SOCIALISM MADE SIMPLE

Often what is happening in the world can seem complex and overwhelming. When politicians throw words around like capitalism and socialism, we often aren't sure what to make of it. I would like to assist you in understanding these complex concepts with a few simple, straightforward examples.

SOCIALISM: an economic system based on state ownership of capital. Meaning, the Government owns the means of production. You can't buy, sell, make, or do most anything, without approval. In many ways, it is what is going on now, just degrees of freedom.

CAPITALISM: an economic and social system in which individuals can maximize profits because they own the means of production. Wow, gee, imagine that. You mean there is such a thing as an economic system where the individual actually has the freedom to choose and create their own destiny? Yes, that is the essence of capitalism, freedom.

Now here are a few simple examples to help you fully comprehend these complex concepts.

EXAMPLE #1:
BAR STOOL ECONOMICS

Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:

The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh would pay $7.
The eighth would pay $12.
The ninth would pay $18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.

So, that's what they decided to do. The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. 'Since you are all such good customers, he said, I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20. Drinks for the ten now cost just $80.

The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the other six men - the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his 'fair share?' They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from each persons share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each and up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay!

And so:

The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings).
The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28%savings).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).

Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings. 'I only got a dollar out of the $20, 'declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man, 'but he got $10!' 'Yeah, that's right,' exclaimed the fifth man. 'I only saved a dollar, too. It's unfair that he got ten times more than I!' 'That's true!!' shouted the seventh man. 'Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!'

'Wait a minute,' yelled the first four men in unison. 'We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!'

The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up. The next night the tenth man didn't show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn't have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!

And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.

EXAMPLE #2: Redistribution of Wealth

Today on my way to lunch I passed a homeless guy with a sign that read "Vote Obama, I need the money". I laughed. Once in the restaurant my server had on a "Obama 08" Button, again I laughed as he had given away his political preference -- just imagine the coincidence. When the bill came I decided not to tip the server and explained to him that I was exploring the Obama redistribution of wealth concept. He stood there in disbelief while I told him that I was going to redistribute his tip to someone who I deemed more in need--I pointed out the homeless guy outside. The server angrily stormed from my sight. I went outside, gave the homeless guy $10 and told him to thank the server inside as I've decided he could use the money more. The homeless guy was very grateful.At the end of my rather unscientific redistribution experiment I realized the homeless guy was grateful for the money he did not earn, but the waiter was pretty angry that I gave away the money he did earn even though the actual recipient deserved money more. I guess redistribution of wealth is an easier thing to swallow in concept than in practical application.

Example #3: Joe Biden is Interviewed by local Orlando Newscaster:







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MOST UNDER-REPRESENTED GROUP OF ALL

When it comes to under-representation, likely the most ignored segment of our society are those living in the rural areas of our great nation. Who are the rural folks? The Daily Yonder, a rural advocacy group, is my favorite source of news and information when contemplating rural issues. I've thought long and hard about small-town life and rural America this election season. There was a time when I turned my back on my small-town roots, happy to be rid of what I once saw as silly and ignorant "one-horse" town. Ironically, it wasn't until I moved to Chicago (the 3rd largest city in the US) that I finally realized how lucky I had been. Particularly one day when I had to physically fight off a mugger attempting to rob a friend of mine (but that's another story). Years later, I returned to Florida and after bringing my son into the world, I looked for a small town to raise him (and later my second son as well). I was recently back in my small town of Bonifay, Florida where I grew up for the annual "Championship Rodeo" which is always just an excuse to go back home, see my parents, brother and his family, and take my kids to play with their cousins. There is a sense of safety and belonging in Bonifay. There is great comfort having skills that none of my city-dwelling friends have. Like knowing I can fish, hunt, farm, and make a living off the land if I ever had to. I think that is why I often can take swings in the market or "economic" disaster in stride because I know I could survive and feed my family without a Government handout (or even without a Government) no matter what may happen. When back for the rodeo, we always watch the parade (which is held on Friday and Saturday afternoon). We sit out on the front lawn of my grandparents home (which is still in the family) and wait for the fire engines to start up which typically are what begins the parade. You see every business, church, civic group, and school represented in floats that go by, all of them homemade and hilarious to see. For me, small towns represent true hope, family, goodness, virtue, truth and honesty, integrity, and a straight forward sense of knowing who you are. It always makes me smile when city-dwelling politicians try to either pander to the small-town vote (thinking all those from small towns are simple minded imbeciles) or being critical of traditions they cannot understand (spiritual values, Gun-ownership, or hunting rights) and disparaging them by labeling small town people as "bitter." It makes me really smile to know that if society collapses, the economy goes to nothing, and the cities are burning from rioting, Bonifay and thousands of small towns like it, will continue because of the very traditions, values, and people that make them great now.

