Communist economic policies have failed. The collapse of the Soviet Union
proved that centralized control and planning just cannot work. Such
practices do not allow for flexibility and ingenuity. People cannot try
different things. Competition is stifled.
Some might say that such is working in China, but that is not the case.
China is still Communist as a political system, but the growth seen in China
is coming primarily because of the gradual loosening of economic controls.
Such has been done gradually in order to maintain centralized control of
government. However, efforts at maintaining such central government control
are gradually becoming more difficult to enforce because of the natural
inclination of people to want more personal freedom once they have a taste of economic freedom and realize the ability to control, at least to some
extent, their own destiny. People gradually realize that they do not need a
nanny government.
Socialism Western European style does not work. Western European
countries normally have unemployment rates double those of the United
States.
Medical treatment is not as good. Restrictions on drug patents and
protection have forced most research and development out of Western Europe
primarily into the United States.
England recently enacted a requirement for emergency rooms to see a patient
within four hours after signing into the emergency room. The emergency rooms
cannot meet the requirement, and hospitals, in order not to violate the law,
are making ambulances and others carrying persons to emergency rooms to wait
outside with their patients until the four hour requirement can be met.
Suicide rates and drug use are higher in many countries in Western Europe.
Yet with all of these short falls, liberals and people who are willing to
believe that they are trying to help us continue to push for more and more
programs which mimic those of Western Europe and Canada. There is no sound
reason for doing so, and we should be looking for change that really is
meaningful. [More]
