43. Socialism In Action

The ideal socialist society was described by Karl Marx thus:

>>  "From each according to his ability, to each according to his need."

        -- Communist Manifesto (1848)

How does that work out in the real world?  Marx had no idea.  Lenin and Stalin put Marx's dream into action to create the socialist paradise in Russia, and killed millions of people.  Socialism in action is the opposite of paradise.

Here is an intensely realistic (but fictional) description of socialism in practice:

>>   "Well, there was something that happened at that plant where I worked for twenty years... the Twentieth Century Motor Co., Starnesville, Wisconsin.... The plan was that everybody in the factory would work according to his ability, but would be paid according to his need....

>>   "They told us that this plan would achieve a noble ideal....  We voted for the plan at a big meeting....  None of us knew just how the plan would work.... 

>>   "Do you know how it worked, that plan,  and what it did to people?...  We're all one big family, they told us, we're all in this together.  But you don't all stand working an acetylene torch ten hours a day -- together, and you don't all get a bellyache -- together...."

     -- Ayn Rand "Atlas Shrugged"
               page 660 (hc); 616 (pb)
        "For The New Intellectual"
               page 121 (hc); 101 (pb)

And then, for twelve gripping, fascinating pages, Rand lays out, in excruciating and heart-breaking detail, just exactly what socialism means in the lives of the people who are forced to live by this "ideal" of altruism in action.

This is perhaps the most powerful indictment of socialism/altruism in practice, carried to its  ultimate extreme.  It is an utterly chilling picture of our own future, if Obama-Democrat collectivism prevails.

If you value your life, read these twelve pages.

Ayn Rand

6. What To Call It

The Obama regime has been called by many names. Any of the following might be appropriate:

Socialism
National socialism
Fascism
Corporatism
Communism
Stalinism
Marxism
Leninism
Tyranny
Statism
Liberalism
Collectivism
Good of society
Communitarianism
Community service
Social gospel
Liberation theology

All are applicable to the Obama regime in some respects. While they vary in the details of their programs, all of these isms have one thing in common: their fundamental philosophy.

All of the above isms are based on the philosophy of altruism. They are all death cults.

>> "The basic principle of altruism is that man has no right to exist for his own sake, that service to others is the only justification of his existence, and that self-sacrifice is his highest moral duty, virtue, and value.... which means the self as a standard of evil, and the selfless as a standard of the good."
-- Ayn Rand "Philosophy, Who Needs It", page 74 (hc), 61 (pb).

Obama's philosophy is thoroughly altruistic. His actions in taking over control of business fit the fascist pattern. And he is doing it all by stealth, not revealing his true motivation or goals, concealed behind meaningless propaganda slogans such as "Hope" and "Change".

Therefore, I will continue to use the term "crypto-fascist" to refer to Obama and his regime.