Socialists avoid confronting socialism's failures (and tragedies) by claiming that the "real" socialism has not yet been tried. The dodge seems to work in some circles. The leftward drift of half of America means ever more of this.
Writing almost 30 years ago, James Buchanan noted that "Socialism is Dead; Leviathan Lives ... The loss of faith in socialism has not been accompanied by a faith in markets. There remains a residual unwillingness to allow the market to organize itself." (WSJ, July 18, 1990).
Jonah Goldberg explores how and why the loss of faith has been avoided (by some) and why Leviathan is still with us. "Modern society's most important divide is between the external impersonal order of contracts, commerce and the personal order of family friends and community. We live in both realms simultaneously, even though the rules for different realms could not be more different ... Humans were not designed to live in the market order of contracts, money or impersonal rules, never mind the huge societies governed by a centralized state." (2018, p. 62). This is a leaf out of Hayek.
The centralized state Goldberg mentions is likely to rely on force and terror because it has no way to win people's minds and heart. But from a safe distance, this awfulness gets a pass via the strange logic mentioned at the top of this post. Goldberg cites "social-ism" the willful and dangerous delusion that the personal order of family friends and community can succeed at any scale.
Writing almost 30 years ago, James Buchanan noted that "Socialism is Dead; Leviathan Lives ... The loss of faith in socialism has not been accompanied by a faith in markets. There remains a residual unwillingness to allow the market to organize itself." (WSJ, July 18, 1990).
Jonah Goldberg explores how and why the loss of faith has been avoided (by some) and why Leviathan is still with us. "Modern society's most important divide is between the external impersonal order of contracts, commerce and the personal order of family friends and community. We live in both realms simultaneously, even though the rules for different realms could not be more different ... Humans were not designed to live in the market order of contracts, money or impersonal rules, never mind the huge societies governed by a centralized state." (2018, p. 62). This is a leaf out of Hayek.
The centralized state Goldberg mentions is likely to rely on force and terror because it has no way to win people's minds and heart. But from a safe distance, this awfulness gets a pass via the strange logic mentioned at the top of this post. Goldberg cites "social-ism" the willful and dangerous delusion that the personal order of family friends and community can succeed at any scale.
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