You Can Get It Wrong and Still You Think That It's All Right

Recently, I read a fairy tale about a college professor who conducted an experiment in what he deemed “socialism” in his economics class. As a result of his egalitarian approach to grading, all students failed the course. While the article made some reasonable points, I was appalled by the professor’s cavalier attitude toward his subject, completing disregarding the facts in order to cast aspersions on the POTUS. He did a tremendous disservice to his students by failing to explain the true meanings of socialism and equating a classroom grading curve to a free market economy.

This tale alludes to the students’ belief in the success of “Obama’s socialism”. At no time does the professor discuss true socialism nor the students’ misguided belief in President Obama’s support of such a theory. Missed a “teachable moment” there, buddy.

Please explain when and how President Obama has been a proponent of socialism. Socialism itself has more than 40 possible definitions. Which one do you mean? Perhaps the nationalization of production and distribution? I’ve never heard the POTUS suggest that.

Or maybe you refer to the complete control of production without oversight from the state? I believe that is something currently being supported by Obama’s opponents. How about redistributive taxation and government regulation of capital within the framework of the free market economy? Now that our economy has gone belly-up from the lack of these, the average American has begun calling for greater controls and fair share taxes.

Or perhaps because Obama tends to promote that which helps the common people, you mean the social justice aspects of socialism. You remember: equality and solidarity, a system that understands and values human rights while recognizing the dignity of every human being. Guess what? That brand of socialism comes straight from Christian teachings, the very thing that we profess to value above all else in this country. We thought it was great, and supported it wholeheartedly when Poland embraced it, but we don’t want it here? Talk about a double standard.

So exactly what form of socialism is Obama foisting upon unsuspecting Americans? Supporting a national healthcare plan, regulations upon out-of-control financial institutions and corporations, protection of the food supply and the environment, improving our educational system, and creating a system of taxation in which everyone pays their fair share is not socialism. Those items all fall under that wonderful phrase in the U.S. Constitution that requires our government to promote the “general welfare” of the people.

The professor, or perhaps the writer, goes on to list five points that explain why an egalitarian society will not work. While these are all true in theory, they are absolutes that do not allow for the variations that happen in a society – shades of grey that occur simply because you are dealing with human beings. You will always have those who think they are entitled, just as you will always have those whose physical and mental limitations require society’s support.

Yes you cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of it. No one has suggested that this be done. Asking that everyone pay his or her fair share to support the system in which they exist is not placing undue burdens on the wealthy. It is, however, the basis for a successful economy as described by Adam Smith, the acknowledged father of modern economics and capitalism. Did this professor skip class on the day his instructors talked about Smith’s theories and The Wealth of Nations? Evidently.

Finally, the tale ends with a lengthy, convoluted attempt at describing what appears to be our welfare system, asserting that is the beginning of the end of any nation. Strangely, history has proven over the centuries that societies in which there is a great disparity between the wealthy and the poor are those that actually fail.

This college professor failed his students in more ways than one. Yes, he failed them in terms of the grading standard. Worse though, he failed them academically by not correcting their misconceptions about socialism and the President, and by not teaching them that there are no absolutes, that these theories are not always the antithesis of each other, and that social justice always has a place in a free market economy. In short, he failed to teach them anything at all about capitalism and socialism and how aspects of each are necessary to a diverse, evolving nation.

And for those who bandy socialism around as though it is a dirty word, remember this. “That word you keep using. I do not think it means what you think it means.” Look it up and learn.