Timothy Birdnow

Here is an interesting essay arguing that modern Americans are not so much into socialism as into "transferism". There is a distinction, one largely lost in the imprecision of modern jargon.

I would add socialism predated Marx by over half a century. What Marx created was "scientific socialism" by which he added the veneer of pseudo-science. In fact Marx's theory was primarily nineteenth century romanticism dressed in statistics. In the end state control of industry is the root of socialism, be it Marxism's direct control or Fascism's two-tiered system. In some ways it can be argued we live in a socialist state today, a fascistic one.

At any rate, this is an interesting essay, one worth reading.

Here is a little taste:

These four in ten Americans, and the politicians who speak for them most vocally, are not advocating socialism at all; they are advocating what we should really call "transferism.” Transferism is a system in which one group of people forces a second group to pay for things that the people believe they, or some third group, should have. Transferism isn’t about controlling the means of production. It is about the forced redistribution of what’s produced.

Federal transfers are money the federal government gives directly to people or to state and local governments. These are not purchases. To be a transfer, the money must be given in exchange for nothing. The earned income tax credit, income assistance, and payments from various welfare programs are transfers. So, too, are Social Security benefits. While workers tend to regard Social Security benefits as returns on their Social Security taxes, legally, Social Security taxes are simply part of the government’s tax revenues. Workers are not entitled to Social Security benefits. Who says so? The Supreme Court in Flemming v. Nestor (1960). In reality, Social Security benefits are simply transfers—gifts—from the federal government to retirees.

At least at the federal level, our government has fully embraced transferism.

Federal transfers to persons have risen from 11 percent of federal spending in 1953 to 53 percent today. As with persons, the federal government also sends transfers to state and local governments. Federal transfers to persons and state and local governments have risen from 17 percent of federal spending in 1953 to 69 percent today. As of today, almost 70 percent of what the federal government does involves simply taking money from one group of people and giving it to another. Less than one-third of the money Washington spends is spent in the name of actual governance.

Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at 09:44 AM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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