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5.68 What Social Influencers Get Wrong About Socialism
One assumption made by socialists is that Capitalism is driven by profit motive and so is all about greed whereas socialism is about fairness and generosity to those in need from the government. There is nothing in capitalism that says the rich can't be generous and kind and help those in need. Likewise there is nothing about socialism that guarantees that the government would not be greedy.
Maxim Lott wrote:
Socialist leaders come to power promising to equalize society. But, in the words of George Orwell's "Animal Farm," their followers soon learn "some are more equal than others." American democratic socialists have faced scrutiny for their own indulgences under the capitalist system -- for instance, Sen. Bernie Sanders has three homes and a proclivity for private jet travel. But American socialists' luxuries pale in comparison to those of history's most infamous socialist and communist leaders around the world.
Hugo Chavez brought socialism to Venezuela and once
said that it is "bad" to be rich. Yet his family lived in opulence even as the
rest of the country has in recent years descended into starvation and violence.
Chavez, despite not being wealthy when he was democratically elected as
president of Venezuela in 1998, was worth between $1 billion and $2 billion at
his death, according to global risk analysis firm Criminal Justice International
Associates.
Fox News created a video about greedy wealthy communist and socialist leaders. If they cared as much for the people as they claimed to, how and why did they become so rich?
Communism centralizes power to the government. That makes possible for corrupt government officials to siphon off money from the people they pretend to distribute the wealth to. Capitalism distributes power. Whoever makes more money has more power and capitalism makes it possible for a large number of people to make money. Ironically capitalism distributes money a lot more than communism does.
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