Fascism or Socialism?
I must admit: I struggle occasionally with the exact distinction between "socialism" and "fascism." But no more. Thomas Sowell lays it all out, using the current administration as the touchstone.
The basic distinction: In socialism, the government owns the businesses. In fascism, the government tells the businesses what to do.
It might be his best piece of the year. Notable excerpt:
Government ownership of the means of production means that politicians also own the consequences of their policies, and have to face responsibility when those consequences are disastrous ”“ something that Barack Obama avoids like the plague.
Thus the Obama administration can arbitrarily force insurance companies to cover the children of their customers until the children are 26 years old. Obviously, this creates favorable publicity for President Obama. But if this and other government edicts cause insurance premiums to rise, then that is something that can be blamed on the "greed" of the insurance companies.
But don't think that socialism and fascism don't have a lot in common. They do. Sowell flushes out their similarities, including this one:
What socialism, fascism and other ideologies of the left have in common is an assumption that some very wise people ”“ like themselves ”“ need to take decisions out of the hands of lesser people, like the rest of us, and impose those decisions by government fiat.
The left's vision is not only a vision of the world, but also a vision of themselves, as superior beings pursuing superior ends.
Happy Summer
