Socialism

I'm about to write something that is sure to stir the ire of many. Let me preface this by saying that I am as capitalist as the next guy. I'd love for my market value to be in the seven figures, but I realize it's not and I'm satisfied with that.

My point is this. I hear all kinds of people rail against socialism and all socialist practices saying that it is undemocratic. I can understand why they're making these claims and I can understand how in certain situations it might be true, but I wanted to analyze this claim for just a moment.

Democracy is a political system. It is government by the people. Socialism is an economic system. It's idea is to spread wealth around to the most people as possible. Whether you agree with the economic system is one thing, but to claim that socialism automatically brings the end of democracy is a ludicrous claim. I turn your attention to Franklin Roosevelt. He was nothing if not a socialist. In fact, most of his policies were railed against in Congress at the time they were introduced, but they helped bring the United States out of the Great Depression. Again, you don't have to like the policies, but let's at least sound educated about it.

Can economics bring about the end of a government type? Sure. Does it automatically mean it will? Of course not. We the people rule this country. Our leaders are responsible to us. We did send them there to lead and so, to the best of our conscience, we must follow. But we set the course of this nation.

I for one think that no political or economic system is the answer. There is no king or president that can truly give us peace and prosperity. If the church would really be the church, I think that our societal problems would take care of themselves. I personally don't think the government should take care of people because I believe that we, the body of Christ, should take care of them. However, something is better than nothing. If the government wants to help its people, perhaps we should support that at least.

This has been on my mind for a while. I realize this may not be the most eloquent post, but it's the best I can come up with this morning.