Underdose: A series of excellent posts, thank you.
It’s not a surprise that communism, fascism and totalitarian states choose socialism as their ultimate goal. Obviously, none of them (Fascist Italy, Nazi Germany or Soviet Russia) succeeded and, in point of fact, they exploded or imploded massively. What is unstated in this desire (the socialist state) is that the state wishes to accrue as much power unto itself as possible (as evidenced by Benito Mussolini’s remark when his chauffeured car hit and killed a little girl: “What is one small child in the Will of The State?”) and keep that power.
The Soviet state quickly co-opted the principles of Marx and abandoned all promises of elections, right of franchise and civic involvement and became the ruthless machine that not only gave us “Papa” Joe Stalin, but Lavrenti Beria and the NKVD (later the KGB).
Mussolini’s adherence to the “Futurist” movement (it promised a Utopian future where all enjoyed equal rights) was also junked in favor of totalitarianism (a term he coined) and an all-knowing, all-controlling State.
Free market capitalism, even in it’s somewhat imperfect form, is far better than the other alternatives. Even the mild mannered Socialism of modern Sweden or Mitterand’s France is still an abysmal failure, as evidenced by the economic situation in France right now and the continued deterioration of the EU and the ECB. The U.S. might be in dire straits, but I guarantee the dynamism of the American economy and the self-righting mechanisms it contains will carry us through and do so in far better fashion than the Europeans. That might sound Pollyanna, but it’s a huge improvement over letting Helicopter Ben and his minions dictate policy and run the printing presses until they completely debase and devalue the currency.
