you have a right to be a capitalist asshole. but just know (and be willing to admit) that i’m MORALLY SUPERIOR because i’m willing to give….i choose to help even though my help may be lost in bureaucracy.
This was a comment left on an article I stumbled. The comment, that socialists are “morally superior” because of their willingness to give made me stop and think about the journey a person takes to get to this point.
The statement is, of course, outrageously laughable. The very foundation of socialism is immoral to the core. Socialism starts with the use of force to deny one party property so another can have it. It demands, at the point of a gun, that a producer surrender their property to another who has given nothing in return. How is this morally superior?
For example, Barack Obama is promising to give every American a $1000 “emergency economic stimulus” check, which would be funded from “windfall profits from Big Oil.” According to the commenter, Obama holds the moral high ground because he is “willing to give.” But how did Barack get the money to “give?” Did he produce something? Did he provide a service?
No. The foundation of his plan rests on the use of force to take what another has produced, the profits of “Big Oil,” and is followed by the redistribution of wealth he had nothing to do with creating. For the socialist to be willing to give, they must first be willing to loot. They must first be willing to use force to take the property of a citizen or group of citizens.
A capitalist creates a product, or offers a service, for a price. If the price is too high for the public, no one buys it and no one is forced to. The price, when correct, allows the capitalist to pay for the material used in the product, plus a little profit.
Profit. In the mind of a socialist, this is a foul word. Indeed, profit is a word used today to demonize people and organizations. It is the capitalist’s desire for personal gain that leads the socialist to believe they are morally superior, because the socialist’s actions are done for the “common good.” But socialists, as we have already discussed, have nothing to give unless they have already looted it from another. Capitalists give freely from their profits , not what they steal from another at the point of a gun.
Andrew Carnegie is one of the greatest capitalists of all time. He is also one of the greatest philanthropists. From 1901-1919, he spent his time giving away the fortune he amassed. When he died, he had donated “$350,695,653 (approximately $4.3 billion, adjusted to 2005 figures) of his wealth.” Following his death, another $30,000,000 was donated to various charities.
What have the most successful socialists given to civilization? A high body count.
Capitalism does not force anyone to buy a product. It does not force anyone to surrender property without consent. Capitalism demands that the people involved in the trade come to terms between each other, make the terms of the deal acceptable between the two parties, and then the deal is completed. If one party doesn’t accept the terms, then the deal isn’t done. No one is forced to do anything.
Meanwhile, those ever ready to use force for the common good are just as ready to proclaim their moral superiority. To paraphrase Margaret Thatcher, being morally superior is like being a lady. If you have to tell people you are, you aren’t. Even if you type it in all caps.
