” ‘Communism/Socialism won’t always exist’ as long as humans strive for freedom.” [jughandle, post 35]
Sure it will.
Say, rather, that socialist yearnings and tendencies will resurface - relentlessly, remorselessly, inevitably. That’s because envy and covetousness are attributes of human nature. Western civ wants to see these as character flaws, but they are central to human psychology and culture, basic to our makeup, as impossible to change as eye color or blood type, or (to give a nod to more-culturally-determined factors) our tendencies to form families, tribes, and larger social groupings, which then cannot help but rival other groups, and compete for loyalty, power, status, and resources.
Doesn’t matter if one’s worldview is religious/moral based, or something else. These attributes will be there, under the surface, ready to come out and mess things up all over again.
The social/cultural mindset of Americans is the oddball situation, unsustainable without great effort and even greater understanding. The late Ronald Reagan understood this, alluding to the truth that the loss of freedom is never farther away than one generation. It’s a truth both fundamental and immutable.
Socialism appeals to the childish, immature, pre-modern mindset. We must indoctrinate all younger generations carefully, educate them to become real adults, who will grasp the benefits and workability of American liberty and dedicate their lives to participating in the life of the nation, and move to defend it. Childish motives and policies must be set aside. It won’t happen automatically.
None of it will be easy. It’s not being done very well just now, but if we do not undertake the labor, those who know will be outnumbered and overwhelmed by those who don’t.
And that will be that.
One of the ways to explain the flaws of Socialism is to point out an internal contradiction.
If everyone should share and share alike then why shouldn’t beautiful women (like our favorite Socialist) be available for sexual relations to all men?
Everyone should serve society—everyone should be equal, right?