December 8, 2025
Economic systems produce wealth and distribute that wealth. Socialists have a plan for how to distribute wealth. But they have no plan for producing that wealth.
| General Ken | ||||
| If we are going to discuss economics, will we need some pills to stay awake? | ||||
| Filius X. Publius | ||||
| I hope not. We won’t be getting into any details. We will only be discussing some very basic concepts. In fact we will be keeping the discussion at the same level that the socialists use when advocating socialism. | ||||
| General Ken | ||||
| For example? | ||||
| Filius X. Publius | ||||
| Socialists like to talk about how they will distribute the wealth. We will talk about how we will produce that wealth. | ||||
| General Ken | ||||
| I’m ok with that. | ||||
| Filius X. Publius | ||||
| We should start out by observing a fundamental rule about the world. All we have to divide up amongst us is the total of what we produce. | ||||
| General Ken | ||||
| That should be obvious to everyone. Why is it necessary to even mention it? | ||||
| Filius X. Publius | ||||
| The socialists sell socialism on how they plan to distribute the wealth. They preach "to everyone according to their needs". Everyone gets an equal share. They remain silent on creating the wealth. | ||||
| General Ken | ||||
| What about "from each according to his abilities"? Doesn’t that count as addressing the creation of wealth? | ||||
| Filius X. Publius | ||||
| It’s a start. But it has more problems than the "to each" part of the sales pitch. | ||||
| General Ken | ||||
| Please explain. | ||||
| Filius X. Publius | ||||
| Consider the "to each" portion of the sales pitch. The socialists will take everything from "the billionaires." They share the booty among all of us. No one will have to earn a share of the booty. | ||||
| But give some thought to the "from each" part. Does that mean that everyone must now work at the government’s command? | ||||
| General Ken | ||||
| No. They never say anything like that. | ||||
| Filius X. Publius | ||||
| So some people will quit working. Why work if you don’t have to earn your share of the booty? | ||||
| General Ken | ||||
| Ok. Some people might do that. | ||||
| Filius X. Publius | ||||
| So how will the socialists generate the wealth that they want to re-distribute? Yes, they can seize what the wealthy have now. But what about the next day? Will there be anything left to seize then? How will a socialist economy produce goods and services going forward? | ||||
| General Ken | ||||
| Can’t the socialists just say that we will produce wealth under socialism the same way we produced wealth before? | ||||
| Filius X. Publius | ||||
| That’s what socialists assume they can do. It is probably the single most important reason that attempts at socialism have always failed. | ||||
| General Ken | ||||
| How so? | ||||
| Filius X. Publius | ||||
| Most people only work to earn money so they can buy goods and services produced by others. But those goods and services will be free under socialism. Workers will stop working. They will stop producing the goods and services that others want. | ||||
| General Ken | ||||
| What happens then? | ||||
| Filius X. Publius | ||||
| There will be fewer goods and services produced. Therefore, fewer free goods and services for the socialists to divide up among us all. The socialists will say their system is much more fair, but everyone will have less than before. | ||||
| General Ken | ||||
| Perhaps we would then have a less materialistic society. | ||||
| Filius X. Publius | ||||
| Well, at a minimum we would have less material to divide among us. We could even wind up like Cuba or Venezuela, with poverty shared by all. | ||||
| Spawn of the Torch Lady | ||||
| All but the rulers. The rulers always seem to have more than everyone else, even in socialistic societies. | ||||
| Blayden Balance | ||||
| All are equal, but some are more equal. | ||||
| Filius X. Publius | ||||
| Now, before socialism, many people work hard. They work hard producing goods and services for others. Their work earns them more money than others get. They can then afford to buy more goods and services than others can afford. Under socialism, the goods and services will be free to all. Hard work won’t get anyone more goods or services than anyone else gets. Those who work hard now would no longer have any reason to work hard. Or even to work at all. That will also be true for those who never liked working in the first place. | ||||
| If everyone works less, there will less wealth produced. Fewer goods. Fewer services. Less for us to divide among us. Remember, all we have to divide up amongst us is the total of what we produce. The socialists have a plan for dividing up the wealth that exists now. Do they have any plan for generating wealth tomorrow? If we don’t create more wealth tomorrow, then we can all have an equal share of poverty tomorrow. | ||||
| Spawn of the Torch Lady | ||||
| Maybe that’s why socialists don’t tell us about their plan for generating wealth. | ||||
| Filius X. Publius | ||||
| Sooner or later we run into the limit Margaret Thatcher warned about: | ||||
| The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people’s money. | ||||
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