Who do you think of when it comes to opportunity?

Do you think about Canada or the United States?

When I think of that question, I think about Canada, and the United States. Yes, both countries in North America. I believe that is one of the reasons why people from all over the World want to come here. They know that when you land in America you have individual freedom. They also know that with courage and perseverance they can move toward their goals or objectives, and of course they need resilience to withstand the challenges as they occur.

The biggest challenge that I see is how some political philosophies can change this. I believe that some political philosophies will take away the opportunity that North America presents to the world.

In order for you to understand what I am describing I’d like to share with you some very basic definitions of forms of political philosophies.

Capitalism: You have two cows. You lay one off, and force the other to produce the milk of four cows. You are surprised when she drops dead.

Communism: You have two cows. The government seizes both and provides you with milk. You wait in line for your share of the milk, but it’s so long that the milk is sour by the time you get it.

Dictatorship: You have two cows. The government takes both and shoots you.

Environmentalism: You have two cows. The government bans you from milking or killing them.

Fascism: You have two cows. The government takes both, hires you to take care of them, and sells you the milk.

Pure Communism: You have two cows. Your neighbors help you take care of them, and you all share the milk.

Representative Democracy: You have two cows. Your neighbors pick someone to tell you who gets the milk.

Socialism: You have two cows. The government takes one of your cows and gives it to your neighbor. You’re both forced to join a cooperative where you have to teach your neighbor how to take care of his cow.

While I did have a little fun with the definitions, that is how these political philosophies work on a very basic level.

Let’s move to the present, now we have elected representatives that are calling themselves democratic socialists. Many of these people advocate for a federal jobs guarantee, abolishing immigration and customs enforcement, free public and trade school and a 70% marginal tax rate for incomes above $10 million. It sounds so good, at first; but I am concerned.

Why?

It is because that the more you guarantee jobs and offer free education, the less initiative there is to do better. For example, why would anyone want to get better if their job was guaranteed. Why would anyone have any initiative when they can become a professional student? Do you think that abolishing enforcement of immigration could lead to a massive influx of people just to come to a country for the free stuff, while not offering anything in return? Can you see how imposing a 70% tax rate on people who have created jobs for 1000’s of people would be a detriment for any entrepreneur to have any initiative to grow his/her business?

I believe that if we don’t examine our choices the individual freedom that is part of our make-up will change drastically and turn (at worst) all of us into wards of the state. Wards of the state are people that are placed in the direct care of the State. In other words, the State becomes their legal guardian. And what does a guardian do? A guardian is appointed to make some or all decisions on behalf of an incapacitated adult.

While this may seem impossible or drastic, I want you to think about what some of the drastic political philosophies did to Europe in the 1900’s.

Is that where we want to go?