Comment & Debate
The following historic quote represents this argument. “Of Plymouth Plantation” pp 96-97 by William Bradford: “At length, after much debate of things, the Governor (with the advise of the chiefest amongst them) gave way that they should set corn every man for his own particular, and in that regard trust to themselves; […] This had very good success; for it made all hands very industrious, so as much more corn was planted then otherwise would have been by any means the Governor or any other could use, and saved him a great deal of trouble, and gave far better content. The women now went willingly into the field, and took their little ones with them to set corn, which before would allege weakness, and inability; whom to have compelled would have been thought great tyranny and oppression.”[1][2][3] Voluntary social living was tried long before the term “socialism” was coined. It was a disaster and they quickly rejected it. They were not pursuing any socioeconomic ideology but rather simply seeking the most beneficial and prosperous way to live. Bradfords’ observations, summarized above, are universal and incontrovertible. Where socialistic policies are tried, it discourages productive labor to the detriment of all. To maintain productivity, coercion —rejected by the colonists as a great tyrany and opression— becomes necessary. This leads immediately to the soviet run feudalism and political aristocracy we have seen so much of in the Twentieth Century.
Mark Perry. “Why Socialism Failed” The Freeman. December 31, 2008: “In a capitalist economy, incentives are of the utmost importance. Market prices, the profit-and-loss system of accounting, and private property rights provide an efficient, interrelated system of incentives to guide and direct economic behavior. Capitalism is based on the theory that incentives matter!
Under socialism, incentives either play a minimal role or are ignored totally. A centrally planned economy without market prices or profits, where property is owned by the state, is a system without an effective incentive mechanism to direct economic activity. By failing to emphasize incentives, socialism is a theory inconsistent with human nature and is therefore doomed to fail. Socialism is based on the theory that incentives don’t matter!
By their failure to foster, promote, and nurture the potential of their people through incentive-enhancing institutions, centrally planned economies deprive the human spirit of full development. Socialism fails because it kills and destroys the human spirit–just ask the people leaving Cuba in homemade rafts and boats.”