There is a question that we are asked consistently and we thought that it would be a good idea to answer it publicly and for the record. The question is very simple: Why is it so hard to convince people that socialism (and by extension any kind of government) is not the answer?
In the past we tackled this answer mostly from an economic point of view in the article The Big Question. Today, on the other hand, we would like to focus on the other side of the answer; the memory/education side.
Try the following experiment. Approach a person, any person, and ask them to describe something they consider a rather large problem. This problem may be political, economic, social, ethical or otherwise anything. The nature of the problem does not matter, what matters is their answer to the follow-up question:
What do you believe it is the solution to this problem?
You will notice that almost invariably the answer will be a variation of:
The government should…
Most people automatically and without a second though assume that it is the task of the government to solve it. Sure, some people will tell you that the government needs more popular support or to increase taxes or to borrow more or to socialize better or to decrease bureaucracy or to take a moral/ethical stance or… or… or… The flavor of the so-called “solution” a government should implement is irrelevant. What is relevant, again, is that any meaningful solution is always deferred to the government.
Isn’t this strange?
Why would otherwise intelligent people automatically assume that the only provider of meaningful solutions is the government? This answer is even stranger if we take into consideration that many of these people are entrepreneurs, go getters, responsible and hardworking people who most definitively are fencing for themselves without government support.
LOST MEMORIES
The reason why people behave in this manner is quite simple: we have lost generational memories. We have no other experiences.
The generation that was born after 1960 did so into a world that became heavily socialist overnight. The big socialist “initiatives”, “pushes” and “achievements” in all developed countries (EU, Canada, USA, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and so on) begun to take shape in the 60’s. This generation was born into a world that was transformed into a socialist “paradise”. This generation has no first-hand knowledge of previous political systems or experiences. The parents of this generation did not bother educating their siblings in those experiences because at the time these “socialist improvements” seemed mild, just, fair and more importantly, they seemed to be working. It seemed like political evolution for the better (the operational word being seemed). As so, why bother educating children with past experiences that seemed worse? It’s only common sense, right?
ERASURE THROUGH EDUCATION
By the time things began to go wrong and cracks in this “socialist paradise” began to appear, it was too late. The system had already completely and irreversibly taken over Elementary and Secondary education. The government (composed by socialists) was now dictating the contents of all basic education, which was mandatory.
Let’s say this again. Towards the 70’s all formative education was directed towards the political and economic views the politicians in power had and this view forcefully taught to all children.
Of course, this makes perfect sense since the overriding desire of politicians is to stay in power. As such, they must perpetuate the myths of the system that gave them such powers. They must develop “problems” out of thin air so that then they may propose “solutions” and as such project the image that their jobs are utterly necessary. In order to achieve this, they must be able to dismiss any other political system, past, present or future as un-workable. This is, they had to force kids into the belief that they can choose any political system they may want, as long as it is a socialistic democracy.
In order to implement this plan, indoctrination into the “correct” political system and “correct” way of thinking was absolutely necessary. However, they went far beyond this point and they literally wiped-out all previous political experiences from history.
Try this experiment. Go through your child’s course material in Elementary or Secondary school. You will find that on average, all texts are heavily biased towards socialism. The amount and tone of socialist so-called “teachings” overwhelms any other points of view. It is not that other points of view have been completely wiped-out, it is that all meaningful solutions are always presented as being implementable only through some sort of socialistic measure in disguise to be implemented by the government.
Typically all other political and non-political points of view and experiences are briefly mentioned, always from a theoretical perspective and in a derogatory tone. The “lesson” is clear: don’t bother with them; socialism is here to stay, or the more colloquial version:
Resistance is futile, you will be assimilated.
LEVERAGING BIOLOGY
What are children to do?
They will learn the “lessons” as taught.
Why?
Roughly between the ages of 2-3 and 16-17 the brain is in their formative state. This means that the brain cannot learn by experience because it is simply too risky and as such it has evolved to automatically believe people in positions of authority. From an evolutionary point of view, this makes sense. If all children would have to learn through experience not to touch fire, jump in front of cars, place metallic objects in electric outlets, drink detergent and so forth, there would be a severe de-population problem.
During those years the brain is in a particularly susceptible stage because it evolved in this way to minimize risks. It must have this property otherwise children will dismiss the teaching of people with experience (i.e. in authority) and harm themselves in the process.
And then, the government showed up.
What happens to the brains of those children if they are heavily indoctrinated with only one political view? They will automatically accept this political view as “the truth”. They will not question it. They will not seek logical, practical or historical errors or issues. They will not learn to think critically and take such assertions apart. The system makes sure of it.
Consider this. Almost all educational syllabus or curricula do not (again, do not) contain consistent, meaningful and valuable teachings that will lead the child to exercise critical thinking. Sure, most such programs make use of the term “critical thinking” but if you look closely, you will notice that “critical thinking” translates as “sanctioned thinking”, not “free thinking” which is what it should be. They teach children the “right way of thinking” as opposed to being cautious disbelievers until proven wrong.
The only courses that may actually lead children through true exercises of “free thinking” are Philosophy classes. However, how many Philosophy courses are actually part of a standard educational program? Not too many. If they even exist, they are typically “optional”, delivered late in Secondary school and as such very few children take them (if any).
The final consequence of the entire basic educational system, as mandated and delivered by governments, is that any view opposite to the socialist view is automatically dismissed as untrue and worse, un-ethical or im-moral. As a consequence of this phenomenon and in practice, all other points of view cease to be part of any “normal” thinking and as such they literally cease to exist.
Note: please see the Glossary if you are unfamiliar with certain words.