I discussed the principle of The Failure of Forced Equality on my second and third blog posts. I have been
discussing the failure of forced economic equality, which is exemplified in the
tried and tired economic theories of socialism and communism. Many principles
of socialism and communism are derived from the works of Karl Marx, who
advocated for the public ownership of production as a way for the working class
to rise. Unfortunately, the practice of Marx’s concepts in history in various
socialist and communist regimes have failed and have produced untold suffering
among the human race. Therefore, I aim to raise many above the dark labyrinths
of failed feel-good Marxist policies to the safe and clear ideological highland
of limited government intervention in economies.
1. [Policy Claim]
Contrary to the popular political
narrative of “making the rich pay their fair share”, the economic systems of
socialism and communism should not be implemented because of their past failures
to grow economies and provide the public with basic goods.
2. [Definition Claim]
The economic systems of socialism
and communism are deadly to the public because they dis-incentivize people to
produce basic goods and they result in sluggish economies, in contrast to the
utopian vision of happy societies of wealth distribution portrayed by power-hungry
politicians.
3. [Comparison Claim]
In contrast to the perpetual
over-hyped claims of “democratic socialism”, socialism and communism are no
different than economic despotism because the centralized command economy
results in production inefficiencies, declines in productivity, and commodity
shortages.
4. [Evaluation Claim]
Socialism and communism are among
the worst economic practices because they favor an overbearing level of
government control and they result in the mass poverty of millions.
5. [Causal Claim]
Unlike leading to an egalitarian
utopia, socialism and communism both result in commodity shortages, political
corruption, and public violence.
As I was writing these five
theses, I was thinking of general examples of pro-socialist and pro-communist
rhetoric to refute. One good thing to research would be more specific examples
of rhetoric used by advocates of socialism and communism.
Image Credit: "Bolshevik poster, Discovery Point Visitor Centre" by Gwen and James Anderson is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
To me, the comparison claim seems the most promising because you are setting yourself up for an evidence-based argument. If you can effectively prove that socialism really creates production inefficiencies, declines in productivity, and commodity shortages, you will have a lot of backing for your claim. I also think this idea of "sluggish economies" brought up in your definition claim is interesting. I've heard podcasts on how more socialized countries produce less inventions than much less socialized countries, which would certainly be an aspect of "sluggishness."
ReplyDeleteI like your evaluation claim because it is the most straight forward of your claims and I would enjoy seeing your argument that demonstrates that it results in the impoverishment of millions.
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