Over 30 years ago a satellite photo of an area in Northern Africa showed a peculiar condition. In the middle of a wide expanse of barren land was a dark patch approximately 400 square miles in area. When investigators made a visit to the area they discovered that the dark patch was a fenced in area of lush grass. The area outside the fence was virtually devoid of vegetation. Turns out the fenced in area was private property surrounded by public land. The private property was subdivided into five areas which the owners used to rotate their animal grazing. This rotation allowed the fallow areas to recover between grazing cycles. The public land was owned by everyone or no one, depending how you look at it. It was available to all herdsmen for animal grazing. This is a textbook example of what has been called the “Tragedy of the Commons” and it demonstrates a fundamental flaw of socialism; the severing of the relationship between costs and benefits. The owners of the private property had a vested interest in the stewardship of the land. While they received the benefits of grazing the land, they also bore the costs. Any temptation of the owners to over graze the land, thereby increasing their immediate benefit, was tempered by their knowledge of the unacceptable future costs of having no land suitable for grazing. Acting in their own self interest, the owners were able to sustain a viable and beneficial operation. The herdsmen who used the public land for grazing received the benefits but bore none of the costs. These guys had every incentive to increase the size of their herds to maximize their benefits and they did. I guess things would have been ok if the public land available for grazing was limitless. But it wasn’t. All resources, public and private, are limited. Eventually the pasture land could not sustain the continued grazing from an ever increasing number of cattle. Many cattle starved and then many people died. Acting in their own self interest, the herdsmen using public resources eventually hurt everyone, including themselves.
This fatal flaw of socialism should be obvious to even the most casual student of history or human behavior. Yet the elite liberals in this country keep insisting they can make this discredited theory work. It is inherent in human nature that a free individual will engage in pursuits according to his own self interests. Who among us does not want to improve their own lot in life? Normal people want to secure the best for themselves and their families. Many liberals believe that the “greedy” pursuit of individual wealth diminishes society as a whole. In his 1776 book “An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations”, Adam Smith refutes this notion with his concept of an Invisible Hand:
“…every individual necessarily labors to render the annual revenue of the society as great as he can. He generally, indeed, neither intends to promote the public interest, nor knows how much he is promoting it. By preferring the support of domestic to that of foreign industry, he intends only his own security; and by directing that industry in such a manner as its produce may be of the greatest value, he intends only his own gain, and he is in this, as in many other cases, led by an invisible hand to promote an end which was no part of his intention. Nor is it always the worse for the society that it was no part of it. By pursuing his own interest he frequently promotes that of the society more effectually than when he really intends to promote it. I have never known much good done by those who affected to trade for the public good.”
The “Flower Power” wing of the liberal movement believes it is possible to change human nature. They seem to think that if we would just join hands and sing “Kumbaya” we would all be motivated to go out and bust our asses for the benefit of people we don’t even know thereby enabling us to achieve some sort of ridiculous egalitarian nirvana. The ruling elites of liberalism know this is a bunch of crap. They understand the folly of trying to change human nature. They know that only through coercion or force can they direct the actions of each individual. This is why they lust for power and will do just about anything to get it and keep it. They know that only the government can provide them with the illusion of legitimacy to wield the power necessary to usurp individual rights. They understand what George Washington was talking about when he said: “Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.”
This fatal flaw of socialism should be obvious to even the most casual student of history or human behavior. Yet the elite liberals in this country keep insisting they can make this discredited theory work. It is inherent in human nature that a free individual will engage in pursuits according to his own self interests. Who among us does not want to improve their own lot in life? Normal people want to secure the best for themselves and their families. Many liberals believe that the “greedy” pursuit of individual wealth diminishes society as a whole. In his 1776 book “An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations”, Adam Smith refutes this notion with his concept of an Invisible Hand:
“…every individual necessarily labors to render the annual revenue of the society as great as he can. He generally, indeed, neither intends to promote the public interest, nor knows how much he is promoting it. By preferring the support of domestic to that of foreign industry, he intends only his own security; and by directing that industry in such a manner as its produce may be of the greatest value, he intends only his own gain, and he is in this, as in many other cases, led by an invisible hand to promote an end which was no part of his intention. Nor is it always the worse for the society that it was no part of it. By pursuing his own interest he frequently promotes that of the society more effectually than when he really intends to promote it. I have never known much good done by those who affected to trade for the public good.”
The “Flower Power” wing of the liberal movement believes it is possible to change human nature. They seem to think that if we would just join hands and sing “Kumbaya” we would all be motivated to go out and bust our asses for the benefit of people we don’t even know thereby enabling us to achieve some sort of ridiculous egalitarian nirvana. The ruling elites of liberalism know this is a bunch of crap. They understand the folly of trying to change human nature. They know that only through coercion or force can they direct the actions of each individual. This is why they lust for power and will do just about anything to get it and keep it. They know that only the government can provide them with the illusion of legitimacy to wield the power necessary to usurp individual rights. They understand what George Washington was talking about when he said: “Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.”
President Washington knew there would be days like these and he was trying to warn us.
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