" If you're not a socialist at the age of 20 you have no heart. If you're not a conservative at the age of 40, you have no head "
I read this and it made me think. When I was 20, I was a hardcore socialist. For those happy and ignorant, "socialism is the political and economic theory which advocates, means of production, distribution and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole". We pool in all the economic resources and divide it equally. This division of resources will be regulated by the government. What a beautiful Idea, I thought.
India grew up with socialist ideologies as well. The government will lead the manufacturing of all the goods. All services are provided by the government. They are all provided evenly. There is no divide between the rich and the poor. The British who were the sole reason for us being the poor country have gone. The good Indian government will take the resources from the rich and share it evenly with all the citizens of India. Redistribution is the word! We will all live happily ever after. After all, we have our own government and so we will soon be rich.
Life though was not the same. After forty years of socialism, in spite of the good people in the government, there was something amiss. Ah, the government is filled with corrupt people. We change the government we will be fine said a few friends. I completely agreed. After all proper redistribution cannot be a bad idea, can it? Change the government, and bingo, we will be rich. For sure this time!
Few people advocated private ownership of property. The evil and the wicked, I thought. How can anyone who has his intentions on making profit be of any good to the common public? The rich corporates, they are money suckers. They are not like the government, who intends good for the public. They are only after the money. They will do anything to get more and more money. They might even kill. Bloody corporates! I even refused to buy products from the corporate bigwigs. I would rather help the poor farmer, you see. The 20s and idealism go well together, I presume.
But the ideal world of socialism with more and more government means of production did not seem to be working. In fact, the poor have remained poor forever. Where did it all go wrong? I kept asking myself! I started to read economics, and it dawned on me the folly of it all.
Human beings are primarily selfish; they will look for their own good before thinking about anyone else. Of course, there are saints but they are the outliers, not the norm. Incentivize the human being, he will work. The first lesson of economics, got my brain rolling.
The government and the corporates are made of human beings. The very same human beings. The government-run industries did not succeed because there was no incentive for human beings in those industries to be the best. While those in the private sector flourished because they have to be at their best to survive. The market competition made human beings in the corporates to give their best. Thus socialism, with state-run production and service industries can never be as efficient as the best-run market based private entity.
But can we do away with government and its regulations then? Well, that is for another blog!
I read this and it made me think. When I was 20, I was a hardcore socialist. For those happy and ignorant, "socialism is the political and economic theory which advocates, means of production, distribution and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole". We pool in all the economic resources and divide it equally. This division of resources will be regulated by the government. What a beautiful Idea, I thought.
India grew up with socialist ideologies as well. The government will lead the manufacturing of all the goods. All services are provided by the government. They are all provided evenly. There is no divide between the rich and the poor. The British who were the sole reason for us being the poor country have gone. The good Indian government will take the resources from the rich and share it evenly with all the citizens of India. Redistribution is the word! We will all live happily ever after. After all, we have our own government and so we will soon be rich.
Life though was not the same. After forty years of socialism, in spite of the good people in the government, there was something amiss. Ah, the government is filled with corrupt people. We change the government we will be fine said a few friends. I completely agreed. After all proper redistribution cannot be a bad idea, can it? Change the government, and bingo, we will be rich. For sure this time!
Few people advocated private ownership of property. The evil and the wicked, I thought. How can anyone who has his intentions on making profit be of any good to the common public? The rich corporates, they are money suckers. They are not like the government, who intends good for the public. They are only after the money. They will do anything to get more and more money. They might even kill. Bloody corporates! I even refused to buy products from the corporate bigwigs. I would rather help the poor farmer, you see. The 20s and idealism go well together, I presume.
But the ideal world of socialism with more and more government means of production did not seem to be working. In fact, the poor have remained poor forever. Where did it all go wrong? I kept asking myself! I started to read economics, and it dawned on me the folly of it all.
Human beings are primarily selfish; they will look for their own good before thinking about anyone else. Of course, there are saints but they are the outliers, not the norm. Incentivize the human being, he will work. The first lesson of economics, got my brain rolling.
The government and the corporates are made of human beings. The very same human beings. The government-run industries did not succeed because there was no incentive for human beings in those industries to be the best. While those in the private sector flourished because they have to be at their best to survive. The market competition made human beings in the corporates to give their best. Thus socialism, with state-run production and service industries can never be as efficient as the best-run market based private entity.
But can we do away with government and its regulations then? Well, that is for another blog!
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