Socialism: Force or Fantasy?

An interesting article on a subject that should have died in 1991 was published by Lawrence W. Reed on the Foundation for Economic Education website.  Where are some highlights:

"Some socialists say that they are simply advocating “sharing,” and since socialism’s advocates have good intentions, it must be voluntary and beneficial, too. Except that it never is. If it were voluntary, it wouldn’t be socialism, and if it were beneficial, you wouldn’t need force to create it and sustain it."

"Today’s socialist dreamers think and act as if they just arrived from an alternate universe. A $19 trillion national debt means that the federal government hasn’t spent enough to solve our problems. Stealing money that belongs to others through taxation is perfectly alright if you spend it on good things. People become much more honest, fair, competent, and compassionate once they get elected to office. If you force employers to pay someone more than their services are worth, they will hire them anyway and just eat the difference. Regulations always do good because their advocates mean well. Civilizations rise and become great because they punish success and subsidize failure, then they collapse when they embrace freedom and free enterprise. Each person is entitled to whatever he wants other people to pay for, like free college and birth control."

The article is at this link:

https://fee.org/articles/socialism-force-or-fantasy/

This is the list of recommended reading at the end of the article:

·         “TheWelfare State Has Slowly but Surely Eroded Nordic Character” by Daniel J. Mitchell
·         “NordicSocialism Isn't the Answer for America” by Nima Sanandaji
·         “The Mythof Scandinavian Socialism” by Corey Iacono
·         “ScandinavianMyths: High Taxes and Big Spending are Popular” by Nima Sanandaji
·         “How LaissezFaire Made Sweden Rich” by Johan Norberg
·         “The Denmark Delusion” by Scott Sumner
·         “’DemocraticSocialism’ Is a Contradiction in Terms” by Sandy Ikeda
·         “DoesDemocracy Lead to Socialism?” by B.K. Marcus
·         “Socialism’sPrescient Critics” by Philip Vander Elst
·         “RenderingUnto Caesar: Was Jesus a Socialist?” by Lawrence W. Reed
·         “MillennialsReject Capitalism in Name but Socialism in Fact” by B.K. Marcus
·         “ActuallyBernie, Markets, Not Socialism, Promote Kindness” by Julian Adorney
·         “SocialismIs War and War Is Socialism” by Steven Horwitz
·         “VenezuelaRuns Out of Toilet Paper, Achieves True Socialism” by David Boaz