Why is it “almost” impossible to bring Socialism into the world?

[Anonymous]

Why is it “almost” impossible to bring Socialism into the world?

Author: Paramjeet Singh

Blog: Socialist Center ( http://socialistcenter.blogspot.in/ )

 

Robin has Rs. 10,

Jane has Rs. 15,

John has Rs. 20,

Samantha has Rs. 25

.

.

.

Donald has Rs. 75

Suzy has Rs.100

.

.

(many people in between moving up from the last economic level)

M. X has Rs. 100,000

.

.

Mr. Y has Rs. 200,000

.

Gordon has Rs. 600 billion

Martha has Rs. 800 billion (take Martha to be the richest person on earth)

So, what do you get out of the above diagram and its explanation?

We get the biggest reason that makes it almost impossible to bring the democratic Socialism into the world.

This is the “hope”- the hope that capitalism gave us.

(See the above illustration): Robin has Rs. 10 but when he sees Jane having Rs. 15, he believes that one day he can also have Rs. 15 and, thereafter, he starts aspiring for Rs. 15. Robin struggles and there are very bright chances that with some more work he will get Rs. 15. But this is not where the problem lies. After earning Rs. 15, Robin sees John earning Rs. 20. Robin also wants to have Rs. 20 now and there are some chances that if Robin toils more, he will end up earning Rs. 20. Therefore, he works more and ends up earning Rs. 20. Now, Robin sees Smanatha earning Rs. 25. Robin works harder in the hope that he has reached this far and will end up earning Rs. 25 like Martha. This is in line with the basic human nature that is characterized by ‘affinity to wealth’ (‘amassing wealth’). But this doesn’t stop here. Robin comes across many people in his life who are better off than him. Robin wants to achieve higher levels of economic gains because he sees those people in life who earn more than him. The people at higher level than him are inspiration for him or at least those people support that ‘hope’ in him that he, too, can, one day, be like them in terms of money. Now, this is where the problem begins. This gradual advancement towards the higher economic development levels (money) becomes a ‘race’- a race that everyone of us wants to win; a victory for which the most will break the rules and the law. With each initial small successes, the aspirations of Robin begin to rise and he starts believing that he will, one day, be able to earn as much as people on higher economic levels than him are earning. Robin ‘hopes’ that, one day, he will earn equal to Mr. X who has Rs. 1,00,000 and then may be like Mr. Y who has Rs. 2,00,000; and if Robin somehow manages to reach that level, his aspirations will soar further high and he will dream and desire of amassing wealth like Gordon who has Rs. 600 billion or like Martha who has Rs. 800 billion. Not everyone can have as much money as Gordon or Martha because the resources available to the mankind are limited and so are the opportunities. We have to be practical. Dreams like these can be sold as everyone of us is a prospective buyer of them, but their realization by everyone of us is far away from reality. Can everyone of us have Rs. 800 billion? Can each one of us be Gordon? NO. But neoliberalism sells this dream to everyone of us and tells us that if we “struggle” all our life, we can earn Rs. 800 billion. In fact, Gordon will tell all his workers that “if you work like hell you can be another Gordon”. Can this happen? Well, we all know that it can’t happen. But the result is that every worker/serviceman/professional working under Gordon will end up struggling all his/her life harboring that ‘hope’ and then, ultimately, die with an unrealized dream that was sold to them by Gordon who represents neoliberalism. The neoliberalism feeds off our “hope” that, initially, was its gift to us. This is how neoliberalism allows the exploitation of all of us. This ‘hope’ to reach a level better off than the last one is the main cause of all the problems that we have today. This “hope” is the gift of neoliberalism. Those 1% that reach the pinnacle of wealth have done so by exploiting the rest 99%. And the said ‘rest 99%’ have allowed themselves to be exploited by those filthy rich 1% in the ‘hope’ that the former could one day have as much as those 1% do.

Thus, the ‘hope’ gifted by neoliberalism to the mankind along with inherent greed of the human beings will make it “almost” impossible to bring democratic socialism into the world. However, Socialist Center and its friends will continue striving for a solution to the same.

First, Wake Up and Realize The Reality.

[SocialistPunk]

SocialistCenter wrote:

In fact, Gordon will tell all his workers that “if you work like hell you can be another Gordon”. Can this happen? Well, we all know that it can’t happen. But the result is that every worker/serviceman/professional working under Gordon will end up struggling all his/her life harboring that ‘hope’ and then, ultimately, die with an unrealized dream that was sold to them by Gordon who represents neoliberalism

So what we have is a situation where everybody knows hard work of itself won't make you rich. Yet they go along with the lie anyway, in the futile hope dreams can come true if you wish (work) hard enough. All that happens is they end up working themselves into an early grave while making their boss richer as a result of their extra aspirational effort. 

Socialist Center wrote:

This gradual advancement towards the higher economic development levels (money) becomes a ‘race’- a race that everyone of us wants to win; a victory for which the most will break the rules and the law

In Britain it is refered to as the "rat race" because of the futility of it. Some people choose to quit the "rat race" and opt for a simpler life with less stress, knowingly accepting less wealth in the process. Most people, in Britain at least, don't  take to breaking the law in order to obtain more and more wealth.

SocialistCenter wrote:

This is in line with the basic human nature that is characterized by ‘affinity to wealth’ (‘amassing wealth’).

Now we have the core of the thread, human nature or to put it more accurately a fragment of it. The greedy aspect of our nature. Yeah sure people can be greedy, but I have never come across hard work and greed working so harmoniously as to drive people to strive for something they know they will never be able to achieve. This can only be the case if human nature propels people along this pointless route against their better judgment. Then we get into the realm of instinct.

SocialistCenter wrote:

Thus, the ‘hope’ gifted by neoliberalism to the mankind along with inherent greed of the human beings will make it “almost” impossible to bring democratic socialism into the world. However, Socialist Center and its friends will continue striving for a solution to the same.First, Wake Up and Realize The Reality. 

 I would agree on this point if we have to work against instinct. In fact I would go further than saying it is "almost" impossible and say it would be absolutely impossible and therefore a waste of time. Luckily, as it turns out, all that is being described in the opening post is human behaviour, moulded by a mixture of social pressure, and financial necessity.  As human behaviour is adaptable, it means socialism is a viable possibility.

[ALB]

I don't know if this is the right place to post it, but here's another example of (particularly stupid) anti-socialist propaganda that might influence people sent to us by a sympathiser in the US:http://reason.com/blog/2014/07/22/socialists-are-cheaters-says-new-study

[rodshaw]

For 'socialism' read 'state capitalism' and it could be true for all we know. It isn't anti-socialist in our terms, and I'm sure we wouldn't want to be defending the regimes the article calls socialist. Nevertheless, we're bound to get  tarred by the same brush.

[Author]

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