In The Road to Serfdom, we read about socialism vs individualism. The paper we looked at guides its readers through examples of socialism that inevitably turned into fascism, Marxism, and nazi dictatorship. Although democratic socialism advertises new freedom for its people, socialism can be described as the very thing to kill off freedom. There is no combination of government with socialism that will lead to a prosperous community of people. We can see that to be true based on historical events that have taken place. The writer of this believes that the same forces of socialism that destroyed Germany and Russia’s freedom could also be at work in the United States because of the blindness people have to a socialist democratic campaign.
Planners Impacts on People’s Lives
Planning became popular because of people’s desire to be prepared to handle future problems. The goal was to be ready for any possible outcomes in a situation that may arise. Those who are planners could be describes as power over men wielded by men. Socialist believed that taking away individual power and instead using plans towards society created by men would distinguish power. Power only grew due to the focus on that plan and the power the planner had over the people it was implemented on.
Liberals and Modern planners have a dispute on planning. Not over the best ways to implement it but over whether an individual should be allowed the freedom to have initiative to plan their own successful outcome or if it should be the government who directs the planers views of who should be given what and when. If we go down the path of liberal planning, we face the risk of losing our choice in solving our own economic problems, spending our earned income on what we decide to be most important, and it could shift our views to what they believe we should like. In a system like this there can be a great risk of discrimination when determining what groups are given what on the terms agreed on by the planner. The saddest part of this is that the gullible ones who have believe they have little to no opinion believe in a system like this because they believe that a choice is not even necessary. The price people do not realize they are paying leads to even more discontent than a free individual system where they are at least provided with a choice.
The Difference Between Individualism and Socialism
Individualism is rooted on the respects of Christian values. In places such as Germany and Russia the outcome has led to the persecution of Christians who were deemed as enemies. In places that value individualism freedom though, they value the praise of our one true savior Jesus Christ and place God as the ultimate authoritative figure. Relying on Him for the wisdom on how to justly lead the people. Individualism also allowed for the growth of scientific discovery because of the free use of knowledge. Ultimately there is freedom for man to develop his own life based upon the beliefs of his choosing. There is promotion for the freedom and power of choice people get to have over their own lives. Within individualism people are said to be trusted with their own decisions without interference from the government/planners. It also shows the people are held accountable for their own success and failures. Socialism on the other hand promotes a collective ownership and much inequality. If we look back on history, we can see that socialist are the ones who first began controlling the view of people from birth to death, controlled the thoughts of young children through political organizations, created a separate class of party members, and ultimately started the prototype for a totalitarian party. A totalitarian party meant everyone would have to sacrifice their morals and values to do whatever was needed to serve the whole collectivist. Many think that a socialist democratic party will lead to freedom, but they are missing that anything socialist will only lead to the destruction of freedom for the people.
Conclusion
The overall view of socialism may be appealing to some because of its ideals to create “equality” in people and choose their next steps for them because they are not always fit to do so. I see socialism as a negative though. In my opinion we should all be given the choice for how we will live our happiest life or maybe even our unhappiest life. People have more opportunity for equality with a freedom of choice they get to their most successful life, they do not have true equality when someone such as a planner is dictating what their next moves should be. When socialism is the leader man is placed in boxes of numbers and categories. When individualism is the leader man is treated as a living human being who has the capabilities to choose how he will get to live his life. I believe we are all capable and should be treated in that way.
