What is Socialism? Government Review

[FEARBAD]

I really hate labels. You end up wasting time discussing definitions rather than discussing the actual ideas.

[S.Carnivore]

An economics professor at a local college made a statement that he had never failed a single student before, but had recently failed an entire class.
That class had insisted that Bernie Sanders socialism worked and that no one would be poor and no one would be rich, a great equalizer.

The professor then said, “OK, we will have an experiment in this class on Bernie Sanders plan”.
All grades will be averaged and everyone will receive the same grade so no one will fail and no one
will receive an A…. (substituting grades for dollars – something closer to home and more readily understood by all).

After the first test, the grades were averaged and everyone got a B.

The students who studied hard were upset and the students who studied little were happy. As the second test rolled around, the students who studied little had studied even less and the ones who studied hard decided they wanted a free ride too so they studied little.

The second test average was a D! No one was happy.

When the 3rd test rolled around, the average was an F.

As the tests proceeded, the scores never increased as bickering, blame and name-calling all resulted in hard feelings and no one would study for the benefit of anyone else.
To their great surprise, ALL FAILED and the professor told them that socialism would also ultimately fail because when the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great, but when government takes all the reward away, no one will try or want to succeed.

It could not be any simpler than that.

There are five morals to this story:

1. You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity.

2. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving.

3. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else.

4. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it!

5. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that is the beginning of the end of any nation.

This is a true exercise in human nature. Human nature is the truest downfall of the progressive liberal ideas. The progressive agenda is wonderful on paper, who doesn't want everyone to have a home, and food, and medical care. I know I would love that, the problem is people. It is in our nature to do very little without reward, in fact I would say it is our most basic instinct. Without the "carrot" we will never strive for greatness, the experiment has been done. When you completely discount the moral of this story, you discount all that makes us human. Some day we will move past this as a species, and the utopia can begin, but until then we need to craft our laws to give that "carrot" for working towards improving, not just for being.

[catbuffalo]

"There are different type of socialists."

As a socialist I agree. I recommend richard d wolff's channel here on youtube for people to learn more. Particularly his may video.

Socialism to me, is about workplace democracy. As those during the enlightenment who saw feudal monarchies as illegitimate, I view the contemporary work environment the same way. So on the political compass, socialism and capitalism aren't left-right to me.

Communism is really just leninism, where the state facilitates the economy as opposed to bankers, shareholders and board members.

Many people view communism as less authoritarian because politicians are more likely to co-opt socialism (bernie sanders) but it is an ahistorical view.

Again Richard wolff's may video does the best job at explaining all of this.

[DustingBread]

Wow this was exactly the kind of video I was looking for.

[Hit]

Enjoyed the video and thought the material presented was very good! One small note, please make sure the sound effects of the transitions are at the same volume as you when you're talking. I might be wrong, but two of them seemed a little bit louder than you. Great overall though! Again, really enjoyed it!

[BobDole]

Very good informative video! Socialism is probably one of the most misunderstood ideologies in the U.S. So I think videos like this are very important in order to educate the general public!

[kimmyalan]

What a great informative video.
I think it’s important to point out, no matter what your political beliefs, never subscribe to an ideology that won’t allow a measure of personal, demanding unquestionable loyalty. When you have to follow the charter to the letter, you become a slave to that ideology, losing all sense of individualism. The only thing our founding fathers did agree on, is the right to disagree.  Each had their own individual and unique perspectives of faith and government.  I have no doubt that if they were here today, they’d all proclaim they’re ‘right to change their minds.’
Thanks Keith for posting such an educational piece.
Kimmy Alan (aka proudsocialist)

[brendandevlin]

Workers control over the means of production needs to be included as a core aspect of socialism. Whether it means total control through workplace democracy or a bit more control through unionization. An emphasis on various forms of workers control is absolutely crucial to socialism

[stiegmusic]

Here is the basic definition of socialism:

Any ideology advocating workplace democracy, as well as the common ownership over the means of production by those who work them.

[tomrichey]

Nice job, Keith! These transitions and notebook paper bits are really impressive. What editing program are you using nowadays?

[ejcmoorhouse]

Economic Left/Right: -9.63
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -6.41

So Libertarian Socialist. :)

[jareddiaz]

Control over the free market? Sounds like an oxymoron to me!

[Coldwallbar]

I love this guy. He really explains things in a positive way. Subscribed

[FrasierCraft]

I am a member of AUF (Arbeidernes Ungdomsfylking), Workers Youth League, a sub party to AP (Arberiderpartiet), the Workers Party, which has strong democratic socialist values. I took the test, and my political compass there was just as in real life.
Great video! You have got a new subscriber!

[jscottupton]

Under capitalism if you don't like your job you can quit and try to find a better job. Under socialism your most important job is political...making sure that the "freebies" keep flowing from the government.

[TheLelle]

Holding a bachelors degree in political science and being in my second year of graduate school this 6 minute video helped me more than most of my seminars to understand socialism. Thank you!

[Effectedpenguin]

Very clear way of getting the information through in a very engaging way, your enthusiasm is awesome! good job
  

[AlanHistoryNerd]

Do you think ideas about what socialism is vary from country to country? I teach in England and when I've spoken to American friends they often consider some of our institutions such as the NHS as being socialist whilst British people wouldn't. Here is a video I made for my students:
It is part of a series I'm making for them on political ideas

[XBlackFlagX]

*From* each according to their ability, to each according to their needs.

[TASCOLP]

In Germany we make a difference between social democracies, socialism, anarchism and communism.