In celebration of small towns everywhere, here are my two favorite songs about small towns, enjoy!



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SOCIALISM: SO?

So many socialist influences, and so little caring. The 1980s were not so long ago, much less the 60s and 50s. Yet, so few of the ideas that came from the so-called Conservative Revolution remain. Why? It is important to know what socialism truly is. If you choose to vote into office those that promote socialist ideas, then do yourself a favor and research the basic ideas of socialism.

The following was posted at American Thinker by Paul Kengor of Grove City College, who wrote GOD AND RONALD REAGAN, one of my favorites.

Capitalism is based on private ownership; communism on public ownership. Capitalism thrives on small government and taxes; communism on large government and taxes, typically progressive income-tax rates and estate taxes -- both advocated explicitly by Marx -- and much more.

This stuff isn't rocket science. It is easy to teach, if the professor desires. The problem is that it isn't being taught. Consequently, Americans today do not know why communism is such a devastating ideology, at both the level of plain economic theory and in actual historical practice. It is a remarkably hateful system, based on literal hatred and targeted annihilation of entire classes and groups of people. (Nazism sought genocide based on ethnicity; communism sought genocide based on class.)

Most Americans generally know that the USSR was a bad place and that it was good that the Berlin Wall fell; they lived through that. But they know little beyond that, especially young Americans in college today, born around the time the wall fell -- Obama's biggest supporters. Nowhere in America is Barack Obama worshipped as he is on college campuses, by students and professors alike.

What does it all mean for November 2008? It means that millions of modern Americans, when they hear that Barack Obama has deep roots with communist radicals like Bill Ayers and Frank Marshall Davis, don't care; they don't get it. Moreover, the leftist establishment -- from academia to media to Hollywood -- will not help them get it. To the contrary, the left responds to these accusations by not only downplaying or dismissing them but by ridiculing or even vilifying them, given the left's reflexive anti-anti-communism. The left will create bad guys out of the anti-communists who are legitimately blowing the whistle on the real bad guys.

When the leftists of the ‘60s took over higher education and the media, they really knew what they were doing. This was brilliant, masterful, a tactical slam-dunk, a tremendous coup for them and their worldview, with ripple effects we can scarcely imagine.

Does this mean that the McCain camp, talk radio and conservatives generally shouldn't bother exposing these things? Not at all. The truth is the truth, and needs to be told. Moderates especially need to be informed that Barack Obama is not your typical liberal: he is the most hard-left Democrat that his party has ever nominated for the presidency. It is absolutely not a coincidence that the man with these far-left associations just so happens to be ranked -- quantifiably, objectively, by non-partisan, respected sources like National Journal -- the most far-left member of the U.S. Senate, which is no small thing given the leftward drift of the modern Democratic Party. In other words, Obama's extremist associations matter; they are fully revealing, illustrative of the political-ideological realities that the pro-Obama media will not expose. His voting record bears this out.

That said, I warn my fellow conservatives: Be prepared to be really, really frustrated when few people seem to care.

It is a sad day when we must live in the shadow of oppression instead of the sweet sunshine of Liberty. As for me? I had rather scratch out a living in the soil of my ancestral homeland, living day to day in poverty and yet be free, than have an oppressive world government micromanage my life, deny my family even the most basic of freedoms, but still have my IPOD. How about you?

Another way to look at Bill Ayers and those radical 60's terrorists is to ask, "How would the media treat McCain if it were to come to light that he had started his presidential campaign in the living room of Timothy McVeigh (the Oklahoma city bomber)? Or David Duke (who never actually bombed anyone but simply said things people didn't like)? Sphere: Related Content