Socialism
Tags: Social Justice, Social Change, Socialism, Politics, Libertarian Socialism

Libertarianism is easy to trace back to the founding principles of the United States. Socialism on the other hand has not been ardently embraced by a similar number of Americans due to the common but erroneous suspicion that it violates the principles of the founders.

In truth, Americans share a complex relationship with socialism. The fact that the nation retains Social Security and other social services, and the recent popularity of the Bernie Sanders campaign support this notion and demonstrates a more complex relationship between Americans and socialism. Socialism is not the great evil it has been made out to be by moneyed power. Every society has socialism. Just as capitalism is not an ideology, but a property of all societies and an economic system, socialism is not an ideology, but a property of all societies. All societies have some flavor of socialism. They have some collective action that they must do together to survive. The military is the most basic of all socialist enterprises.

For Americans to reject socialism especially when they are getting “Social” Security checks and Medicare seems foolish to those on the outside looking in. Socialism clearly has a place at the table in the United States, despite rhetoric claiming socialism to be an unnatural state of affairs and therefore unsustainable. The embrace of libertarianism in the United States has at its core this idea that libertarianism is very basic and natural. This law-of -jungle mentality certainly appeals to those arguing that tough choices need to be made as it relates to Social Security, Medicare and other aspects of America’s social safety net. Of course, libertarian-socialists recognize that socialism is also basic and natural to humans. In fact, it is so basic and natural to the human condition that socialism may be encoded into human DNA.

Imagine humans are on the plains of Africa a million years ago and different tribes control different waterholes. One tribal leader makes the people of the tribe “pay” in some kind of currency — hunting, or work or whatever the “leader” deems useful — to get a share of water or a share of the hunt. This “strong” leader with some well-chosen allies controls the rest of the tribe. Access to some very basic resources is restricted by the leadership of this hypothetical tribe.

In contrast, at another waterhole and in a different hypothetical tribe the leader operates a different kind regimen on water access and sharing the spoils of the hunt. In this tribe, basic resources are shared equally among tribal members. For example, access to the water hole is not restricted by tribal leadership. Leadership rewards hard working or especially talented hunters with surplus from the kills, but only after the tribe’s basic needs have been met. In this tribe, leadership operates more in partnership with the regular tribal members. This tribe’s leadership team has determined that access to basic resources makes everyone stronger. The rising tide raises all the boats is how Franklin Delano Roosevelt use to say it.

Now imagine, a lion pride came walking down upon the plain searching for a waterhole. The pride is on the plain occupied by these two hypothetical tribes. The waterhole where the spoils of the hunt were shared more equally — where access to water, for example, is a shared and a protected right as being a part of the tribe — In that tribe, they are all stronger. They all work together. They fight off those lions.

The lions move on to the other waterhole where access to the spoils of the hunt is strictly controlled by leadership. At this waterhole, the members, as a cooperative unit, are weaker. They lack cohesion, since they do not share in the spoils of the hunt or have equal access to water. Their desire to work and fight collectively is weakened. Their basic health is weaker as well. Since access to food and water is rewarded regardless of the basic needs of an individual. This tribe loses to the lions. Their selfish DNA is removed from the human gene pool and the lion pride takes over that water hole! The cooperative tribe survives to pass on its DNA.

Socialism is likely a part of human DNA. Socialism, collective action and human success are tied together. Socialism is not pie in the sky dreaming. It has been a real and proven survival mechanism for groups of humans since time immemorial.