The Democratika

Hello, everyone. Sorry it's been a while. I've been busy and have neglected the newspaper. Anyway, I'm Cookie Crumbia, and you are reading this weeks edition of the Democratika Herald.

Opinion Piece: The problems with socialism and why people still support it.

Look, I get it, we're living in tough economic times. It won't be the first time, nor will it be the last. However, this shouldn't be a reason to abandon one of, if not the, most successful economic system in human history. The combination of capitalism, with just a sprinkling of government intervention, is what makes a mixed market economy work. However, some people think that we should do away with this perfectly fine economic system and replace it with micromanaging and economic stagnation. So, let's take a deep dive into why people still support a socio-economic system that led to the deaths of more people than both world wars: Socialism.

Firstly, people who support communism usually cite the "it wasn't real communism" argument. This is stupid and frankly ridiculous. The complete abolition of private property and nationalisation of the market in places like the USSR and China followed the Communist Manifesto TO THE LETTER. On top of that, saying that "real socialism" hasn't been achieved yet is utopian. And the word utopia comes from the Greek word meaning "no place", which as it sounds means that it is impossible to make a true socialist society. Besides, if every tyranny caused by communism isn't real socialism, then by that logic, any corrupt market economy is "not real capitalism". Of course, the authoritarians on the Left would not let that slide, and just call anyone who points out the obvious double standard a bigot or a fascist. Can you see the irony here?

Secondly, socialists turn to the Nordic Model of the Nordic Countries, where the government slaps absurd taxes (often 45% or higher) on people who are successful and then pump it into welfare programs. Now that sounds nice, and I admit, sometimes we need welfare, but we shouldn't just focus our whole economy on it. On top of that, many developed countries around the world, including the Nordic countries such as Denmark and Sweden, have an ageing population, meaning that more people are gonna need welfare. I think you can see where this is going, right? High tax rates, coupled with an ageing population being supported by a shrinking working demographic, equals a country where the workforce are breaking their backs working, just for almost 50% of their income to be diverted to a demographic majority who cannot contribute to the economy. Now, I'm not saying we should cull all Swedish geriatrics, but I think that the Nordic countries who follow this model lower the tax rates, and invest in superannuation programs instead of government pensions

Thirdly, one BIG problem of socialism is that it is a centralized system. This basically means that there is a big government micromanaging everything. Now, that might make all you DSA members soil yourself in joy, but that sort of system a lot of complications. For one, a centralized government cannot effectively determine the prices of goods and services, since the value of goods are determined by the demand, or how much people want to pay for them. That sort of supply and demand calculation won't be a problem for a private businessman or women, since they only have to worry about the value of goods in their own corner store, but for a big centralized government who has to manage everything in the whole country? That's well nigh impossible, especially considering the fact that the value of goods can change depending on the area or state inside a country.

On that note, without supply and demand determining what to produce and how much to produce, since different regions might need different things, what you get are shortages of basic things, as the state cannot correctly calibrate the right value of goods in different areas. For example, let's imagine two different areas in a socialist nation. Area A has more demand for bottled water, while Area B has more demand for porridge. Now, the government has to determine what to produce. The problem is that the government has to manage not just Area A and Area B, but also the multiple areas, cities, states, and towns in the country. Couple that with the fact they have to manage the whole country (including defence, finance, and education), and what you get is a broken system where not every region is getting the same treatment because a centralized government can't do everything at once.

Another thing, centralized socialist governments have a tendency to spiral into authoritarianism. I mean, think about it. The government has control over everything from industry to transport to who you can vote for! So it's not too much of a stretch that they start policing people who threaten their rule.

So, why do people still support socialism? Well, honestly, it's probably because they feel disenfranchised with the current economic downturn. But that's always happened. The economy isn't perfect, sure, but we can't just do away with a very successful economic system that has raised living standards worldwide for a system that has failed, over and over, leading millions of people from Russia to China to Cuba to suffer under the red boot.

"But that's not real socialism" the Marxist stans cry, "We'll get it this time, we swear!". Oh really? Then I guess the almost 35 million people worldwide who fled communist states during the Cold War were just misunderstanding. Which leads me to my next point: normal people HATE communism. I mean, just look at the pictures of the cold war in the Soviet Bloc and you'll see. For example, the most famous photo of this shows an East German border guard, Konrad Schumann, jumping over the wall. Along with him, thousands of others attempted to escape. I didn't see anyone fleeing from West to East. Capitalism isn't perfect, but we've never had to put up a wall to prevent our people from escaping.

I don't know what the final word of economics will be, but I can tell you, it will not be a planned economy.