Letter to the Editor - Socialism is OK, Aggression is NOT!

By Starchild

When practiced voluntarily on a community level, socialism can be a wonderful thing. The problem comes when people try to use government to impose it on others by force.

Letters To The Editor
San Francisco Chronicle

Editor:

Why worry that a President Gore might try to turn the United States into a socialist society? Socialism is really OK, and besides, George W. Bush embraces it too. Only Libertarians want to dismantle most of government. So contended Anne Spanier in a well-written letter in Monday's Chronicle.

I want to thank Ms. Spanier for her candor. As a Libertarian who indeed believes people should be empowered to make their own choices, it's refreshing to be able to exchange views with an honest advocate of big government.

Ironically, she and I agree on many points. It's true that both Bush and Gore are pushing for more state socialism, that Republican politicians are often hypocrites when it comes to issues like RU-486, and that most Americans have already accepted a large dose of socialism in the form of state-run schools, health care, Social Security, etc.

Where we probably disagree is on the desirability of a central authority exercising this much control over our lives. Ms. Spanier apparently fails to realize that people in Norway, Denmark and Sweden are relatively well off not because of the socialist policies of their leaders, but in spite of them. The Scandinavian countries are blessed with strong traditions of hard work and entrepreneurship that have persisted in some measure despite the many legal disincentives which have been erected to discourage them. These nations have also been fortunate enough to avoid certain debilitating features of American-style big government, such as the vast prison-police lobby that incarcerates a huge percentage of our population in the name of enforcing laws against victimless crime.

Lest there be any misunderstanding however, let me be perfectly clear in stating that socialism is not the real problem we face. There is nothing wrong with socialism -- indeed it is a blessing -- when it is practiced voluntarily on a community level by people sharing resources to achieve common goals. The root cause of harm is aggression. Socialism only becomes dangerous to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness when people like Ms. Spanier seek to have government force it on others in a misguided attempt to do good.

Sincerely,

Starchild
3531 16th Street,
San Francisco, CA, 94114
(415) 626-3036