What's Wrong With Socialism?

I was responding to somebody's comment on Facebook, and it turned out so long I decided to blog it instead. My goal is to share what I know and express my opinions and views.

Unlike the political opportunist, the true statesman values principle above popularity, and works to create popularity for those political principles which are wise and just.
--by The Honorable Ezra Taft Benson
Former Secretary of Agriculture
[The Eisenhower Administration – ed.]
Published in 1968

Socialism always ends in communism. Communism always end up in further bankrupted countries with citizens who can no longer think for themselves and make of their lives what they most strongly desire. When you give government the power to give you all you want, you give them power to take it all away, and this type of government always has. America became a great nation because of the initiative of individuals and families under God. We were one nation under God. Initiative comes in knowing that it is our own responsibility to provide for ourselves and our families and to get through the problems we face together. More important than our self-reliance was our reliance on God.

There are at least two things that generally happen in the grip of socialism/communism. 1) Due to redistribution of wealth (meaning those who work hard and are successful have the fruits of their labors stolen from them by the government and given to those who have not earned it.) the successful money-makers become frustrated because they never see their earnings and either leave that country or purposely make a small enough profit that the government leaves what they have alone. 2) When people rely on government to make choices and solve their problems for them they lose initiative. The other thing that happens is that the government that was given excessive power in order to create "fairness" has so much power that when they abuse it the people have no recourse.

From a Spiritual standpoint socialism is wrong because it always excludes God. When you look back at the tyrants of modern history they have a few things in common. They spoke of their country's hardships in a manner that encouraged certain large groups of people to see themselves as victims. Then, they set themselves up as a savior who will lead them to victory over their "oppressors" (the group they taught the others to blame for their circumstances). Hitler taught people to blame the Jews for the ruin their country was in. The communists in Russia taught the poor class to blame the aristocracy for their poverty. The worst thing they have in common is turning the hearts of their nation against belief in God. This is partly done by creating a religiously hostile environment, in which people are afraid to talk about God and Godly standards in a public forum. In our country this has been happening by the misuse of "separation of church and state" (first amendment of the constitution). Anytime law becomes involved with religion to prohibit religious activities or speaking it is a violation of the first amendment. However, the current misunderstanding of it is that people in public office or even in a public school cannot express their deeply held beliefs without some kind of disciplinary action. That is religious persecution sanctioned by law-enforcers, not by law, but by the enforcers of law who are enforcing someone's opinion instead of law. To express a belief or opinion in favor of God is not forcing your opinion of someone else, but denying someone the freedom to speak about their beliefs is. The limiting of expressions concerning God in the public schools begins to displace God in the minds of the young, who after 12 years of this indoctrination see God as a separate and isolated "issue" rather than the center of all things. When we displace God in our minds and in the minds of our children, we open the door for all the evils that godly principles are designed to prevent. People who worship God and are surrounded by others who worship God are freer and safer because God requires us to interact with each other in integrity and love. People centered on God will not accept tyranny and it's offspring slavery because they know that we are all children of God, that's why tyrants promote atheism, when they get God out of their way the people are more easily swayed and manipulated. God's word never changes, but the opinions of specialists change all the time and in an atheistic environment specialists' opinions take the place of unchanging doctrine.

Socialism is wrong because it excludes God, robs people of freedom and initiative, and fosters victim complexes.

The Proper Role of Government.

This is an excellent speech given by
The Honorable Ezra Taft Benson
Former Secretary of Agriculture
[The Eisenhower Administration – ed.]
Published in 1968

http://laissez-fairerepublic.com/benson.htm

Check it out, it's a great explanation.