Socialism, New Faces But The Same Old Song

The Democratic Socialists of America have traded a stodgy, old, New England curmudgeon who is 28 years past retirement age for a young, enthusiastic, bright-eyed Latina from New York who is just 28 years outside of the womb as their mascot.

The first mascot never had a clue how the world works and the second mascot hasn't learned yet.

This tweeted image, memorializes the goals of The Democratic Socialists of America:

> Abolish profit
> Abolish prisons
> Abolish cash bail
> Abolish Borders #AbolishIce

On the face of it, these may seem desirable and progressive in nature, especially for someone who is:

> Unemployed
> In prison
> Arrested and needing to post bail
> Or is an illegal alien



For the rest of us common American Citizens, they are terrible ideas. Let's take a look at them.


Abolish Profit
Adam Smith was an English economist who lived about the time of our Revolutionary War and published a book, in 1776, entitled, The Wealth of Nations. He observed that people worked harder and were more productive when they were able to keep the rewards of their labors. Most of the world, at that time, were living under the Feudal Economic System.

This meant that someone owned all the land, all the buildings, and all the workers. The workers, or serfs, were required to do what they were told, when they were told, and received only room and board for their labors. They had no say in when they worked or were they worked. All of this was decided in the best interests of the Feudal Lord, King, or Monarch. If the King was kind and generous, they would live a safe and fairly productive life. If the King was neither kind nor generous, they often received barely enough to survive.

Major kings had lesser kings and lords to whom they delegated lands and authority, but everything still belonged to the highest king and tribute (taxes) were paid to the king or these opportunities would be taken away, often by force and death.

Adam Smith realized that if tasks were specialized and people were given a percentage of what they produced, they worked harder because they made more money to support their families. This percentage is known as profit. Profit is not a bad thing, it is actually very good. It is the way we can best make our abilities and skills grow to support us. We can even organize, teach, and help others produce goods, for a share of their profits. As long as each receives a fair portion of the profit, commensurate with their efforts, everyone is happy.

The problem arises when one party insists on an inordinate share, or even the entire profit. This act mutates capitalism and changes it back into the Feudal Economic System.

So if we Abolish Profit, we return back to the Feudal Economic System where all the profit rises up to those who are making the decisions at the top, regardless of what they call themselves. It impoverishes everyone except the leaders.


Abolish Prisons
This argument was seriously put forth by a very small segment who realized that there are a lot of people who are falsely convicted of crimes. In their eyes, abolishing prisons would solve that problem.

But, there are a very large segment of our population who have begun to believe that it is their right to take from others that which they personally don't have but want.

"If you have it and I want it, I can take it if I am bigger, meaner, or more violent."

These people ,who have no respect for the property or life of others, are the reasons we have prisons. Those who were unable to live peaceably with others, are contained in a facility where they can not hurt anyone. This was also the reason for the death penalty. If people couldn't play nice with others, then we would remove them from society so they would not continue to be a drain on the economy or a danger to others.

If we closed all the prisons and changed their names to affordable housing, we still would have hundreds of thousands of people who would begin to steal, rape, and murder as the occasion warranted it.

Would you be willing to take an unrepentent child molester into your home as a nanny for your adolescent children?

So, if we abolish prisons, what should be do with all those who can't live peaceably in society?


Abolish Cash Bail
All I can say is, "if you don't want to or can't pay a cash bail, don't get arrested". I would venture that 95% of those who need to post bail had a choice to not commit a crime before they got arrested.

This is a preventable problem.


Abolish Borders #AbolishIce
A country is a place with defined borders, a defined culture, and a set of rules or laws to govern their citizens. Without these, it is not a country. Places without these requirements become over run by anarchy and ruled by those with the most military or violent might.

When ever there is a power vacuum, it is always filled by aggressors. Every time. Even with a policed border, many countries have failed to prevent another entity from invading and taking control of their resources and people.

If the United States opened our borders to anyone who wanted to enter, whenever they wanted to enter, we would be flooded by those who want a better life, but also by those who's design and intent would be to overcome and control our resources and people. Most people need protection from aggressors, hence the need for a police force and prison system.

We need good immigrants, I am all for legal immigration. But without controls and protocols, anarchy would reign and every thing everybody wants to find here would disappear. We would cease to become the very thing they want.

It would be like a cruise ship that was sinking, with enough life boats for every person. Everything will go just fine, until everyone wants to get in the first boat. There would be no room, the boat would capsize and sink, while the rest of the boats floated away empty.


Socialism is Not the Answer
There has never been a country living socialism that has prospered or succeeded. Margaret Thatcher, former Prime Minister of England, said, "The problem with socialism is the your eventually run out of other people's money."

Venezuela is the latest example of socialism run a muck. When Hugo Chavez was elected Prime Minister under the Socialist banner, he promised to use the vast profits from their oil wells to pull the people out of poverty. First order of business wad to "nationalize" all the oil wells in the country. This means he stole them from the companies who owned them.

They took the profits and began to provide food, clothes, and housing for the people. As the government provided more and more, people began to work less and less. Why work hard and take financial risks if the government would take care of all your needs. Then they ran out of money.

When the markets crashed in 2008, oil prices crashed too. Venezuela had become dependent on the high price of oil, so when their profits were cut in half, it was a serious problem because the demand for services only increased. Since that time, the government has had less and less to spend on people. Food and services have disappeared, and we now see people eating from garage dumps as the cats, dogs, and rats have all been eaten. Citizens have lost an average of 25 pounds each because of the lack of food. Since the economy of capitalism was destroyed, there was nothing to fall back on when socialism failed too. This has happened in less than 10 years.

It could happen here in America to under the Democratic Socialists of America's plan.

North Korea, A Masterful Stroke or a Debacle?

Ben Shapiro wrote an article today in the Daily Wire,

Trump's Big North Korean Moment Is Either A Masterstroke Or A Horrible Debacle. There's No In-Between.

I think that Shapiro is absolutely right in this article. The North Korea agreement is either a masterstroke or it will be a debacle. But, what we have been doing the past 70 years has not worked either.

I agree that Kim and his ancestors, have been terrible leaders and abusive individuals. The system of gulag camps, nothing more than placing the opposition in work camps, is a human rights violation. Generations of political prisoners have lived and died in these camps. They have created one of the poorest economic systems in the world and all their people suffer because of it.

There is little to applaud about Kim and his tactics. That said, isolating NK as we have, and imposing punitive damages hasn't worked either.

I know that Kim wants to be legitimized. He wants to be seen as a real leader. He wants to go down in the annals of Korean history as his grandfather, literally as a god.

We can never facilitate positive change from a confrontational position. Violence never changes behavior, it only postpones it. Even interrogators find that they acquire much more accurate and actionable information when the prisoner is humanized and respected. Beatings and intimidation will never topple one who is dedicated to their cause. They will die rather than capitulate.

I see, and hope I am right, that these steps will ease the tension and allow Kim to change without loosing face in the eyes of his people. Image is paramount with Asian cultures, much more so than even in our Western Civilization. If we can help Kim save face, while allowing him the opportunity to do what is right from this time forward, we have the best chance of seeing the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, the closing of the gulag camps, and the people of NK begin to come out of their chrysalis and become mature, beautiful adults in the modern world.

Punishing Kim for his crimes against his people is not nearly as important as changing the condition of the oppressed and demoralized people of North Korea. - dlm