There’s an old saying that “Cleanliness is next to godliness”, and while that’s not exactly true, it does make the point that it’s good to be clean. Thinking of that, for no particular reason (that’s how my mind works, and no, don’t ask), another saying came to mind that’s even truer, a new one, that I just made up.
“Socialism is next to Communism”. Nations that become Socialist are on their way to becoming Communist. Karl Marx called Socialism a transitional stage that led to Communism and he was right.
Marx saw it like this: Tyrannies, such as kingships and other dictatorships, create dissent and conflict that result in them being overthrown. More democratic systems arise, and capitalism arises from that. As capitalism progresses, wealth becomes concentrated in the hands of a few and the people are once again separated into the rich and the poor. To quell social unrest, welfare programs are instituted to aid the most poor.
This results in increased government control and the concentration of more power in the hands of less people, while much of the population has become dependent on the government for their survival. Now the government has no choice but to assign mandatory work to those who will work, and send to labor camps those who refuse, because these people can’t eat unless they produce the means to provide for themselves.
Thus, “From each according to his ability and to each according to his need” becomes the rule, and we’ve gone full circle right back into dictatorship again.
Dictatorial government is the norm. All governments become dictatorial eventually because that’s human nature. We can only live together peacefully for just so long before dissent arises, simply because to us, the status quo is like a black hole where nothing changes and we need constant change.
We’re going to have a Global government, it may be soon, within a few more years, and it will be a total dictatorship. Individual life will become meaningless, disposing of a person will be as momentous as tossing a scrap of paper. With our rapidly advancing technology we will be totally controlled. There will be no dissent allowed.
Those who proudly profess their socialist or communist loyalty today are the laughable faddists of tomorrow, lucky if they’re even remembered as footnotes in history.