Generally speaking, before the Great Depression, most of the focus of the progressive movement was aimed at regulation to promote more fairness in trade and industry. The idea of government ran social programs was mostly dismissed by the public. These services did exist, but were normally run by individual communities, churches, and private organizations. Then in 1927, the Liberal ran government of Canada enacted an old age pension plan. This became a model to future social services in the country. In the United States, due to increasing poverty and unemployment caused by the Great Depression, the American people elected Franklin Delano Roosevelt mainly due to his idealistic policy called “The New Deal.” The New Deal was a complicated piece of legislation encompassing sweeping regulations, the addition of more government agencies and the foundation of social services in the U.S. Although much of the regulation of the New Deal has been dissolved, many such as the Social Security System, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and Fannie Mae, still exist today. Much debate remains over the effectiveness of The New Deal, with some claiming that it prolonged the Great Depression. Likewise in Canada, the Liberal Party, led by William Lyon Mackenzie King, was elected into power again 1935 and similar to the policies FDR, the Canadian Liberals implemented a large expansion of government and social services. Critics have stated that the worst of the depression was over by that point and this was nothing more than a government “power grab.”
Since the end of the Great Depression, politicians and political parties have tried to gain support, sometimes successfully and sometimes not, by offering additional entitlements to the voters. Through public discontent over the trials of the time, and by labeling entitlements as human rights, the progressives have found the most successful means of instituting these policies. For example, everyone could agree that all people have a right to be educated; meaning that we cannot restricted someone from attending an educational institute based on nationality, religion, gender, etc. If we change the language just a little to” all people have a right to an education”, makes education a right, therefore it must be provided to every citizen. If it must be provided it is an entitlement and the government must be involved in this industry. Anytime we deem a good or service as a human right, we create the need for government involvement.
So do entitlements create socialism? It would depend on the type and intent of the entitlement. Socialism occurs when the government seizes the means of production, or in simpler terms, runs the industry. Since not all entitlements require the production of an industry, such as old age pensions, one could argue that it is not socialism. Entitlements like health care, education, or daycare that would cause government intrusions into excising industries and ultimately a government takeover, are socialistic in nature. The other sign of a socialist program is forced participation. Any time a program is introduced that a citizen cannot opt out of, it is socialistic. A person may choose not to contribute to employment insurance and therefore doesn’t qualify to collect if needed; this person has opted out of the program provided. Compared with government run education where taxes are levied against citizens whether they use the service or not.
Socialism is the end goal of progressivism. Entitlements are one tool they use to progress toward this goal. We can see that there are programs from the 1930’s that are still in effect and to remove them would be a very difficult endeavor. The real danger in continuing to add to government entitlements is not the program itself, but rather that it gives the government more control over its citizenry. If they can provide it, they can take it away. If the government is responsible for providing rights, then they are able to define what those rights are. Alexander Tytler, a Scottish historian wrote in 1787:
“A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship.”
Part V March 19, 2010
Sources:
Wikipedia
Dictionary.com
Common Sense Government.com
No comments:
Post a Comment