When I learned about communism in school, back before the Cold War ended, I remember thinking that some of what they were teaching me sounded like the early New Testament church.
And the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul; and not one of them claimed that anything belonging to him was his own, but all things were common property to them. Acts 4:32
But even as a kid, I had the smarts to consider that with a normal assortment of humans, this wouldn't work out well. People are selfish. I know I am. The idea of everyone having what they need is great, and in small circles I think it could work, at least for awhile. But people can't be forced to be good and generous. There will always be someone who gets greedy, or someone who doesn't want to contribute. I don't think that is a light bulb revelation. Look around you.
The news these days is full of stories of politicians or protesters demanding free stuff. Healthcare should be free! College should be free! Housing should be free! I should get paid more! Everyone should get an income from the government! --- But I don't see any of them acknowledging who should pay for it.
The fact of the matter is, all those things they want for free require someone else to provide a service for them. Should doctors work for free? Should teachers teach for free? Someone has to pay them to do the work you want to receive for free. The protest is so lopsided. "I deserve" drowns out "you deserve" They want the government to pay? Well, where does the government get its money? Taxes from people who work for their money. So bottom line is that these people want other people to do the work so they can get free stuff. Not cool.
I was watching The Orville last season, a Star Trek like show, and they visited a planet that resembled our current Earth. They encountered the exchange of money and were a bit confused by it. I never really thought about it before, but the Trek world seems to operate outside a monetary system. Aboard the Starship, everyone has what they need, but everyone also works. I question how plausible that scenario is. How many of us would still go to our jobs if money was no longer needed? If you were given everything you needed with no strings, wouldn't you rather hang out at home or with friends? How could we maintain a livable society if people didn't have to work to earn things?
There's a reason plumbers get paid a lot. You have to up the reward to get someone to work with poop all day. Basic logic. The harder jobs are less desirable. Incentive must be increased in order to fill many necessary jobs. If we give everything for free, would anyone actually do these types of jobs or would garbage pile up in the streets and toilets overflow?
I do realize there are people who need help, but I also recognize the value of earning your way. I did get my college for free, but I also think I didn't value it. We all know how many kids go off to college on someone else's dime and waste their time partying and don't value what they are being given. "College is a fountain of knowledge and the students are there to drink." (I don't know who said this, I just heard it somewhere years ago) The students who pay their own way, or older adults who come back to school late in life tend to take it more seriously and actually get something out of it.
Instead of just demanding that everything be free, I wish we could address why the cost is so high in the first place. I just haven't seen anyone looking at that side of things. Hospital stays are astronomically high. We've all seen bills like this posted to social media. I don't know how long this stay was for, but $72000 is beyond ridiculous for "room & board"! I realize hospitals require a lot of money just to operate, so that is factored in, but I have trouble believing these kinds of totals are necessary. Some say they bills are high because of malpractice insurance. OK, could be, but can we deal with that? Can we make better standards for what people can sue for? I mean, there are known risks for any surgery right? So to me that means you go into it knowing it could go badly and you agree to that risk. You shouldn't be able to sue when a known risk that you were informed about happens. If our judicial system could curb the ability of people to sue, maybe then the prices could come down. Doctors get good salaries, and they should. There is equipment to buy and janitors to pay, so I can understand the daily rate will be higher than a hotel, but I think we can all see that it's gone way beyond what is right.Big Pharma is another one. Why do they get to charge so much? Seems like a mugging. Your money or your life! They tell people they need to take these expensive pills or they'll die / get worse/ live in pain etc. They think it's ok to charge sky high rates because people will pay anything to stay alive? That's a problem. That is greed. But Big Pharma gets away with anything because they have so much profit that they are lining the pockets of the politicians so they can continue on their merry way. How can we stop that? It's so wrong that these politicians are elected to jobs with a 6 figure salary, yet they still manage to make millions. Pretty sketchy. Being paid by anyone to influence the job they swore to do is evil. I wish I knew how to stop political donations like that. It's hard to expect the lawmakers to make laws against themselves getting more money.
I struggle to find answers that work in my own mind. I hate the idea of people dyeing or suffering because they can't afford care. That is so wrong to me, but I don't know what to do about it. I don't like the idea of forcing society to fork over more and more money to help others. Now hear me, I'm not saying we shouldn't help the less fortunate, I'm saying we shouldn't force it. It seems we are being taxed more and more to pay for an ever expanding social welfare system.
Many of us live paycheck to paycheck, unable to get ahead because of all the taxes coming out. I understand the resentment of people who work so hard to barely survive as they look at those who don't work getting free stuff. The system is broken. Why should I work for my money and not be able to afford a smart phone and drive down the street to see those on government assistance getting them for free? A smart phone is NOT a necessity! I lived with a flip phone until 2 years ago when my job required me to upgrade.
This kind of thing is deepening the divisions in our nation. Creating resentment and anger at the unfairness of people who get free stuff that isn't really free. Someone else is paying for it. I will admit I have pondered the idea of dropping out of work, shirking all responsibility and living off the system. My conscience won't let me, but I do see the appeal. Without an internal sense of right and wrong and fairness, why should people contribute to society if they can get their needs met for free?
That is where I see socialism going. We've seen it throughout history, and still today. There will always be greedy and selfish people who want to take what they want regardless of the cost to others. We can't create a system that relies on the goodness of people. Most people are good, but the few who aren't will ruin the whole deal. We have to consider what is fair, and that is to make sure people are contributing in order to earn their way.
If you're so concerned about the poor, what are you doing about it personally? I know plenty of people are charitable. If we had more in our paychecks because of less taxes, would we privately take care of all the issues we are currently asking our government to deal with? I hope so, but it's hard to say.
