Calvert Hall High School
Towson, Maryland
Mr. Kropp
Socialist America
Patrick Gregg
11th Grade
Capitalism is a system of government in which all or most of the means of production are privately owned and operated, the distribution and prices of commodities and services are determined mainly in a free market, and every citizen has control over his or her level of economic success. Socialism is an ideology built upon the idea that groups of citizens should control political power, and therefore the means of production (Wikipedia). It is a system in which those in power provide for the population, versus the capitalist way, namely, people providing for themselves.
Based on these definitions it can be concluded that the system of government of the modern United States is more socialism than capitalism. Social security is little more than robbing the young to give to the old. Welfare is an attempt by the government to provide for its citizens, as is public education. Taxes applied to specific industries, like those on oil companies, are an attempt by the government to regulate commerce and provide the poor with necessities. While means of production are still privately owned, the government plays a large part in what is done with the products, and how much profit the company is allowed to keep.
Social Security is one of the single most socialist programs in the United States today. Essentially, the government takes the hard earned money of one individual and redistributes it to a retiree. The redistribution of wealth according to one’s needs is a clear aspect of socialism. In a true capitalist [state], the diligent worker would keep his earnings, and have the option of aiding the elderly independently. The elderly would live off...his or her savings, and the generosity, not the forced gifts, of others. In a true capitalist [state], the government does not demand anything of its citizens except loyalty and taxes, but the United States’ government forces its citizens to give to relinquish some of their wages for the “betterment” of others. This is comparable to what Lawrence Reed, President of Mackinac Center for Public Policy, a Midland based research and education institute, talks about in his address to the Economic Club of Detroit, when he comments that the only way for everyone to have the same level of income is to put a gun to everyone’s head. Social Security, like Mr. Reed’s obviously sarcastic method, tells individuals “Don’t save more wisely than everyone else”. After all, the government will provide.
Welfare is a second governmental program which gives commodities to the needy by taking from the hard-working citizenry. As a program, welfare gives money to “low income” families with dependant children. To get the money to give to the needy families, the United States government has to tax those who it doesn’t deem “low income.” In other words, the government is “robbing the rich to give to the poor”; redistributing wealth as it sees fit. Kershner’s first law warns us “When a self-governing people confer upon their government the power to take from some and give to others, the process will not stop until the last bone of the last taxpayer is picked bare.” By taking from the taxpayer and redistributing the wealth, the government of the U.S. has embarked on the road to communism.
Public education is another aspect of socialism in American government. By providing free education, the government can control exactly what the students learn to an absurd degree. It is yet another redistribution of wealth, as the government needs money to finance the schools, and the only place for a government to obtain money is from its citizenry. This time, the distribution is of services, not money, but the end result is the same: the government is, as Mr. Reed so adequately put it, “robbing Peter to pay Paul.” And public education is in keeping with socialism in that it is being freely given to the people. Education is effective when the students view it as a privilege, when it is seen as a gift, or worse, an unwanted burden, it becomes ineffective. Although socialist states provide education through college, and America only fully through high school, the fact remains that public education is taking from some to give to others.
Taxes levied on one specific industry, such as the oil or pharmaceutical industries, are socialist by their nature. The government attempts to control production and distribution of what should be a company’s materials. The government claims to act on behalf of low-income families who have little or no access to expensive necessities. The government also declares that it levies taxes on the oil industry because of their exorbitant profits at the expense of the poor. That excuse is rubbish, as Jeff Jacoby points out in his November 13th column, Exxon’s profits in the summer quarter amounted to about 9.8 cents for every dollar of sales. If the government were attempting to go after companies making obscene profits, they would be far more likely to go after Microsoft, since Gates’ company made 33.2 cents for every dollar of sales in the same quarter. Thus, the only viable conclusion is that the government levies such taxes in order to regulate the distribution of materials by discouraging companies from charging high prices. Moreover, the moneys raised from those taxes could easily go to welfare programs, furthering socialism in the United States’ government.
Social security, welfare, public education, and taxes raised on specific industries demonstrate that the government of the United States in more socialist than capitalist. Though the United States government does not expressly control production, it regulates production through taxes and rewards, and at times wage and price controls. From the moment that the government decided it could take from one citizen and give to another, it forfeited the right to call itself capitalist.