The world was not prepared for the evil that Hitler wrought upon the Jews. We couldn’t comprehend the vast number of followers his maniacal hatred bred—a flame that fanned into an all-consuming inferno. Costing the lives of over 6 million innocent Jews, 40 million civilians, and roughly 20 million military troops…of course those numbers are purely based on recorded deaths…many more were never found. (Lumenlearning.com)
In our history books we can look back into the very eyes of these men and women; the victims and the oppressors. Sometimes I wonder, if it wasn’t for the uniforms, could we even tell the Nazi’s apart from anyone else—just by their faces alone.
In school, we learned about the wars, the losses, and the names of those heroine and foe who did either great or terrible things. But never once did the history books try to explain “how.” How could 13.6 million people turn their backs on their fellow citizens and embrace an ideology of antisemitism? Willing to torture and kill people that once lived side-by-side with them? And how could one man accomplish this?
This widespread brainwashing was something that the rest of the world wanted to sweep under the rug, believing that it couldn’t possibly happen to their own citizens and leaders. This failure to face the deep evil that mankind is capable of would only allow for more to follow.
Our world is always at war. You may not hear about them all, but they are happening. Wars in Africa just this past year, have led to the deaths of 1,000-9,999 people (Wikipedia.org). That’s the result of 25 active conflicts currently happening—and we know nothing of this (seeker.com).
The cumulative list of current wars can be found on worldpopulationreview.com. Give it a glance and I’m sure you’ll be just as appalled as I am by the conflicts, deaths, and seemingly disinterest of the media concerning them. This is the world we live in.
Again—we can look at the data, read up on why the conflicts are happening—but what about the how?
This same website sums up “why” into several answers:
“…economic gain, territorial gain, religion, nationalism, civil war, and revolution.”
They go on to say:
“Often, countries’ leaders are the primary motivator of conflict between and within nations when they test their limits, such as instigating a territorial dispute, trying to control another country’s natural resources, or exercising authoritarian power over the people.”
In each case (excluding those who are merely trying to overcome crime/terrorists) there is a governing power and with that power is a voice that sways the masses into violence. These “wars” erupt from within rather than without.
Very few set out to do evil. Many start off well-intentioned and believing that what they are fighting for is right. The authorities in place offer us many things; protection and order among them. However, just as we fail individually—collectively we can fail all the more devastatingly.
I believe the only way we can answer the “how?” Is by understanding our human failings, particularly from a Biblical perspective. We were created to rule, conquer, and to worship Him.
After the fall of mankind; we still desired such things, but our flesh added to those desires, twisting and warping them throughout the ages. We wanted peace—yet we killed to acquire it, we wanted to rule—yet we gave our authorities over to those unworthy of it, and we wanted God—yet we killed His only Son.
I think Spock (Star Trek) said it best when he considered the human condition: “Curious how often you humans manage to obtain that which you do not want.” That we do, Mr. Spock…
A wholly surrendered life to God is the only way we can obtain anything purely good. Every “good well-intentioned thought/plan/idea” a part from Him will be thwarted by the devil and quite honestly—ourselves.
And so how these things occur is no mystery to those who recognize our failings and great need for salvation. Only through Christ can we maintain our righteousness (albeit imperfectly), and achieve lasting and desirable outcomes in our world today. That is how Heaven’s reality invades Earth.
All this talk of how and why; emphasizing on universal human failings collectively and individually is leading to my main topic or reason for writing this particular 2 part blog: And that topic is —socialism (in America).
“Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, it’s inherent virtue is the sharing of misery.” —Winston Churchill
“…Socialism could never have worked because it is based on false premises about human psychology and society, and gross ignorance of human economy.” —David Horowitz
Why Socialism? It is a relevant issue today in our capitalist America, as over time—socialist ideas/policies have integrated themselves into our society. Meanwhile, in China and Korea, communism is continuing to tighten its hold on its people.
What is socialism? As a conservative Christian my definition is highly resented. However, all beliefs aside—socialism has proven itself closely tied to communistic ideals. In many ways socialism is the first phase of the resulting communism (in my opinion). Even a google search will tell you that China (for example) is a socialist country.
The Merriam-Webster definition is as follows:
-Various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods. (There are no private properties)
-A stage of society in Marxist theory transitional between capitalism and communism and distinguished by unequal distribution of goods and pay according to work done.
They go on to explain that throughout history the terms socialism and communism have been interchangeable and hard to truly define since the Marxist ideals have been either loosely or rigidly followed resulting in different forms/levels of socialism.
In essence, it stems from the belief that individual wealth/private properties/income/etc. creates a societal imbalance of power/wealth/resources to the masses. Socialists believe that time+resources=value. That we should all share and collectively own wealth/resources.
And this is typically when they paint the great utopian future should socialism be implemented in our country: “No more poverty! No more rich people hogging all the wealth! Everyone will pitch in and work together to create and build! Everyone will share everything willingly! No one will starve! No children will be uncared for! Greed and [insert your own sin] will virtually disappear!”
All great things right? Who wouldn’t want that? It sounds like a dream…a perfect world…a lie.
You may think my claim is baseless and biased, but I have ample truths to back up my reasoning…but for now, I want you to ask yourself these questions which will transition to part 2 of this blog:
“Can we collectively erase evil (curing the human condition on our own?). And what assurances can we have in a socialistic society should our government fall prey to corruption?
In the next part we will dissect the pros and cons of socialism and why no matter how many times or ways it is implemented—it always fails to do as intended.
hopesongblog 