Socialism's Failure and The First Thanksgiving

Timothy Birdnow

Here is the story of how the Pilgrims nearly starved thanks to socialism - and how freeing the market made them prosper. It's why they were able to have the first Thanksgiving.

From the article:

Hardly. The "common property” approach killed off about half the settlers. Governor Bradford recorded in his diary that everybody was happy to claim their equal share of production, but production only shrank. Slackers showed up late for work in the fields, and the hard workers resented it. It’s called "human nature.”

The disincentives of the socialist scheme bred impoverishment and conflict until, facing starvation and extinction, Bradford altered the system. He divided common property into private plots, and the new owners could produce what they wanted and then keep or trade it freely.

The author goes on to discuss the failures of Socialism around the world and Robert Owen, the guy who founded New Harmony Indiana, a socialist community that went bust in two years.

It's a short read, so check it out.

Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at 09:05 AM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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