Dad, I'm a Socialist !!

For long have I tinkered with the idea of writing about Socialism. I think I have been a 'Closet Socialist' ever since I came to understand what Socialism meant (though not in it's purest form). I think now is a good time to come out of that closet.

Now that the world's largest economy has a Socialist/Keynesian leader at the helm and is taking steps towards socialism (although gingerly). Now that capitalism has imploded in some of the biggest economies of the world and people are looking for an alternative economic system.

I do have my own reservations about Socialism and I'd mention them as well in this and the subsequent posts. Nonetheless, Socialism is not all that bad an idea.

"From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs". These words by Karl Marx have come to be the underpinning dictum of Socialism and Communism ever since they were first used in 1875. But neither Socialism nor Communism can claim to achieve them both. At best they can achieve the latter and at worst neither.

'Needs' is the dominating factor under Communism. Numerous restrictions are placed on an individual in order to prevent him from accumulating inordinate wealth. This prevents the individual from performing to the max of his abilities. Liberty and ability are clearly compromised here. What makes it worse is that Communism controls not just the economy but almost all areas of society. It tries to curb individuality in all walks of life. Its termed as the 'Tyranny of the Proletariat' with a high degree of correctness.

Socialism if anything is an undertone of Communism. It is the first rung on the ladder to Communism. The individual is expected to work for the greater good of the people. Any person who runs an industry has many expectations off him. The government and the bureaucracy have a strong clout over all major industries and the (individual) owner is constrained in many ways. Liberty is yet again the casualty.

So is there no system which could work well? Well, lets not pop the bubbly just as yet !! Socialism even with it's flaws is a much better system than Capitalism. Communism is a complete no no !!

Look at this very simple but saddening fact. A survey done by 'FoodFirst.org' not so long ago revealed that US produces enough food for all of its population. Still more than 36 million people including 14 million children experience hunger. Have a look here. The data may be a little outdated but the situation has not changed much since.

The reason for this is obvious. Food has become a 'commodity' which the rich can afford to squander and the indigent cant afford to buy. It has turned from a basic necessity that each one should have to a commodity that only a few can have. All thanks to the big corporations & conglomerates who are out to make profits under the garb of free market. Its quite unsettling to know that even though sufficient food is produced, hundreds of people go hungry everyday. And at the root of it all is the Capitalist system and an unequal division of wealth.

And its not the case just with the US. According to the same institute enough wheat, rice and grain is produced in the world to feed every human being with 3,500 calories every day. And still we have starving children and distended bellies.

A Socialist system can help by making this food available to everyone. And it is not very difficult to achieve too. This is not the place to get into the minutiae but if the govts across the globe are reading, I can suggest a few ways on how to do it :p Mr. Singh, Mr. Obama..Hit me when you read this ;)

There have been many arguments made against such a system but none very convincing. It has been argued that if people were to get free food they would stop working. But I feel it is counter-intuitive. Only a man who is well fed can work well. A person who does not have food would not work anyways.

Another point made against Socialism is that when the government intervenes in a market, it disrupts the market dynamics and forces inefficiencies. But if the present state of the US and many other developed economies including the UK is any indication, then its the opposite. The government's intervention can actually be instrumental in improving the performance of a failing economy and achieve a more equitable distribution of income and wealth.

Socialism/Communism is all for equality and Capitalism is all for liberty. It's easy to have either one but a reconciliation of them both is particularly hard.

There are a lot of other factors that need to be considered and discussed and I'd hope to get to them in more such posts down the line. I'm sure I would have ruffled a few feathers with my allegiance to Socialism here. But these are merely my views. If you don't like them then either let me know or sue me :p I'd prefer the latter..