Winston Churchill
once quipped, “Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”
Sadly, New York City may be on the verge of electing a mayor and adopting a
form of government that has a long history of having miserably failed, and damaging lives, everywhere
it has been tried.
Zohran Mamdani,
the leading mayoral candidate for New York City, calls himself a “Social
Democrat.” His words, however, are those of a communist/Marxist. For example,
he has called for eliminating private property ownership and, in its place, implementing
government-run housing for everyone. He has also called for a government-run
chain of grocery stores. These and other statements have led to many, including
Donald Trump, to warn that he is a communist.
One of the places socialism
has miserably failed was right here on America soil. The Pilgrims, who
established Plymouth Colony in New England in the fall of 1620, at first
attempted a socialist/communist style of living. They disbanded it, however,
when it became obvious that their community could not survive with such a
system.
Socialism
Forced on Them
The Pilgrim’s
journey to America was funded by a group of venture capitalists who provided
the ship and supplies for their journey to the New World. In return, the
Pilgrims agreed to live communally with everyone receiving the same compensation
for their work, and with everything above their necessities going into a common
fund to be used to pay their creditors.
In other words,
there was no inequality. Income produced by farming, fishing, and fur trading
would be spread around and evenly divided among members of the community. There
would be only one economic class of people in this system.
William Bradford,
who served as governor of Plymouth for many years, told of the challenges of
this socialist system and how it almost destroyed their community (Hyatt, 1726:The Year that Defined America, 23-26).
Drawn from Bradford’s account, here are four important lessons that Mamdani
would do well to learn.
Lesson
#1
Socialism Destroys Initiative
Under this
socialist system, everyone received the same compensation for their work. No
matter how hard or how little they worked, all received the same income. With
no reward tied to their labor, initiative was destroyed, and everyone put forth
their least effort.
Why work and dream
when you are trapped in a socialist system that mandates equality of outcome
for everyone? This socialist system destroyed initiative and almost destroyed
the Pilgrim community.
Lesson
#2
Socialism Fosters Irresponsibility
Young men,
Bradford said, resented getting paid the same as older men when they did so
much more of the work. As a result, they tended to slouch and slack since they
knew they would receive the same no matter how hard they worked.
Knowing they would
receive the same no matter how hard or how little they worked, the women often
refused go to the fields to work, complaining of sickness and headaches. To
have compelled them to go, Bradford said, would have been considered tyranny
and oppression.
With no individual
reward tied to their innovation and labor, everyone gave their least effort.
Irresponsibility became obvious throughout the community, and many became
gripped with a sense of hopelessness.
Lesson
#3
Socialism Extinguishes Hope and Generates Strife
This socialist
system led to a widespread sense of hopelessness. With everyone locked into a
closed economic system, there was nothing individuals or families could do to
improve their personal lot. Feeling caught in a trap, bickering and strife
began to emerge.
The older men,
Bradford said, felt they deserved more honor and recompense because of their
age and resented getting paid the same as the youngsters in their midst. The
young men, on the other hand, resented getting paid the same as the older men
when they often did more of the work.
This sense of
hopelessness and the ensuing strife drained energy and discouraged innovative
thinking and led to very serious complications for the community.
Lesson
#4
Socialism is Incompatible with Human Nature
Bradford believed
that socialism did not work because it runs counter to human nature as created
by God. In Scripture, God rewards individuals for their labor and good works.
Capitalism works because it is compatible with the reality of human nature and the
world in which we live.
I will never
forget visiting eastern Europe shortly after the fall of the Soviet Empire. I
was struck by the grey, drab environment. Even the buildings seemed so plain,
flat and lackluster.
To
Survive, They Had to Change
When it became
obvious that lack and perhaps starvation would be their lot, Bradford and the
leaders of the colony decided to make a change. After much prayer and
discussion, they dispensed with that part of the agreement with their creditors
that required them to live communally until their debt was paid. In its place,
they implemented a free entrepreneurial system that included private ownership
of property (Hyatt, 1726: The Year
that Defined America, 23-26).
They
Experience the Blessing of Free Enterprise
According to
Bradford, they divided the land around them, allotting to each family a certain
portion that would be theirs to work and use for their own needs. Bradford said
there was an immediate change. The young men began to work much harder because
they now knew they would eat the fruit of their own labors.
There were no more
complaints from the older men for the same reason. And now the women were seen
going into the fields to work, taking the children with them, because they knew
they and their family would personally benefit.
Instead of lacking
food, each family now grew more food than they needed, and they began to trade
with one another for furnishings, clothes and other goods. They also had enough
excess to trade with the Indians for furs and other items. In short, the colony
began to prosper when they got rid of their socialist form of government and
implemented a free, entrepreneurial system. Of their experience with socialism,
Bradford wrote,
This
community [socialism] was found to breed much confusion and discontent and
retard much employment that would have been to their benefit and comfort . . .
and showed the vanity of that conceit of Plato’s, and applauded by some of
later times, that the taking away of property and bringing in community into a
commonwealth would make them happy and flourishing; as if they were wiser than
God (Hyatt, 1726: The Year that Defined
America, 23-26).
Christianity
& Capitalism
As Christians, our
responsibility is to call people to Christ and help them live out their
Christianity in the real world. Living out our Christianity means a life of
responsibility, not looking for government hand-outs but working and prospering
in a way that we can give a hand-up to those in need.
We desire the best
for the greatest number of people which is why we must reject the Mamdani’s vision
of a government-mandated socialist system in America.
This article was
derived from Dr. Eddie Hyatt’s books, 1726:
The Year that Defined America and The Pilgrims, both available from Amazon
and his website at www.eddiehyatt.com.
His latest book, just released, is entitled The book that Made America Great.
