What is collectivism?

1-What is collectivism?
2-Why does it turn out to be an economic failure?
3-Why is it a social failure?
4-How will it affect the next generations?
5-Can we prevent the collectivist political elites from achieving their goals?
The answer to this question will essentially answer the remaining four questions. But I will give more specific answers to those narrower questions. “Collectivism”, as I will define and describe it here, is not at all difficult to understand. In a nutshell, collectivism is the movement that seeks to grow government power at any level by passing a law. This is the prevailing attitude of a collectivist. They “see” a problem and their programmed kneejerk reaction is, “there ought to be a law”! By exclaiming this “path” to the “solution” the individual is saying that the option does not exist to solve the problem at hand by voluntary cooperation among those most affected by the problem. They seem to not see the much larger threat of empowering government to universally enforce this law on everyone. In almost every case where such a law is passed, the problem never goes away and in most if not all cases it actually grows! The mischief that is unleashed by that law can be predicted by simply looking at the results of passing a law in the past. Therefore, government and all its “employees” (bureaucrats) and program “beneficiaries” of the law will oppose its repeal. In fact, these selfsame forces have no intention of solving the problem and the more they can convince “the people” that the problem not only still exists but has grown or they have discovered that the problem is much larger and more permanent that ever conceived justifies their appeals for more money, more powers, more enforcers and even more laws to “combat” this “growing problem”. While I could provide many examples of this historically, in any nation, one need only answer this question to “check” the veracity of my claims: “Can you name a single agency of government that has been shut down by solving the problem that was used to justify its creation?” Collectivism is clandestinely taught in all government schools because the state has a self-interest to grow in the same fashion as all private sector businesses do. The major difference is that a private business cannot force you to buy their products and services at the price they alone determine. Government, on the other hand, does have a monopoly on “legal” force! Today, we hear all the time about businesses climbing in bed with governments under the term “crony-capitalism”.

As Ludwig Von Mises said:

Every collectivist assumes a different source for the collective will, according to his own political.

This too is a tactic of collectivists as well as by monopolist capitalists to get the government to use its “force” to protect its operations and cash flow by limiting smaller or new competitors that would naturally rise up against them as they grew in profits, power, size and domination. In a truly free economy, any company that is seen as highly profitable will cause free people to become a competitor and “tap” their cash flow which results in less money for the “giant” companies. This process is the great “built-in equalizer”, a self-regulator to excess profits among private sector companies. Socialists deliberately rail in criticism against free people, freely and voluntarily competing for customers (cash flow) as the dog-eat-dog world of “runaway capitalism”. Socialists are but one “form” of collectivists! Why? Because their cry is for more laws, more regulation, more taxes, more bureaucrats which only give government more power, not less. All one needs do is extend the lines of collectivism to arrive at its logical destination – tyranny! The agreed upon definition of which is the gathering into the hands of government all power to rule over its serfs on any matter it sees fit. Centralization of power into the hands of the state, in other words. “Laws”, for as long as they are laws and not repealed, authorize the police powers of the government to enforce (using any and all prescribed legal means) the provisions of that law. Laws, once passed, say to the citizens, “you will comply or be punished as a “law breaker” (criminal) solely on the basis of that law. You have no choice to not comply!

This is the end of my post, remember to vote and comment.

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