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SOCIALISM has killed over 100 million people and has destroyed countless lives. Wherever these ideas have been applied, the obvious outcome is poverty and suffering. Yet, despite all this, socialism is not dead and continues to captivate voters around the world.
What explains this phenomenon? There are different reasons why these criminal ideas continue to be accepted, I will reflect on the main ones.
1- Fear of uncertainty
All human beings deal at some point in our lives with the fear of uncertainty. Not having a secure future, not knowing if at some point you will lose your job, if there will be difficult times for your family and not having enough support, are issues that affect most human beings to a greater or lesser extent.
Psychologists make different recommendations in this regard, such as not worrying, focusing on the present and what we can change. After all, over 90% of the tragedies that cross our minds never happen. People who are experts in estate planning recommend saving and investing and always having diverse sources of income. Meanwhile, the left offers a “solution” that for many seems more tempting and “safe:” let the government take care of everything.
What socialists offer is a state to support those who lose their jobs, to take care of children’s education, health care, and any matter of importance. What they offer is nothing more than a return to the security of a father who will give everything, “daddy state”, in exchange for that promise they decide to give up their freedom and ruin the economy.
The point is that what matters are not promises or good intentions, what matters are facts, and what those people who end up voting for socialism because they cannot stand the fear of uncertainty should ask themselves is: who has a more secure future, those who live in Venezuela or someone who lives in a capitalist country like the United States?
It does not matter if a politician promises to give absolutely everything, he will not fulfill it. It is physically impossible and socialism is a complete economic failure. The most prosperous countries are the most economically free, so the best way to have a “secure” future is to ask for what works: capitalism.
2- Lack of emotional intelligence
Since the writings of Georg Lukács and the birth of the Frankfurt School, the left reinvented itself, so that the role previously occupied by the economy was replaced by culture. They understood that this was the key to achieving power. Therefore, they dedicated themselves to take control of the media, books, music, theater, films and so on. In that sense, the main issues were no longer economic, the economy is doing well in capitalism and after the disaster caused in so many places on account of their ideas, it no longer made sense to try to convince people by talking about economic issues.
They looked for new revolutionary subjects to replace the “worker,” and that is how they focused on women, LGTBI, black people, migrants and any “minority” they could victimize and then present themselves as the saviors. Socialism creates frustrations in different groups, or fuels existing ones, and then blames the capitalist system for those personal problems.
If you analyze what is at the bottom of all this, and why millions of people end up voting left by identifying it with feminism, defense of gays and in general “being a good person” and having empathy, the issue is that many have a great lack of emotional intelligence and different problems they have had in their lives have caused them pain and frustration with which they cannot deal, that is where the left appears to exculpate them and tell them that absolutely all the bad moments they have lived are the fault of other people.
Let’s look at the case of women, many feel frustrated because they have not had the love life they dreamed of, and instead of facing that relationships are difficult and working on their emotional intelligence to overcome love losses or even to be better people, the left comes in to console them and assure them that it is all about an oppressive patriarchy that only uses women as objects.
The same happens with blacks, migrants, LGTBI and any minority, the left comes to put their finger in the wound and convince them that others are to blame for their problems. When the truth is that absolutely all of us have lived difficult situations and have had moments that hurt us to remember, regardless of color, sex or sexual taste. The right thing to do is to face our problems without blaming others.
There is no such thing as a capitalist system that oppresses women, blacks and homosexuals. Yes, there are specific acts of violence that should be punished by law, but what the left does is to convince minorities that absolutely all their problems and frustrations come from a discriminatory system, so many young people now vote left because instead of facing their emotional problems, they want to politicize everything and blaming others for their lack of emotional intelligence.
3- Good intention, but lack of economic know-how
It is natural and desirable that people want good for others and for the society in which they live, however, good intentions must be accompanied by results. It is useless to say that you want to end poverty if in the end you end up plunging an entire country into absolute misery; that is what socialism does
Most people who vote left have good intentions, but the truth is that they have not taken the time to review the economic data and the consequences of extreme state interventionist ideas.
What everyone should know before voting is that there is a relationship between economic prosperity and economic freedom. The more capitalism, the more prosperity.
It is no coincidence that the poorest countries are the socialist ones.
Not only for voting, but for anything in life, we must keep in mind that what is important is not words but deeds.
Vanessa Vallejo. Co-editor-in-chief of El American. Economist. Podcaster. Political and economic analysis of America. Colombian exile in the United States // Vanessa Vallejo. Co-editora en jefe de El American. Economista. Podcaster. Análisis político y económico de América. Colombiana exiliada en EE. UU.