Website owner: James Miller
On Communism and socialism
The country of Ubuku is a Communist state. The state owns all land and all means of production. Free enterprise isn’t allowed. Everyone works for the state without compensation. Everything that everyone produces belongs to the state. One is not allowed to grow or make things, sell them, accumulate money. The state supplies to each citizen whatever he requires in daily necessities in the way of food, clothing, and shelter. It divides whatever is produced evenly among the citizens. What do you think of this arrangement? Doesn’t this sound like a really great, just, fair system? A righteous system endorsed by God himself? No one needs fear going without food or shelter. There are no rich with a lot more money than they need, living lavishly. There are no people starving. There are no class inequalities. Everyone is equal. Wouldn’t you love this system?
I wouldn’t want it. It doesn’t sound like it would work very well to me. I think it would create a nation of poor people. Everyone would be equally poor. What incentive is there in this system for anyone to work hard? Where is the dream? Where is the hope? Where is the incentive for anyone to do any more than he has to? The rules of the system stifle all incentive to work hard and accumulate money. It sounds to me like a great system for long, friendly conversations with your co-workers and a really great, easy life. But it doesn’t sound to me like a very great system for producing much. Now, how does this system compare to one in which everyone gets to keep whatever he produces? Where one can grow or build things, sell them, and accumulate wealth? Where you can get rich if you work hard enough and are smart. Where if you can invent something that everyone wants and sell it by the millions, you can get rich. If what you produce or earn is yours and not the state’s, at least some people will work really hard. There is hope and motivation. There is inspiration. No one is going to work any harder than he has to if he is not able to keep what he produces. This is just simple human nature. Anyone with simple common sense would understand this basic fact of life. In a Communist system you need threats, whips, and guns to make people work.
What belongs to everybody belongs to nobody. Spanish Proverb
A courtyard common to all will be swept by none. Chinese Proverb
The ass that is common property is always the worst saddled. English proverb
Cow of many, well milked and badly fed. Spanish proverb
Why are the above proverbs true? Human nature. Most people take good care of their own possessions. But they don’t take good care of what belongs to others. They are concerned about their own interests but not the interests of others.
Highly educated people sitting up in ivory towers theorizing. Eggheads elegantly promoting great sounding (but flawed) theories that inspire the interest of other eggheads and produce great followings. Great convincing arguments. Wobbly ideas that just won’t work. Theories that sweep nations and produce movements that bring profound change for hundreds of millions. Karl Marx and his ideas. Lenin. Russian communism. Chinese communism. What great revolutions some foolish ideas have brought! Poor, naive, simple people around the world deceived and radicalized by a dream of improving their economic situation by stripping the wealthy of their wealth and distributing it among themselves. Great social experiments that didn’t work. Police states. Ruthless oppression. Great Ugliness. Why did it take so many years for the Russians to understand that Communism doesn’t work? Why did it take the Chinese so long to understand that it doesn’t work? Well, people in positions of power don’t like to admit they are wrong. And all of the Communist dogma, doctrine and theory in which they had been indoctrinated had so blinded their minds that they were unable to see what a simple unbiased person of good sense could see clearly.
In how many countries must Communism be tried before the liberals give up on it? How many more people must suffer under it?
Socialism. Re-distributing wealth. Taking Paul’s property and giving it to Peter through the mechanism of taxation. If I were to take someone’s property and give it to someone else it would a violation of God’s commandment prohibiting stealing. By what moral authority does the government take a person’s property and give it to someone else? Is a government subject to any moral authority? Is it subject to Divine Law? Or is it free to do whatever it wishes? Can it, for example, go around murdering whomever it wants? Socialists tend to be atheists. Is that because so many socialist ideas are in violation of Christian teaching?
Oct 2019
Jesus Christ and His Teachings
Way of enlightenment, wisdom, and understanding
America, a corrupt, depraved, shameless country
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The test of a person's Christianity is what he is
Ninety five percent of the problems that most people have come from personal foolishness
Liberalism, socialism and the modern welfare state
The desire to harm, a motivation for conduct
On Self-sufficient Country Living, Homesteading
Topically Arranged Proverbs, Precepts, Quotations. Common Sayings. Poor Richard's Almanac.
Theory on the Formation of Character
People are like radio tuners --- they pick out and listen to one wavelength and ignore the rest
Cause of Character Traits --- According to Aristotle
We are what we eat --- living under the discipline of a diet
Avoiding problems and trouble in life
Role of habit in formation of character
Personal attributes of the true Christian
What determines a person's character?
Love of God and love of virtue are closely united
Intellectual disparities among people and the power in good habits
Tools of Satan. Tactics and Tricks used by the Devil.
The Natural Way -- The Unnatural Way
Wisdom, Reason and Virtue are closely related
Knowledge is one thing, wisdom is another
My views on Christianity in America
The most important thing in life is understanding
We are all examples --- for good or for bad
Television --- spiritual poison
The Prime Mover that decides "What We Are"
Where do our outlooks, attitudes and values come from?
Sin is serious business. The punishment for it is real. Hell is real.
Self-imposed discipline and regimentation
Achieving happiness in life --- a matter of the right strategies
Self-control, self-restraint, self-discipline basic to so much in life