The Soul of Man Under Socialism

[DanaC]

Society is the vessel in which we deposit our 'natural rights', that is the rights which we are naturally heir to, but which we as individuals have no mechanism to defend. It is a compact, but, as it is virtually impossible for a human to remove themselves entirely from 'society', it is a compact made by our ancestors which we have inherited. If individuals whose rights and liberties are deposited in society are worse off than they would be, were that society not to exist, then 'society' has failed its purpose.

On these terms, Capitalism if tempered can be seen to succeed; Socialism, if tempered can be seen to succeed. Without tempering both produce a situation which allows a number of people to be much, much better off than they would otherwise be, and a number likewise, to be much, much worse off than they would otherwise be.

At the point where societies were being formed, certain inheritances were gained by some and lost to others. There are people who have transcended those gains and losses (through social mobility), but the majority of people in Western society, though they may increase in properity and opportunity from one generation to the next, do not move in relation to the rest of their generation. Look at the major wealthy and politically powerful families in America and also in Europe. Whilst the Europeans are obviously drawn from a 'ruling' class, America's elite is less obvious, but it clearly exists and it gains only a few newcomers in any generation. This is the disinheritance of the majority of citizens, who have deposited their rights into the nation's safekeeping, just as much as have the ruling elite, yet have inherited a distinctly different set of interests and opportunities (real not theoretical). This is why those, who have across generations improved their familys' interests and built an inheritance of power and influence, often at the expense of their workers' best interests, have a duty to the generations who have followed those workers, inheriting from them their lesser stake.