Larken Rose has penned yet another essay in his TMDS series (The Most Dangerous Superstition: the belief in imposed authority). He explains what collectivism is, why it always leads to violence, and why Obama, McCain, and every other Republican and Democrat candidate are all collectivists.
It’s a good, and lengthy, article that covers some of the same ground as The Road to Serfdom. The following is from his conclusion:
Barrack Obama is a collectivist. Despite the usual window-dressing
and euphemisms which conceal the true nature of what he advocates,
he is, in every way, an advocate for the idea that every individual–
and all wealth–is the property of the collective, as represented
by “government.” In other words, he believes in communism.So should everyone vote for John McCain? No. Mr. McCain is also a
collectivist. In fact, with very rare exceptions, ALL Democrat and
Republican politicians are collectivists, as they have been for
many decades, even back when they were feigning concern about the
“spread of communism.” So why did I focus on Obama? Because, unlike
Mr. McCain, Mr. Obama seems to have a lot of enthusiastic support
from well-meaning, albeit misguided, Americans. As with Bill
Clinton, Mr. Obama makes the advocacy of widespread government
violence, theft and oppression sound both noble and useful. It is
not.So if all of the above was not intended to make you vote for
someone–and it certainly was not–then what is being suggested?
Intellectual honesty. First, I want people to understand what the
self-proclaimed “leaders” are actually proposing, because it is not
“hope,” or “change,” or “progress,” or any of the other vague, feel-
good rhetoric being fed to the general public. It is what EVERY
government “leader” always proposes: more power for the state, less
freedom for the people. They pretend to have the purest motives for
it, but the means to their goals will ALWAYS be less freedom for
you, and more power for them.After people realize that, next I want them to be honest about
their OWN beliefs and agenda. If, for example, you support any of
the collectivist redistribution plans and programs pitched by both
major parties, then I simply ask that you drop the charade, set
aside the euphemisms and obfuscations, and do it openly and
honestly. If you believe that there is someone somewhere whose
supposed “need” entitles him to what my time and effort have
produced, with or without my consent, then pick up a gun, come to
my house, and take it from me yourself. Don’t hide such destructive
evil behind elections, legislation, and political rhetoric. Do it
openly and honestly, or don’t do it at all. If you give your vote
to ANY collectivist, you are just as guilty of robbing me, and
robbing a couple hundred million other people, as if you had done
it yourself. But in addition to being a thief, you’d also be a
fraud and a coward, because you lie (maybe even to yourself) about
what it is you advocate, and don’t have the spine to go do it
yourself.