Opinion Piece By Samuel Strait – September 7, 2018 – It has been some time since I've had the privilege of appearing in the Crescent City Times in any way other than a comment or two. A local friend of mine has been pushing me to share some of my thoughts on Socialism and a few other topics for some time, but I have resisted the urge particularly in light of the great amusement I have gotten out of listening to the "Snowflakes" program on KFUG 101.1 FM. I have to say listening to Paul Critz and Brayden Hatch stumble through their versions of Socialism and Progressive thinking in any meaningful fashion is a positive hoot. For them to continue their quest to validate Socialism on Facebook, then talk about it on air with the solemnity of true believers has continued my merriment to the point of considering some words on the topic. Yet, it came to a bit of video on the internet trying to spin Socialism that has me sitting in front of the keyboard to post this piece. The thrust of the video was to dispel any of the commonly held misconceptions about Socialism as a poor choice for governing any group of people. The narrator of the clip spent the entire video spewing unsupported "facts" in the voice and mannerism of a livestock auctioneer, I suppose in the hope that listeners would be so overwhelmed by the verbal assault that none of her "facts" would come to be questioned. This is somewhat along the lines as to how Mr. Brayden Hatch chose to describe his notion on KFUG, that in his opinion the Catalan region of Spain during the Spanish Civil War (1936-1938) was a successful example of Socialism that actually worked prior to the National Socialists crushing Mr. Hatch's single example of "successful Socialism". I do not wish to rain on Mr. Hatch's parade, but Catalan's experiment with Socialism was historically well into the self destruct phase before the National Socialists appeared on the scene. In addition, it was never more than token socialism to begin with as it relied heavily on small and medium private land owners to provide food for the Catalans who would have surely starved to death had the reliance been on the collectives. While not being a scholar of Marxism, Leninism, Fascism, or any of the multiple versions of leftist political thought, I can confirm one thing that most people who have become experts on the subject of Socialism, is that there has yet to be a successful version despite hundreds of attempts to make it work. For many of the attempts it is simply a human thing, as in Mr. Hatch's example where they could not settle on which version of Socialism to employ. While that might be too simplistic of an answer for avowed socialists, it does explain to some extent why socialism has such a poor track record. The key item when considering the record of socialism is the consistently dire effects that it has had on every country or region that has tried it. Mr. Critz, by way of saying, but the other side does it too, has pointed to the many wars that are products of a Capitalist society, but that presumes those Capitalist countries operate in a vacuum, and that only that particular form of economic activity can be found as the cause. He must have missed the part that says, somehow, many countries have managed to survive the effects of Capitalism over the centuries, something that cannot be said about Socialist economies. As much as Mr. Critz rails against Capitalism as an economic formula, most countries such as the Social Democracies in the Euro zone continue to employ that system to prop up the trappings we view as socialist. It for some reason is hard for Progressives and modern socialists to understand that individual human beings all have differing perspectives on what it takes to solve all of their problems and make them happy. We might find some that think a billion dollar bank account will do it for them. Another, might find living in a cardboard box homeless is just the ticket. What never seems to occur to Mr. Critz and Mr. Hatch is that the same independence of thought process may be in the brain of each and every individual to the point that collectivism becomes impossible and Capitalism as an alternative might provide an answer in a free society. Just as many of the problems we currently experience with Constitutional Representative Republicanism can be found in the human condition where character and responsibility are often lacking, yet many have done pretty well for themselves. While most people would naturally assume that I am a Conservative by nature, that would hardly be an accurate description of my political bent. I do find the cumbersome mechanism of government that currently exists at all levels here in the United States problematic, and wish it were more in line with writings of the founders of this Country. I fully understand the need by people to tinker with any government system "to make it better". What I have a hard time with is the continued effort to employ a system in all its many versions, or even its trappings being pressed on the population by modern progressives that has had a spotless record of complete failure. I suppose I am guilty of wanting a form of government that has the lightest hand, the most freedom, and most importantly works! If it can be shown that things like minimum wages, universal single payer health care, open borders, gender equality, collectivism, social justice and hundreds of other divisive activities enforced by necessity from government, I'm all in. Until then, I will take a pass on anything remotely resembling socialism, communism, fascism, marxism, leninism, or any of the hundred other variations on the theme. I can think for myself! It builds character, not dependence.