2 nations socialism wrecked — and what they have in common
Incredibly, amazingly, the grotesque specter of socialism has reared its malignant head in order to threaten once again the prosperity, future, and dignity of tens of millions of Americans.
Why is it incredible? The answer is simple. Socialism has never "worked" anywhere it has been tried, if by "working" you mean increasing the prosperity of the country adopting socialist policies. Socialism has been an unmitigated catastrophe economically in every country in which it has been implemented.
The beleaguered, long-suffering island of Cuba is but one classic example. Fidel Castro promised a socialist paradise and delivered a dark nightmare of economic deprivation and denial of human rights.
Perhaps the most vivid example for me personally is the United Kingdom. Great Britain built the greatest economic empire the world had ever seen. In 1900 the British had an empire "on which the sun never set." While it is true that by the dawn of the 20th century the British were being outperformed economically, both by the U.S. and Imperial Germany, Britain was still a country that most of the world envied economically.
Unfortunately, the British suffered economically from the terrible losses incurred in World War I and World War II. Still, in 1945, at the end of the Second World War, the British still possessed an economy that had produced more armaments and war material than anyone except the U.S.
Then, in the wake of the deprivations incurred in defeating Germany, the British people, seduced by the false promises of socialism, rejected Winston Churchill as their Prime Minister in favor of the socialist Clement Attlee. Thus began Great Britain's precipitous decline.
Winston Churchill himself, always a master of the spoken word, summed up socialism in remarkably few words:
"Socialism is a political religion whose God is the State and whose priests are the bureaucrats. It is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is equal distribution of misery."
Instead of delivering prosperity, the Labour government spawned economic misery. The British were still rationing some essential foodstuffs until the early 1950s. The island of Great Britain has enormous reserves of coal. And yet, within two years of socialism being inaugurated, they were having to import coal.
Why? Under socialism "you work according to your ability, and you receive according to your need." The reality was that you were paid the same amount no matter how much or little coal you dug during each day in the mine. The result was that the amount of coal dug each day per man went down significantly.
This sad story illustrates the truth that nothing is quite as productive as a person who gets to keep the benefits of a significant portion of his labor.
The most basic reason socialism never works in increasing the general prosperity of a culture is that men do not generally work very productively for sustained periods unless they are allowed to keep most of the fruits of their labor.
Socialism fails because it is based on assumptions about human beings that are clearly contradicted by the Bible and the human experience. Human beings are fallen creatures who act most often in their own selfish self-interest. When faced with an "everyone gets the same wage" argument, a significant majority of human beings will work no harder than they have to. The result: general productivity goes down and down year after year.
The Bible tells us that the "heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" (Jer. 17:9). The essence of this verse is more devastating than even it appears to be at first reading. This verse is essentially saying that the heart of man is wicked and is deceitful in convincing man that it isn't. Perhaps no biblical doctrine is more easily demonstrable than the sinfulness of man.
Unfortunately, the sinfulness of man does not protect capitalism from the abuses of men who selfishly try to amass power to exploit both workers and consumers. The development of America in the last half of the 19th century illustrates how capital and business can gain unfair and semi-monopolistic power if not restrained by a healthy and strong labor movement and a strong governmental regulatory structure such as the Sherman Antitrust Act.
Our very form of government, with three branches and decentralization between state and federal government, is designed to limit dangerous levels of power. These protections guard against overreach by business, labor, or government at the expense of liberty and/or private enterprise.
Next week: The continual danger of unbridled capitalism and how to successfully control it.
Dr. Richard Land, BA (Princeton, magna cum laude); D.Phil. (Oxford); Th.M (New Orleans Seminary). Dr. Land served as President of Southern Evangelical Seminary from July 2013 until July 2021. Upon his retirement, he was honored as President Emeritus and he continues to serve as an Adjunct Professor of Theology & Ethics. Dr. Land previously served as President of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (1988-2013) where he was also honored as President Emeritus upon his retirement. Dr. Land has also served as an Executive Editor and columnist for The Christian Post since 2011.
Dr. Land explores many timely and critical topics in his daily radio feature, “Bringing Every Thought Captive,” and in his weekly column for CP.
