Capitalism vs Socialism

Welcome to the blogpost where millions of readers are absolutely exhilarated to take off time after their 9-5 job, business or some other time consuming activity to explore highly complex ideas that will probably have no impact on their everyday life.

So here’s an image… assimilate it... consume it... absorb it... see if it's true or not...

Before the break down of that dense information, here are some definitions…

Capitalism: an economic system characterized by private or corporate ownership of capital goods, by investments that are determined by private decision, and by prices, production, and the distribution of goods that are determined mainly by competition in a free market. (merriam-webster.com)

Socialism: any economic and political theory advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods. (merriam-webster.com)

In a way, we all have capitalistic and socialistic modes of thinking waging war in our heads. Capitalism is “Secure the bag and provide for your family then you can give to the less fortunate if you want.” Socialism is “Secure the bag and give it to the government to be equally shared amongst your fellow citizens, even the lazy ones. You can’t just let them die, you selfish demon!!!” Lol socialists can be so aggressive.

Referring back to the image, capitalistic thinking naturally increases as one goes up the social “plane?” social hierarchy? No, that’s something else. Let’s go with social trust model. As you go up the model, socialistic thinking naturally decreases. So does trust. For example, if you asked a family member for money or a resource like food, it wouldn’t be the same as asking a random guy on the streets of Kampala. Why? Because the guy doesn’t think that his giving will be reciprocated. He doesn’t trust that you’ll help him when he’s down.

The higher self of the person will think “What’s the best way to give to advance the human race?” The “you” or self in the image can go up to partner. “The two shall become one flesh.” It can also go up to family, tribe and eventually the whole universe as one living organism. But just like in your body, there are boundaries. If the toe is in pain, the arm isn’t going to carry its pain for it. It’ll just help send the pain signal to the head. The arm will do whatever it can while keeping itself and its parts safe. You could say that the head is God.

Let me explain tribe for a minute. Tribe can mean people that speak the same language and have similar physical features but tribe can also mean people you mesh with. You meet someone at a party, the conversation flows and you get their number. You have similar interests. You mesh like a Ugandan dish called katogo. That person is very likely to share their resources with you because trust has subconsciously been established. Since you formed katogo, it’s like it’s you and them against the world. Same with a partner.

Why does trust decrease as you go up the social trust model? Have you ever heard a parent say to their kid “Don’t talk to strangers?” Not everyone is out for your good. Sure, everyone has a measure of good, but everyone also has a level of evil. More so when you trust them with power; you could get greater good but also greater evil.

This is where United States' antitrust law comes in. 'Antitrust' meaning "We don't trust you!" Microsoft Faced Antitrust Charges in 1998 because they seemed to be creating a monopoly in the software industry. They were gaining too much power. In the same century, Russians glorified a charismatic dude named Stalin and trusted him with truckloads of power. He kept pushing the limits of that power and in the end killed millions. Stalin was also once an innocent, lovable baby. Antitrust puts a cap on the seed of evil in every human being.

What's the difference between these two nations? Why was one so naive? I believe it comes down to foundations. America had great forefathers and mothers. Who unfortunately also enslaved those they conquered... as was the custom of those days. Abolitionists like Sojourner Truth and William Wilberforce helped change that custom. To whom much is given, much is required. God expects more from a nation with wise fathers and mothers. They will be judged harsher. Just like you wouldn't expect a homeless orphan to grow up and raise a healthy family, if they did you might make a movie on their life or something.

In the Bible, there are very few instances where trust one has for family has moved to community. One example is Acts 4:32 “Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common.” These are rare times Christians call ‘revival’. When the Spirit of God is moving so mightily in an area that people’s hearts are softened to God and leaders like Peter, James and John have gone through a prior crushing/training.

Many people think that the Bible is all for fluffy “Let’s all get along and share everything” messages. But that’s not the case. It has points for both sides of the argument. Here’s an example; John 2:24 “But Jesus, for His part, did not entrust Himself to them, because He knew all people [and understood the superficiality and fickleness of human nature]” It’s not that Jesus didn’t trust anyone. The ‘them’ in that verse is the masses at a religious event.

Jesus trusted His mother Mary, His friend Lazarus, His disciple John etc. because they had risen to a higher plane of human existence through spiritual practices. Jesus saw His family as those that were in the will of God at that specific moment in time (Matthew 12:46-50) which is really intense. I want to be like Him when I grow up. Though He still honoured the position His Earthly mother Mary held even at the cross where He gave her John as a guardian in her old age.

So due to Jesus’ exclusive trust, we can conclude that even in Heaven there are those with more and those with less. But it’s almost like there’s no point (other than love) to aspire to have more because your proximity to God will cause your heart to be so tender and share. In Heaven, I believe the greatest resource is the love of God. I think our spirits feed on that. It’s like Jell-O that we suck in and give out. Lucifer valued the power higher than the love.

Investing in God’s Jell-O in this tough Earthly life is like investing in bitcoin back in 2009 but times like 10000000000 and not many people can see that. But again, it’s like there’s no point other than love because your proximity to God in the next life will cause you to share it all. Can you tell that my alter-ego is a cunning, competitive, self-seeking venture capitalist? That’s why I meditate lol. I want it all to myself!!! I think that's fear of lack.

So socialism advocates in highly capitalistic countries want to move the level of trust people have for their tribes to their nation and few of them like John Lennon in his song imagine want to move it to the world. In all honesty, we all do but that just doesn’t agree with the nature of man in which is the seed of evil that will only be eradicated at the second coming of Christ. Even King David “the man after God’s own heart” murdered his soldier Uriah and took his wife. Power is dangerous.

To contrast the point in the previous paragraph, you could say that capitalism advocates in highly socialistic countries want to tone down the trust from nation to community or tribe.

Some could say that absolute socialism is usually pushed by people that have never been stabbed in the back while absolute capitalism is usually pushed by people that are nursing 21 stab wounds.

Some could also say that absolute socialism is the denial of the darkness in man while absolute capitalism is the denial of the light in man.

Now for one of my favourite quotes of all time!!!

“Fair goes the dancing when the sitar is tuned; Tune us the sitar neither low nor high, and we will dance away the hearts of men. The string overstretched breaks, and the music flies; The string over slack is dumb, and music dies; Tune us the sitar neither low nor high.” – Siddharta Gautama

Personal reflections: I’m beginning to like writing more than speaking. It allows me to compress a paragraph into a sentence. Efficiency. Density with levity. It’s not that getting from A to B in the fastest time possible is the most important thing. Sometimes travelling to C and E before getting to B is more beneficial. It builds character and adds perspective to your thinking. I learnt that from a movie called cars recently. Some cartoons have so much wisdom. It’s like the writers of the cartoons tap into their inner child because they’re writing for children. Out of the mouth of babes. If you’re new here, I usually go off on tangents and end abruptly.