SOCIALISM: THE MEANS

TO AN END
Let me first start off by saying it comes as no surprise to me that
citizens of this country are intrigued by the ideas of socialism. I
too agree that we live in a difficult, unstable, and frustrating
time, but to put it simply, socialism is not the answer. Bernie
Sanders refers to socialism as a political revolution while the
people of Venezuela look at socialism as a total disaster. As
we look around the world at the history and effects of socialism
it comes as a shock to me that people give it a second look, and
would even consider implementing its failing policies into the
society of the United States.
The United States of America became the most powerful and
affluent country mankind has ever seen due to capitalism. Too
many people want to be more like Europe, a mostly socialist
continent. What is currently happening to countries like
Sweden, Norway, and Greece is heartbreaking. These nations
are simply going broke, the control that the government has
over the people is peeling the country dry of its currency.
Sweden became a developed country because of capitalism in
the 1800s, and now it is being thrown away. The Democratic
party has dramatically changed over the past 20 years, Franklin
D. Roosevelt who is one of the best Democratic Presidents in
U.S. history would never have implemented socialism into the
United States. Becoming the President is a true honor, and
comes with an enormous amount of responsibility, but it does
not include the go ahead to fundamentally change our country.
Now, Bernie and Hillary would argue that they are not changing
our country, but rather improving it. Bernie Sanders looks to
countries in Europe that have no similarities to the United

States as models for how our country should be, and Hillary
Clinton, well, to be frank, I could care less what she has to say
about the our country.
The major problem with socialism is it gives the government
power of virtually everything. Lets not forget that we are a
nation with a government, not the other way around. As I age
the last thing I want is for bureaucrats telling me what doctors I
can and cant see, and determining what colleges my kids can
and cant attend. The same people who are so quick to say that
our government is corrupt are the same people willing to put
their health, education, and social security in the hands of that
same government. Instead of trying to turn our country into a
twin of failing European nations, we must use the principles of
capitalism that our founding fathers instilled in us to rebuild
the United States.
Socialism works when everyone can equally contribute, and it
goes without saying that the United States is not a nation where
everyone has that capability. The gap between the rich and the
poor in the United States is massive, but instead of trying to
shorten the gap by taxing the people who work hard for their
money, we need to remove regulations and start cutting taxes
so small businesses can strive. A high tax on small businesses is
setting business owners and their future employees up for
failure. Two thirds of all new jobs are created by small
businesses in the United States, So why tax them so much? Why
raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour? its simply a recipe for
disaster. Google, Facebook, Youtube, Nike, and Apple are all
examples of how capitalism works in our country. These
companies were not built under the supervision of our
government, they were built because of individual capitalist
success. At one point they were all small businesses, and they
were able to succeed because of our capitalist economy. Not
only do these companies produce enormous profits, they also
employ thousands and thousands of hard working Americans,

and it is not up to them to get people out of poverty. Over

taxing the rich is the basic foundation of wealth redistribution.
Simply taking from the rich and giving to the poor. The major
problem with this theory was expressed by Margret Thatcher
The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of
other peoples money. The men and women who represent
that top 5 percent of our nations wealth are not stupid people,
if we begin to tax them outrageous percentages they will leave.
If they do remain in the country their desire to remain
successful will start to decline. When you work that hard to be
successful to only end up having more than 70 percent of your
earnings stripped away, what motives would you have to
continue to work hard? If Bernie Sanders thinks the rich have
too much power now, imagine the power they will have when
they are paying everyones bills. This example has been already
demonstrated in socialist countries all across Europe. Wealth
redistribution to be put as basic as possible is the act of
legalizing extortion, and it does not work.
Another example of a failing socialist country is Denmark. More
than half of the citizens of this nation are on welfare. For the
half of citizens that are out and working hard, they are usually
earning lower wages than someone who is not employed. Its
called welfare dependancy and its what countries like the
ones I have talked about in Europe are struggling with. But wait,
education and medicare are free so this is all worth it, right?
No. Education may be free, but college students are currently
taking high school level courses because the quality of a college
education has dropped immensely. Not only is the quality of
education dropping, but the time it takes students to graduate
has grown by over a year. Well, if the education system doesnt
work, than the medicare system must work, right? Wrong
again. Free healthcare means you receive the most basic form of
healthcare that the Government can give you. The problem with
that is the word basic, the form of medicare you are receiving

may be basic and free, but your health is not. Since these free
healthcare systems were put into place, the rationing of
medicine, doctors, and technology has been a devastating
problem, and its only progressively getting worse. Winston
Churchill once said socialism is an attack on the right to
breathe freely which is a bit ironic because the policies of
socialist medicare are directly effecting the health of Europeans
everywhere. Expert Danish economists have stated that
socialism was worth a shot in Denmark because everyone there
is basically the same, and it was possible people could pull their
own weight and the government could afford it. They also say
that it is impossible to implement these same policies in the
United States of America because the culture in the United
States is dramatically different than in Denmark, also because
unlike Denmark everyone in the United States is different. If a
country like Denmark, that only has 5 million citizens cannot
make socialism work, what makes Bernie Sanders think he can
implement these same policies in a country with more than 315
million people. If Sanders really believes that socialism will
bring this nation together he is fooling himself, we have made it
through 7 years of socialist policies being implemented and our
nation hasnt been this divided in decades.
If we, the United States continue to punish the wealthy, there
will soon be less wealthy. If we continue to reward the
unsuccessful, there will soon be more unsuccessful. These
policies will drive a wedge between the rich and the poor that
this country has never seen before. It will lead to rich people
leaving the country and poor people becoming dependent upon
welfare. The culture in America is to work hard, and create
opportunity for yourself. On average immigrants from other
countries such as Sweden, Scandinavia, and Denmark
outperform the people of their homeland economically. This
comes as no surprise to me, the citizens of the United States
that accept the true capitalist values and culture of our nation

have more of an opportunity to provide for themselves than

any socialist country.
Socialism would, to be put simply, be the means to an end for
the United States.
To conclude, I will leave you with this quote by one of the best
presidents in the history of the United States of America.
Socialism only works in two places: Heaven where they dont
need it and hell where they already have it.
-Ronald Reagan