Don’t Fall for the Siren’s Song of Socialism

Rasmussen Reports released the results of a survey today that shows only 53% of American adults believe capitalism is better than socialism. This poll represents a shot over the heads of everybody who cares for the future of this country.

Among adults over 40, socialism is preferred by only 13% of those surveyed. But it is the view of the under-30 crowd that is especially disconcerting. Among those polled, only 37% believe capitalism is better than socialism while fully one in three believe that socialism is superior.

Obviously, we have done a poor job of teaching our children that the United States of America was built on a foundation of capitalism. Indeed, this country’s great success over the past 233 years would have never been realized if that foundation was based upon socialism.

“But, Len, how can you be so sure?”

Because socialism is a killer of optimism. Socialism, with its nanny state mentality, rots the social fabric of any nation over the long haul. Its share-the-wealth mentality discourages innovation and creativity, which is the life blood all great nations depend on to better themselves.

Yes, capitalism can be cruel; it is by no means perfect.

But if capitalism is cruel, then socialism is downright sub-human. How else can you explain a system that sentences all of its subjects, save for a small but privileged ruling elite, to a life of hopeless mediocrity at best? Socialism heavily taxes productive individuals in order to provide for all its citizens, including those that contribute little or nothing. As a result, this dogma breeds resentment and ultimately extinguishes the human spirit, and the dubious incentives society receives in exchange for agreeing to a socialist state tempers the will of the general populace to work hard. In the end, the promise of socialism results in nothing more than an unhealthy cesspool of general apathy and malaise.

That being said, the intoxicating promise of a nanny state has taken serious root in this country’s younger generation. It is a chilling harbinger of this country’s future.

It is incumbent upon those of us who have children to shatter the aura of socialist romanticism that continues to be espoused in our universities and in the press. Education must begin at home.

The future of our nation depends on it.

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