You can’t get Here from There.

Here’s a riddle.

Where does the sun go down while the sun comes up and has 25% of all the stuff we need?  (Like Moskovskaya wrapped in a sleeve of ice.)

At the peak of Soviet supremacy there were over 126 different languages spoken within its borders in addition to over 30 dialects of Russian.  The country existed within 12 time zones.  The sun really did come up as it is going down.  The Soviets also possessed an estimated 25% of all the worlds obtainable resources.  This was the tapestry on which a revolution was painted and the ultimate failure of Socialism illustrated.

The Socialists/Communists took control of this potentially unstoppable world power and in 72 years ran it into the ground.  They couldn’t help it.  Socialism required a top-down, command and control, economy… which always leads to failure in the end.

Fast forward to the early 2000’s…

The Soviet Union/Russia is still built on a “top down” model of government.  What I mean is that edicts are pushed down upon the citizens from above rather than what we (supposedly) have here in the U.S. where edicts are pushed up to the government from below.  This is an enormous and fundamental difference which explains what is going on over there as of this typing.

Russia (and soon China) are perfect examples of the “if we just tweak the system we can retain our control” mentality.  It will not end well, because it never ends well.

You must remember that those in power are always loathe to give it up.  The leaders in those countries recognize the benefits that free-markets provide but refuse to embrace the required transitional government, individual liberty and property rights which enable free-market capitalism to work.

They are not stupid.  They are certainly misguided… absolutely elitist… but not stupid.  So, to keep the peasants quiet they keep “tweaking the system” hoping that will enable them to stay in power.  But history has provided us with myriad examples to the contrary.  Not to mention the oppression, death and destruction resulting from such an approach leading up to the end.

Without question, Socialism is corrosive.  It destroys everything it touches.  (Look at the U.S. and see what Social Security and Medicaid/Medicare have done to this country.  The evidence is there for all to see… we may not want to talk about it, but it’s right there in front of us.)

Putin understands that short of completely changing the government structure in Russia they will return to totalitarianism.  But that’s not what he wants.  (Stalin taught us that you can even get the public to cry out for it if their lives are bad enough and they are kept in the dark as to why.  To this day there are fresh flowers placed by common Russians on his grave.  I’ve seen it first hand.)  Putin just wants to be in charge when it happens.  He’s doing a good job.

This is always the problem with “adjusting” a top down model of government.  A little less poison is still poison.  Socialism will never be conducive to freedom and the productivity that our system promulgates.  This is what makes the United States special, and unique, in the world.  The U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights were crafted to protect those individual liberties from an all-powerful state with the ability to force edicts upon the population. (Like Obama Care)  Because of this, the U.S. catapulted from a commonwealth to a hyper-power in a short 250 years.  It is why the rest of the world, from the pacific rim to Western Europe, is having to “tweak” their systems in the hope of staying relevant by comparison.  It’s also why they don’t like us for the most part.  (The only hope they have is having our system fail…  they should find comfort that our home-grown Socialists are working on it right now.)

The writing on the wall Russia and China are refusing to read is “You can’t get here from there”.

Let me leave you with a question;

Why are we chasing the bankruptcy which Socialism always delivers in the form of socialized medicine and the perpetuation of Social Security, Medicare/Medicaid in their present forms when there are free-market alternatives?

Pour yourself some of that cold vodka and ponder this…

(Originally posted 022312)