothbard and the Chicago School Monetarist Friedman, than between Friedman and the Keynesian hack Walter Heller, who was called upon to defend the ideas of liberalism of the day.

Notice also how Heller’s tired, exhaused arguments could today be put in the mouths of Barack Obama, Paul Krugman, or any contemporary spokesman for fossilized liberalism without changing a syllable. Some things never change.

Hey, isn’t Susan Love Brown terrific! You just wanna hug her. I met her not long after this film was made. And I still have my first edition copy of The Incredible Bread Machine, the terrific book upon which this film was based. Still a great read, and unfortunately a collector’s item. Maybe the Mises Institute will republish it too.

Now maybe Mises will post more wonderful WRI award-winning films, such as Libra, The Poverty Trap, Not Mine To Give, and The Inflation File. Wouldn’t that be great.

The Incredible Bread Machine (Paperback) ~ Susan Love Brown; Karl Keating; David