These words come from Ludwig von Mises's book "Socialism":
"Capitalism has raised the standard of life among the masses to a level which our ancestors could not have imagined. Interventionism and efforts to introduce Socialism have been working now for some decades to shatter the foundations of the world economic system. We stand on the brink of a precipice which threatens to engulf our civilization. Whether civilized humanity will perish forever or whether the catastrophe will be averted at the eleventh hour and the only possible way of salvation retraced by which we mean the rebuilding of a society based on the unreserved recognition of private property in the means of production is a question which concerns the generation destined to act in the coming decades, for it is the ideas behind their actions that will decide it...
"To the masses the catchwords of Socialism sound enticing and the people impetuously desire Socialism because in their infatuation they expect it to bring full salvation and satisfy their longing for revenge. And so they will continue to work for Socialism, helping thereby to bring about the inevitable decline of the civilization which the nations of the West have taken thousands of years to build up. And so we must inevitably drift on to chaos and misery, the darkness of barbarism and annihilation...
"Our whole civilization rests on the fact that men have always succeeded in beating off the attack of the re-distributors. But the idea of re-distribution enjoys great popularity still, even in industrial countries. If we wish to save the world from barbarism we have to conquer Socialism."
The definition of socialism includes central planning of the economy and the redistribution of wealth and income from the rich to those who are less well off. It is the epitomy of good intentions based on complete ignorance and a lack of understanding that results in doing exactly the wrong thing. Taking from the rich to give to the poor results in the progessive impoverishment of everybody and the poorer the person the greater the harm. Proof?
Great post.
Here is the “sub-title” of the LA Times editorial.
“The GOP candidate’s positions are not a vision of the future for the U.S. but of a discredited past.”
Your post made the case (among other things) that it is the discredited past - BIG BLINKING NEON SOCIALIST “crumbs” — rolling them back is our template for going forward.