Which is more socialist; to demand the radical redistribution of wealth,
or to demand that everyone shut up and go back to work and be useful?
See true socialism, does not demand equality; rather it demands that everyone take their place; some are more equal than others for their various reasons (wealth, power, importance etc...) Socialism sees the good of the whole as more important than the good of the component parts, this is how the USSR could maintain power for so long - sure there were Gulags, and sure there might be no opportunity for advancement, but "I'm fulfilling my duty as a member of this Society." In a socialist society we are all cogs in a machine.
Representative democracy, demands that everyone be treated equally, that everyone have an equal voice; truly equal. One may argue that due to education and status, that some are not capable of rising to the level necessary to have such a voice - this of course is a socialist argument (that some are more equal) however, in a democracy, the highest value is the promotion of equality: Education to those who lack it, Opportunity to those born low, money and welfare to those who are in need, so that they might not lose their equal voice, simply because they can't afford to speak or are too occupied with meeting their needs for daily bread. You see, representative democracy sees the good of the component parts as essential to the good of the whole.
Politicians often appeal to the Religious values that our forefathers had when founding this nation. But the religious values that this nation was founded upon, were not some specific moral values, nor did they respect the establishment of religion; certainly some still remembered when men were persecuted and killed for their beliefs not just in the old world, but in the new. The very founding of the nation was undertaken with these words "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness" 87 years later Abraham Lincoln had not forgotten the founding principals, or its universal bearings; "a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal." The religious convictions of the founding fathers were unarguably based upon this ethic: that some power beyond ourselves has ordained all men equal, and we must strive toward this goal.
But what about Capitalism?
Capitalism is the idea that by allowing individuals to achieve success, and be rewarded for that success, will create a better society. There are trickle down theories, and monetary theories, and investment schemes. But the Chinese system should tell us that Capitalism and Socialism are far from antithetical. Moreover, the trend in America toward recognizing the equality of each persons money, and not their intrinsic equality as a human being - has led us further down the path toward losing what made our national experiment great in the first place.
American Civic values have been lost. Not only have we slipped down the path of not finding intrinsic value in each human being, whenever there is a budget shortfall, we are quick to cut those programs that promote essential equality; Education, Welfare, Essential services. If the police service gets cut, who gets less protection? If the fire service gets cut, whose house will be allowed to burn? See this is a dangerous game of lifeboat, in which we've convinced ourselves that somebody indeed has to go - when the essential American value is that no one goes, or we all do. "Free Market" Capitalism is the seed of Socialism, and it is destroying America.
