Naturally, Collectivism Doesn't Work

Collectivism doesn’t work for the same reasons that collectivists say we need it. Collectivists say that their aim is to protect the “people” from those evil people that would take advantage of and subjugate them. The reason it won’t work is that you can’t eliminate the most basic impulses of humans. That is the impulse to act in accordance to one’s self interests. We can keep that impulse in check and subdue it in an effort to help others and promote the greater good, but it cannot be totally eliminated. 

I believe the unrest we are seeing in this country and what is being displayed in other places around the world is a groundswell of collectivist thought. When you listen to President Obama speak of the “people,” he speaks as if deep down inside all people really want the same thing. He and others that think like him really believe that deep down inside everyone wants peace, justice and equality. Collectivists are trying to make connections between unrest in many of the countries in the Middle East and the public labor disputes in the US. In all of these cases, they say it is the “people” who are rising up and demanding their “rights.”

Collectivists think that if anyone doesn’t feel this way, they can be coaxed into ameliorating their ways through discussion and enlightenment. Because the “people” want this or that, the powerful ought to acquiesce to their demands. I am not excusing excesses and abuses by the powerful. I am highlighting the fact that the only thing that the people uniformly want is exactly that—they want what they want. People want things. Whether it is a multi-millionaire tycoon or a union firefighter, people have interests. Deference is not the natural inclination of man. By default, all people are inclined to act in their own interests.

It is because of this there will always be powerful and the not so powerful. There will always be the influential and those who wield less influence. Unfortunately, there will also always be people who are rich, poor and all points in between. This is because there will always be those who are very skilled at fulfilling their interests. There will also always be those who do a really poor job of working in a way that promotes their interests. This is an unfortunate fact of life.

So, who will be the powerful, influential and wealthy?  Collectivists think they can really divvy up everything among the “people” and everyone will be happy. What they often fail to see is that their precious equality is not a naturally occurring phenomenon. Even if they achieve it, someone or something with some amount of power, influence and wealth will have to maintain it. Who is capable of wielding that type of power without ultimately acting in a way that is advantageous to their self interests? 

We needn’t single out the powerful. Members of a collective will act in their own self interests just as consistently as individuals. A group of individuals collectively acting in their own self interests without the counterbalance of negative consequences is just as dangerous as a malevolent, oppressive and greedy individual. I am reminded of the words of Thomas Sowell—“liberals would hold us collectively responsible for everything and individually responsible for nothing.” Collectivism, quite naturally, doesn’t work.

Why This College Educated Black Man Became a Republican

A better title for this post could be Why this College Educated Black Man Came Out of the Closet and Stopped Being Ashamed of His Conservatism. That's just too long though... I want to try and make this as concise as possible. Many of my friends and many new adversaries have not been shy about giving me their opinion as to why I am suddenly so "political" and pro GOP.

~"You just like going against the grain."

~"You're brainwashed."

~"You better stop tryin' to impress those white folks at your church."

I'd like to make it clear for those who are truly wondering what is wrong with me and I would like to set other closet conservatives free to express and be what they believe. I'm still the same nice guy that most of my Facebook friends have come to know and love I've just realized something with age. Are you ready for the single biggest factor in kicking me out of my conservative closet? Here it is.

I AM A CHRISTIAN

Yup, that's it. I can practically hear heads exploding already. When I say I am a Christian I don't mean I am one of these folks that attends church sporadically as a duty to help me be a better person. I believe every word of the Bible. I believe that Jesus Christ was dead, buried and risen on the third day.  I believe that Jesus Christ my King is coming and is coming soon. I also believe that He is the ONLY way to heaven PERIOD. We need Him because mankind is fatally flawed and marred by sin and is in desperate need of a Savior.

SO if you believe these things as well, please read on, if not, the rest of this post will just frustrate and quite possibly infuriate you and make you like me less so please stop.

I'm not even referring to abortion or traditional marriage right now. As a matter of fact, when I was still in the closet I would actually tell people that "you can't let those two factors alone dictate your vote." I won't even say that you can't be a Christian and Democrat/Liberal the way some of my friends do. (Though I will say you have some praying to do) I do believe however that if you allow your faith to fully inform your politics you will also come to the conclusion that progressive liberalism and Christianity are wholly incompatible. I have found the intersection of my faith and my politics.

I've had liberal pastors lecture me on how their faith compels them to vote Democrat. They tout that Jesus would have us to care for the poor. They lament that Jesus doesn't want us going to war. They are right. Where they are wrong is how the poor should be helped and who should do it. They are also wrong in their understanding of evil. A fundamental flaw in progressive thought is the notion that mankind is inherently good and somehow can be perfected through the effort, innovation and ingenuity of mankind. They believe that if the right people are in charge they can fix everything. They think that man's flaws are due to flaws in his environment and it is their mandate to perfect everyone's environment. Progressives say things like:

-When someone is poor it is because they weren't afforded the right opportunities.
-If someone is a criminal it is because they lacked proper education.
-If one is a TERRORIST it is because his people were oppressed by greedy imperialistic societies.
-All cultures, societies, religions etc. are equal and of equal good and importance and we are all connected. There is no place for nationalism or individualism. They just breed resentment.

All of this sounds great and noble. The problem is that my Bible and history have taught me that man is perfectly incapable of solving his problems. There are some hard truths that are true as a result of the fall of man in the Garden of Eden-

-People will always die
-Everyone will not make it.
-People will always lie.
-People will always steal.
-People will always disagree. There will be wars
-There will always be poor people.
-People will almost always ultimately work in and for their self interests even to the detriment of others.

Most Conservatives understand that mankind is fundamentally flawed and fatally limited by these flaws. Thomas Sowell calls this a constrained view of mankind in his book Intellectuals and Society. These flaws will not be fixed no matter how well meaning and smart we are. Many children, most adolescents and Liberals have an unconstrained view of mankind. They think that they are perfectly capable and are generally incredulously willing to try anything their whimsical little hearts can cook up when they are striving for world peace or trying to eradicate hunger... or childhood obesity.

As I stated, these are often noble aims that are undertaken by truly noble and benevolent people. I have just come to realize that much of their ideas are simply misguided and therefore ill fated. They may show up front success and effectiveness but the inevitable unintended consequences often leave things worse than they started. Welfare, Democratic Socialism and Pacifism are all seemingly harmless and beneficial ideas that come to mind that have had as much or more catastrophic long term side effects than whatever the immediate benefits have been.

Please understand, It's not that I don't care about issues such as poverty, hunger, oppression the environment etc. Most true Christians care about these issues. I fundamentally disagree with most progressive ideas for solving them. I find that too many offer a quick band-aid but fail to address or even understand the fundamental causes of calamity in the world. I care deeply about these issues but I have grown to realize that they need a far more holistic and fundamental approach than many Progressives and Liberals have the stomach for...