Socialism v. Capitalism Part II: the Results

Another indictment of Socialism comes from the results of its practice. I wrote earlier that the standard of value of Altruism, the morality of Socialism, was death. That is exactly what resulted.

Since Karl Marx’s Communist Manifesto, Socialists were responsible for some hundred(s) of million(s) of deaths during the twentieth century. (It should be noted that approximate, or near approximate numbers are difficult to come by. For example, some sources report that Mao Zedong alone killed 80 million people while other sources claim that Communists altogether killed approximately 94 million people. It all depends on what criteria count as murder committed directly by governments. Some count deaths due to starvation, firing squads, and genocides but may leave out deaths due to other causes such as preventable disease. In any case, the number of deaths is extraordinarily high.) Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, Red China, and others were all mass graveyards for both the minds and bodies of millions (Nazi Germany killed 15 million people, including the 6 million Jews killed during the Holocaust, and not including those who died due to combat¹). The primary cause of death was starvation: a direct result of Socialism’s complete and utter economic unfeasibility.

In comparison, Capitalism has improved the lives of far more people—many millions, even billions—than Socialism destroyed. Ever since the Industrial Revolution, the standard of living of societies, especially in Europe and the United States, has progressed by enormous leaps and bounds.

But wasn’t the Industrial Revolution bad? What about the poor working conditions and child labor? Idiots like Friedrich Engels wrote about how bad the Industrial Revolution was and about how much better the good old days were for people before the Industrial Revolution.

Before I refute such a ridiculous idea, let me acknowledge that in comparison to today’s standards, conditions during the Industrial Revolution were rather bleak. I am glad that children no longer need to work in order to help feed themselves and their families. That being said, I would also like to point out that as the conditions were rather shady by today’s standards, they were a tremendous improvement compared to the standards under Feudalism. Before, children were starving and had to labor in fields for a meager existence. Infant mortality rates were relatively high, life expectancy was relatively low, and the overall standard of living was much lower. The Industrial Revolution changed all of those things. Children were able to work under much better conditions and earn much higher wages along with their parents. Infant mortality rates fell, life expectancy increased and the standard of living improved more during that period of time than any other previous period.

The eventual rise of Capitalism made even greater strides and eventually eliminated the vast need for many children to work in order to help feed themselves and their families. This freed them to go to school, become more educated than their parents, and eventually lead to them living even better lives than their parents.

Capitalism’s standard of value is life, and that is exactly what resulted. Innovations in technology, science, medicine, and many other areas that improve people’s lives have occurred more under Capitalism than in any other system in history.

1. http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/NAZIS.CHAP1.HTM