Flying Purple People Eater
29th October 2012, 12:19
http://www.wayofthemind.org/2005/11/22/why-collectivism-doesnt-work/
Why collectivism doesn’t work
When I was younger, I used to believe that communism and socialism were, in general, good ideas that had simply been poorly implemented, or abused, or used as excuses for atrocities such as those in the Soviet Union. After all, who could argue with the idea of “brotherly love”? It seemed even “logical” that everything would be better if people just stopped being so “selfish”, and cooperated, everyone working for “the group”.
Many factors changed my way of thinking as I grew older, but the one thing that made me understand what communism really was – not what implementations of it were, but what it really was, and could never be anything else, despite all the seeminly good intentions – was Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged”.
Especially one of my favorite sections, the one where Jeff Allen tells Dagny Taggart the sad story of the Twentieth Century Motor Company.
That story made such an impression on me that, even after I had only read the book once, I was able to tell it to people – it’s simply impossible to forget, as every part follows naturally, logically, from the one before.
So, there was a motor factory called the Twentieth Century Motor Company, which was highly successful, known as being synonymous with quality through the country. Then, the owner died, and the factory went to his three children (two men and a woman), who had big “progressive” (in that context, an euphemism for “socialist”) ideas – the main part of it being that well known communist ideal, “from each according to his ability, to each according to his need.”
The six thousand workers approved, of course – since they were made to feel that anyone who didn’t agree with such “brotherly love” was an evil, selfish monster. And so, that ideal went into practice – everyone worked, supposedly as much as he or she was able to, but wasn’t paid according to time, or results – instead, all of the profits from sales were put together in a common “pool”, then divided according to need.
However, they immediately had a problem: what is really “need”, and what is but a desire? What defines “need”? There’s no absolute standard for it, since what to some is just a pleasure, to others may be a vital need, and vice-versa. And so, they voted. Yes, every 6 months or so, they had huge meetings where they all voted on each one’s need – and how did you convince others? By begging, by pleading, by convincing everyone that they were worse off than others, that they had more health problems, had more children to feed, that they suffered more, and therefore had a greater “need”. In a little time, six thousand workers had turned into six thousand beggars – because no one had any “right” to the result of their work, that line of thought was dead, by then.
Naturally, since work wasn’t tied to earnings any more, no one had any incentive to work harder, and production dropped sharply in the first year. In a meeting, then, they decided that it had happened because some workers weren’t giving their all, they weren’t using all of their ability, and therefore would have to work extra hours at night – without pay, of course – to improve the situation. Who? The most able, of course – and again, they voted on who those were. Obviously, since that day, everyone would hide the slightest sign of ability – indeed, they would compete as to who would appear more incompetent. Being incompetent meant being “needier”, and was rewarded; being competent was a curse, since it meant you “needed” less – and had to work harder, to support the “needy” ones.
For some reason (!), production dropped even more.
It got worse. It was decided that no one could have any kind of luxury until everyone’s basic needs were met – and any kind of entertainment, cultural activity or amusement were the first to go. Books? That was a luxury. Music? The same. What right had anyone to a book when there were people starving? And the standard of living – for everyone just kept going down. Lots of people turned to alcohol.
Anything that made people “needier”, such as becoming ill, or having a baby, was a reason for everyone to hate that person – since he or she would be, supposedly, “taking” more from the pool. People also began to spy on their neighbours, so that they could report on anyone who was faking his or her “needs”.
In four years, the company was bankrupt. What a surprise.loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooool
I've got tears.
Why collectivism doesn’t work
When I was younger, I used to believe that communism and socialism were, in general, good ideas that had simply been poorly implemented, or abused, or used as excuses for atrocities such as those in the Soviet Union. After all, who could argue with the idea of “brotherly love”? It seemed even “logical” that everything would be better if people just stopped being so “selfish”, and cooperated, everyone working for “the group”.
Many factors changed my way of thinking as I grew older, but the one thing that made me understand what communism really was – not what implementations of it were, but what it really was, and could never be anything else, despite all the seeminly good intentions – was Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged”.
Especially one of my favorite sections, the one where Jeff Allen tells Dagny Taggart the sad story of the Twentieth Century Motor Company.
That story made such an impression on me that, even after I had only read the book once, I was able to tell it to people – it’s simply impossible to forget, as every part follows naturally, logically, from the one before.
So, there was a motor factory called the Twentieth Century Motor Company, which was highly successful, known as being synonymous with quality through the country. Then, the owner died, and the factory went to his three children (two men and a woman), who had big “progressive” (in that context, an euphemism for “socialist”) ideas – the main part of it being that well known communist ideal, “from each according to his ability, to each according to his need.”
The six thousand workers approved, of course – since they were made to feel that anyone who didn’t agree with such “brotherly love” was an evil, selfish monster. And so, that ideal went into practice – everyone worked, supposedly as much as he or she was able to, but wasn’t paid according to time, or results – instead, all of the profits from sales were put together in a common “pool”, then divided according to need.
However, they immediately had a problem: what is really “need”, and what is but a desire? What defines “need”? There’s no absolute standard for it, since what to some is just a pleasure, to others may be a vital need, and vice-versa. And so, they voted. Yes, every 6 months or so, they had huge meetings where they all voted on each one’s need – and how did you convince others? By begging, by pleading, by convincing everyone that they were worse off than others, that they had more health problems, had more children to feed, that they suffered more, and therefore had a greater “need”. In a little time, six thousand workers had turned into six thousand beggars – because no one had any “right” to the result of their work, that line of thought was dead, by then.
Naturally, since work wasn’t tied to earnings any more, no one had any incentive to work harder, and production dropped sharply in the first year. In a meeting, then, they decided that it had happened because some workers weren’t giving their all, they weren’t using all of their ability, and therefore would have to work extra hours at night – without pay, of course – to improve the situation. Who? The most able, of course – and again, they voted on who those were. Obviously, since that day, everyone would hide the slightest sign of ability – indeed, they would compete as to who would appear more incompetent. Being incompetent meant being “needier”, and was rewarded; being competent was a curse, since it meant you “needed” less – and had to work harder, to support the “needy” ones.
For some reason (!), production dropped even more.
It got worse. It was decided that no one could have any kind of luxury until everyone’s basic needs were met – and any kind of entertainment, cultural activity or amusement were the first to go. Books? That was a luxury. Music? The same. What right had anyone to a book when there were people starving? And the standard of living – for everyone just kept going down. Lots of people turned to alcohol.
Anything that made people “needier”, such as becoming ill, or having a baby, was a reason for everyone to hate that person – since he or she would be, supposedly, “taking” more from the pool. People also began to spy on their neighbours, so that they could report on anyone who was faking his or her “needs”.
In four years, the company was bankrupt. What a surprise.loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooool
I've got tears.