THE CIVILIZED WORLD NEEDS A STRONG AMERICA

The events in Ukraine have reinforced the notion that the world is a more stable place when America is strong. A strong America means we have a strong stable economy with a balanced budget, a stable and secure energy source to fund our industries and support our homes, a motivated and strong modern military to protect our homeland and interests around the world, secure borders to protect our citizens, a non-political education system to provide the needed education for our children and adults, a government that uses common sense and places the needs of our people and country above the needs of a political party, and a news media that keeps the population informed with the truth. Above all we need a government that has the trust of the American people.

Just when you think things are bad enough, they get worse. The current executive branch has failed miserably on all counts. The most incredible and idiotic move by the current administration involves our energy supply. We all know that we were energy independent January 2021 and that Biden practically killed fossil fuels on day 1 of his presidency. It is hard to think of any other move as stupid. (maybe prohibition does qualify). This has emboldened our enemies, considerably damaged our economy, significantly increased cost of living and lowered our standard of living. There are very few moves that can cause so much damage. Most of these actions have no realistic basis but satisfy some socialist dream. We all welcome improvements in our environment, if electric cars really accomplish this, but common sense must be used to develop a practical transition plan.

We are all aware of our external threat from China, Russia, Iran and North Korea. The most dominant threat to world leadership is China. We are threatened with a significant change in world order where socialist/communist countries dominate and the impact of democratic principles will diminish. Not a good situation for our descendants and something we should do everything to avoid. We must all do the right thing at the next elections to reinstate candidates and programs that support the growth, influence and strength of America. This HAS to be a major goal of any administration.

God bless America.

Article One - August 2022

THE REALITIES OF SOCIALISM

Introduction
This discussion will share with you all the experiences that Yvonne and I had with socialism in the UK between the years 1945 to 1968. 1945 is the year that the Labor Party won the election and installed a socialist government. 1968 is the year we escaped this horrible system and moved to the United States.

Socialism Defined
Socialism advocates that the means of production, distribution and exchange should be owned and regulated by the community as a whole. The objective is to provide a more equitable distribution of goods and services and a more equitable society.
This means that the objectives of the community are more important than those of the individual and that all activities are best executed by a central government. This has always resulted in dire consequences.

The Socialist Program
In 1945 the Labor (Socialist) Party wasted no time in implementing a very comprehensive socialist program. This was a three-point program comprised of the following;
• Complete the welfare state
• Nationalization of certain key industries
• Regulation of the rest of the economy that remained in private hands.

Most of this program was complete by the time the Conservative Party (equivalent to Republican Party) were elected to power in 1951.

Welfare System. The major components of the welfare system were as follows;
• National Health System (NHS)
• National Insurance which provided financial protection for unemployment and sickness, pensions for seniors and the handicapped, family allowance and financial assistance for funeral arrangements.
• New Towns which consisted of government owned homes that were rented to citizens. The government discouraged private building requiring builders to get special permits to build home for private sale.
• Education. Free education up to the age of 15.

Nationalization. The following industries were nationalized;
• Electric
• Gas
• Coal
• Iron and Steel
• Transportation
• Banking
• Broadcasting

Using the coal industry as an example the new public corporation replaced over 800 private companies. The new corporation was managed by the National Coal Board which consisted of 9 members appointed by the minister of fuel and power. The board represented several functions such as finance, technology, labor etc.

Regulation of private owned companies. Some of the devices employed by the government to control private industry include the following;

• Extensive regulations. One of the most drastic of regulations legislated where new factories could be located.
• Extensive number of permits
• Wage and Price controls

The extreme level of regulations and permitting placed total control in government hands severely restricting innovation and creativity.

The Impact of Socialism
• The erosion of your freedom will be the most distasteful impact of socialism for most Americans. Many decisions, made by the individual before socialism, are now made by the government. The population becomes entirely dependent upon the government for food markets, education, health services, licenses, loans, jobs, maternity benefits, funeral subsidies, unemployment benefits, disability payments, permits, broadcasting facilities etc. This is not freedom.

• A very important issue is that socialism has no respect for the constitution. The government knows what is best for you while you are considered an idiot and unimportant. In reality, it is the other way round. This is the cradle to grave syndrome. Eventually you are overtaken by a feeling of hopelessness.

• One thing socialism does well is spend money and significantly increase taxes. As the government expand the welfare system, (which includes your health care), and controls and manages the major industries and privately owned businesses, the bureaucracy of the government will significantly increase. This excessive spending required massive tax increases. The maximum income tax rate in UK in the 1960s reached 95%.

• The welfare program in the UK includes the National Health System which in general is funded by taxation. Yvonne and myself had never experienced private health system until we arrived in the USA. We were astounded. The medical expertise in the UK is as good as in America but the method of serving the public was quite different. The medical industry in the USA is geared much more to the individual. Waiting times were significantly reduced, and we had the choice of our doctors and surgeons. The facilities were better and specialized equipment more plentiful. The NHS also has to compete for funding with the other programs run by the government such as defense, education, welfare program and the nationalized industries. A leading British newspaper has accused the NHS of rationing health care to persons over 65. One of the indicators they used was that the death rate for adults below 65 for certain illnesses was the same in the UK as the USA. Above 65 the death rate in the UK was significantly higher. Of course, the government denied rationing exists, but suspicions are very high.

• The remaining welfare program provided financial assistance for certain issues and is funded by taxation. These programs were highly sought after by the population, money for nothing. It created an entitlement attitude. It created jealousy when one citizen received assistance and another didn’t. More energy was poured into obtaining financial assistance than many other activities that would have been more productive.

• Probably the worst socialist program is nationalized industries. Each industry is run by a board of government assigned personnel. There is no single point of responsibility. There are no shareholders, ownership belongs to the elected government, and consequently, there is no accountability for performance. It is no surprise that the industries listed above performed poorly.

• The industries are not market-driven but run according to goals set by the government. They are dynamically very slow in responding to changes and extremely ineffective and inefficient. If the company needs capital to expand or improve its operations, they must get this from the government and compete for these funds with education, health care and other welfare programs, defense and all other programs supported by the government.

• The governing party can also fund these industries for political purposes. For example, at election time, the government can bloat the payrolls to attain full employment.

• The trade unions felt very empowered under a socialist government. The trade unions brought many industries to their knees and often negotiated new demands at election time. The socialist governments need union votes to win elections.

• Since the government was running everything, the country was a fiscal mess. Because of the generous welfare system, the inability of industry to rapidly respond to market conditions, and the high cost of imports, inflation became a serious problem. Wage and price programs were instituted with no success. Wages did stagnate but prices continued to rise. The British currency was devalued many times to help reduce the cost of exports but British industry at this time was very uncompetitive.

• This fiscal crisis seriously impacted work ethic and help develop a feeling of hopelessness throughout the population. Britain suffered the “Brain Drain” as young well-educated people emigrated to more successful countries.

• With the Nany government taking care of everything motivation takes a big hit. There is a significant reduction in Initiative and creativity.

Conclusion
Based on our experience there are no redeeming features of socialism. The legislative and financial models developed by our founding fathers have served America very well and produced the most affluent and successful country in the world (even with our faults). Socialism has no successes and produces a country with low motivation, no patriotism, no creativity or initiative, unhappy population. Need we say more.

Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister from 1979 until 1990. In that time she privatized all the nationalized industries and aggressively battled the unions. Since that time the economy of the UK has improved significantly.