The Glacier reporter. [volume] (Browning, Mont.) 1953-current, 1955-01-07
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SOCIALISM OR FREEDOM?


the true nature of Socialism in
practice, he quit the party and
wrote a book entitled "The So
cialist Tragedy" In it he warns
the free world that no matter
how well it is doctored up in the
dress of social reform, "produc-
ton for use," or welfare state
capitalism" Socialism, over the
long haul, means poverty and ul-
innate enslavement for a ma
tons people, including, of
course, the very ones it claims
to champion - the wage earners.
In his chapter on Socialism
and Freedom" Thomas notes
that Socialism and Communism
have the following three main
characteristics in common: O
the communal ownership of the
means of production, distribu-
ton and exchange; (2) the aboli-
ton of personal incomes derived
from rent, profit and interest;
and 81 the central planning of
production.
Government Control
Q) Communal owners h i p
means, in practice, state owner
ship and control. when all po-
wer is concentrated in the
hands of the state" Thomas
writes, lit is simple matter for
one man or few men having
control of the state mechanism
to turn all that concentrated po-
wer in any direction they please;
and unhappily their pleasure has
usually been in the direction of
evil. The wide diffusion of prop
erty therefore acts as a valuable
corrective to the evil propensi-
ties of totalitarian regimes"
The ownership of private pro-
perty, he notes, also promotes
liberty of thought, writing and
action among the private own
ers," and this stimulates pro-
gress. IF the history of thought
is studied, particularly in Eng
land" he says, the student can
not fail to be struck by the fact
that so many of the leaders, the
pioneers and the discoveries
have been men enjoying a suffi-
cient competence to free them
from dependence upon anyone
else. (Moreover) when the pri-
vate owners of property are ex-
propriated and the state steps
into their shoes, henceforth there
is only one landlord and only
one employer mineWorker
whom the National Coal Board
wants to get rid of has no posi-
bility of again getting work in a
British pit"
Liberty At Stake
(2) If private incomes from
rent, profit and interest are
abolished, as they are in Social
ism and Communism, then all
individual incomes will be de-
rived from the state or state
bodies" Thomas observes. "They
may be in form of wages, sala-
ries, pensions, allowances and
possibly fees, but they will all
come from one central chest, and
if the persons who control the
flow from the chest decide to
stop or divert it they can do so.
II will be seen how precarious
are the liberties of man in such
a system"
The importance of profitmak-
ing is emphasized by Thomas.
IF profitmaking is eliminated"
he says, CONSUMERS choice will
inevitably disappear, and this is
a consequence which will be felt
in every home in the country"
The attitude in which the typical
bureaucrat views the average
citizen, once the bureaucrat
gains control through Socialism,
is clearly shown in Thomas's
book. He quotes Mr. Douglas Jay,
Economic Secretary in Britain's
| SNNAoA1ot 5osCi liiiCIll
BuresUeTafs Attitude
Housewives as a whole cannot
be trusted to buy all the right
things, where nutrition and
health are concerned" Minister
Jay wrote in a book of his own.
This is really no more than an
extension of the principle &C.
cording to which the housewife
herself would not trust a child
Of four to select the weeks pur-
chases. For in the case of nutri-
ton and health, just as in the
case of education, the gentleman
in Whitehall the government
building really does know better
what is good for people than the
people know themselves"
81 The central planning of
production, which is the heart
of Socialist and Communist bur
eaucracy, requires the regimen
tation and ultimate enslavement
of the individual worker. an
Britain" writes Thomas, "per-
suasiOn was first used to induce