The debate du jour within my noggin is that between individualism and socialism. I define individualism as the policy of promoting individual liberties ahead of any organisation. Conversely, socialism is the policy of structuring rights in a fashion that manufactures peace and fairness through practicality. I have previously identified myself as a Socialist, and I still do to some extent, but I cannot let that be said without also noting that I wish it were possible to be a Libertarian. It is not possible because I feel that a sudden shift to Libertarian principles would simply break the world we've created. I know that I do not want more of the same, but I also know that the route to utopia requires a brief pit stop in hell.
Individual freedom can be found at the heart of all progress. When a person is encouraged to stand out, is given the freedom to do as they please, the result is unprecedented movement and evolution. New discoveries are made because everyone is looking for a better this and a better that. When a market is flooded, new ones arise. When an idea is published, it is built upon and developed until it is either overtaken or it overtakes. What I'm describing is a glorious world of fertile ideas, similar to the environment of the Internet in its infancy. When people are allowed to follow their hearts, they take the world with them.
Enter corporatism. Enter regulations and protections. Enter all the things we put in place because we are afraid that the same freedom that gave us this new world is the same freedom that will scoff it away. We get off at the first stop, unwilling to travel any further, satisfied with how far we've come already. We lay claim to the product of our ambitions, accepting it as earned, unwilling to face the notion that as far as we've come, it could all slip away. Though, could it be that the sentimentality we feel leads us to drive away the world we loved too much to set free?
And what of socialism? What is so bad about it? Collectivism is a safety measure, intended for those seeking stability and strength. It is for when you've been skating miles above the Earth for years, you hit a rough patch, and now all you want to feel is the unmoving solid ground beneath your feet. Socialism is a refuge from all the forces that threaten to strip away what little you have left. The beaten and tired should want it, if only just for a reprieve.
If our current instability had come from individualism simply showing its dark underbelly, my prescription would be another healthy dose of more individualism. These things, we are taught, correct themselves. The problem is that we are not here in this recession because individualism took a wrong turn, but because we bastardized it long ago. Now, all of the greed and jealousy that grew on both sides of the protections has finally driven us into the ground. We know we need a change, but I must be clear that a reversion back to pure individual freedom is impossible without an intervention of the socialist variety.
Case in point: Net Neutrality. Enforcing the concept of Net Neutrality is, essentially, a socialist agenda. The government will be stepping in to regulate businesses operating the communication lines of the Internet. The theoretical counter to this action is insisting that the markets remain free and to let competition work its magic. This would be ideal if the markets hadn't already been taken over by entities propelled by other non-related regulations. That is to say that we've created a monster (AT&T, Verizon, Comcast, etc.) and to leave it in charge of a free market would be like handing the keys of the city over to Godzilla. No, in order for a truly free market to flourish, we must first take the step of abolishing the monopolies - socialist interference.
The Libertarian agenda is pure and innocent, like a pre-teen boy, which also makes it premature when facing these dirty, mature problems we have before us. We can learn from it, though. Imagine a skate boarder riding down a large hill. As he loses stability, his board starts to wobble side-to-side. The wobble is small at first and then increases, the board swerving wildly before the rider can no longer balance and bails. The board's movement can be seen in the nature of the ideological movements within this country. While 12 years ago, both the Republicans and the Democrats were viewed as two colors of the same centrist agenda, today, we have rising popularity amongst hardcore Conservatives, dead red Libertarians, and liberals-turned-Socialists. We're becoming more fundamentalist, fracturing, dividing.
Let's recap: First, we create this amazing world with the freedom of individuality. When we stop to look at the progress we've made, we become intolerable of its necessary evils because we see perfection as a possibility. In an attempt to preserve that progress, we institute rules to diminish what we perceive as negative effects. This, in time, chokes off the creativity and drive that got us here in the first place, and it also allows those who benefited from the initial progress to solidify their hold on the market. These institutions become pillars of our society, they become too big to fail. To revert back to the original individualism concept would require the abolishment of the rules they used to obtain their grasp. Let me explain how far-reaching this idea is.
Copyright laws need to go. Regulations of public communication lines need to go. Banking and lending restrictions need to go. We're talking wild wild West here. This is why we can't have nice things. When we obtain some amount of achievement, we coddle it and protect it, but that is exactly what kills it. The evolution of our society can be found in our cultural cannibalism, but we have so many regulations in place that say we cannot use something because someone else owns it. The Internet has grown to such great utility because it was a lawless place where freedom used to take precedence over ownership. Now we have powerful corporations, borne of the protections in place to preserve the benefits of creation, assaulting that freedom with lawsuits and sovereignty. Liberalism's rise inevitably leads to its downfall.
And in order for any return to individualism to happen, I feel it is necessary for the government to wrest control of some issues first. We must take shelter under the wing of stability while we lick our wounds and prepare to venture out for another go. I repeat; socialism should only be a temporary reprieve. During that time, the government should protect the markets and the individuals as it breaks down the walls it built within itself. Destroy health care rackets, IP firms, telecom monopolies, and mega banks. Sweep the legs of those who profited from protections. Even the playing field before restarting the game. Then, when all are equal below it, the government must sacrifice its power by abolishing all remaining protections and its ability to define them. In my wildest dreams.
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