Collectivism is the principle or practice in where the group takes priority over the individual. Basically, under collectivism, if the group or collective could benefit by taking away the rights of an individual, then they will. Throughout most of world history, most places on earth practiced collectivism. In the 20th century, the most heinous socialist, communist dictators were all large proponents of the collective. As a matter of fact, collectivism, was the most widely used justification for the atrocities that these dictators committed. Basically, their reasoning was, “we need to commit these evil acts to benefit the greater good.”
The truth is, there is a lot more power in a group then there is in an individual. Buildings don’t get built by one person. Roads, armies, technology all take large groups of people working together. Kings and dictators alike recognized the power they can attain by controlling large groups of people. They believed that if they can impose their supposed “genius” on the people that they preside over, and force them to adhere to their rules, then the world will be a better place.
Another basic truth is that countries who value the rights of the individual over the collective have provided more for the world and mankind, in the small window they’ve been around, compared to the entire history of collectivist nations. Individuals working together, not by force, but acting on their own self-interest has proven to be far superior.
The fact is that countries that allow people to say and act how they please, regardless if it benefits the population as a whole, have the best societies that have booming economies. They boom because creativity and innovation can only be unlocked through incentive and being able to do and speak freely, without fear of consequences. Incentive and the ability to speak and act openly are quashed if you have to worry about saying or doing something that an individual in power may deem, “bad for the collective.”
The United States is the most powerful, innovative, and moral country the world has ever known. They became that way because of their constitution. In the constitution it is illegal for government to take away your basic liberties of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, even if it doesn’t benefit the collective. It protects your property rights, freedom of speech, and your right to protect yourself. The US became and is still the place that most people to want to come to. They realize that, by coming to the US, they have a chance to make something of themselves. They also know that whatever they earn and make of themselves won’t be taken away by some big government, like what occurs in most of the world.
Despite all the greatness that individuality has produced, the political left, in the United States and around the world, is trying to exchange the rights of the individual for the collective good.. They often argue that they aren’t after anyone’s rights, they just want things to be fair and safe. But make no mistake about it, individual rights aren’t even a bleep on the radar when it comes to forming leftist policy.
When the left forces a Christian baker to bake for a gay wedding, calls for the redistribution of others wealth, tries to ban hate speech, or attempts to take your guns away, they are trying to take away the rights of the individual, to benefit the collective. What’s even worse is this forced coercion always makes things worse not better. Time and time again, collective policies have only proven to lead to poverty, dictatorship, starvation, and genocide.
The population of people that are willing to strip others of their of rights, in order to strive for some unattainable utopia, has been growing here in America and around the world. So why? What kind of people can honestly look at the success rates of socialistic or communistic and demand that?
I’ve narrowed it down to four types of people that are willing to take your rights away. The first is the narcissistic person, that knows the atrocities that occurred in these collective governments. However, they still feel that if they were given this type of power like Hitler or Stalin had, then it would be different. They think it will be different because they arrogantly believe they are so intelligent and moral that they can bring about the utopia (Barrack Obama). The second is the ignorant moron who denies obvious facts to fit their skewed vision of the world. (Bernie Sanders). The third type of person is someone who doesn’t really understand what socialism and communism is. They aren’t very deep thinkers and whatever sounds good, is taken as gospel(democrats). The fourth type is someone who is weak and doesn’t believe that they could ever get ahead as a lone person. They seek comfort in large groups and believe that the only way they could ever be part of something great is through group effort. (SJW)
Subsequently, I am asking any leftist out there to answer some questions that hints to some flaws in their logic. The first is, is it moral to force others to do something that you perceive as good? Are you still a good person if you point a gun to people’s head and force them to give to the homeless? Secondly, what makes you think that you are so much smarter and more moral than the big government collectivist that came before you and failed? Finally, and most importantly, if you give the government the power to take away the rights of those you disagree with, then what makes you think that the government can’t turn around and do the same to you?
The fact is that regardless of the reasoning, it is always evil to take away the rights of others. Remember comrades, communism and socialism are always one execution away from utopia. Sometimes the ends don’t justify the means and the road to hell is paved with good intentions.
