Epistemology….the theory of knowledge, especially with regard to its methods, validity, and scope.
Epistemology is the investigation of what distinguishes justified belief from opinion. In the vernacular of the layman the question arises, “What is going on in the heads of people today embracing a failed system that results in starvation, chaos, dictatorship and a police state?
First of all there is ample evidence that socialism is a complete and utter failure wherever and whenever it has been tried. It failed in Chile, The Soviet Union, Nazi Germany, China, North Korea, Italy and many other countries where it was embraced first by the leaders and then by the citizens. This wasn’t challenged by any of the so called intellectuals in any of these countries . A reasonable person might ask why.
Primarily the reason was a misunderstanding of socialism’s nemesis, capitalism. Capitalism , not being understood. was identified as the system of the rich and powerful and a contrast was offered that socialism would remedy this disparity. When you begin with a straw man that is identified as immoral and unfair, it is pretty easy to blame it for the ills of the day and declare war on it. Socialism needs a scape goat because if capitalism were properly defined attempts to undermine it would result in utter failure. With intellectuals worldwide disparaging and denouncing a system they misidentify and do not understand it is no wonder socialism captures the fancy of the misinformed and ignorant.
You may ask that since socialism has a history of failure why aren’t there more people realizing this and rejecting the advocates? This goes to the epistemology of today’s socialist mindset. Reason would dictate that facts are paramount and the fact of the failure of socialism is irrefutable. Since this isn’t the conclusion of the modern day socialist, we must look into what is the motivation and method that is driving this distortion of reality, logic and observable history. Since reason and facts are being denied what then is the method of “knowing’ the socialist of today embraces.
The only alternative to utilizing the integration of your sensory mechanisms is relying on unsubstantiated imagination. This is a reliance on believing what can’t be demonstrated by proof, i.e. faith. If you know that socialism has failed every time it has been tried , only a suspension your knowledge will negate that failure in your mind, but not in reality. If in addition you believe without knowledge of the nature and system of capitalism you have a perfect formula for deception and acceptance of a failed system.
Many so called scholars today think Capitalism is a system where capitalists in concert with government amass great fortunes at the expense of the working class. This is the original thesis of Karl Marx and it is being promoted today in a slightly modified form which makes capitalism not capitalism but a mixed economy where government is somehow wormed into the system which in all honesty can only be called Fascism. When all means of production are privately owned but the government dictates what the private owner must do with his property. This is NOT capitalism. Capitalism is a system where property is privately owned and government is limited to the proper functions of government which is primarily protecting individual rights including the right to property. This is what capitalism is and any attempt ot meld it with some government interference in business makes it something it isn’t. When it becomes in the minds of the citizenry what it isn’t or couldn’t possibly be, it becomes vulnerable to misinterpretation and can easily be the false alternative to socialism.
The healthcare industry was developed as a private industry and the government has steadily intruded and turned it into a part private, part government industry with the stated objective of “single payer “ healthcare which means the private portion will be completely controlled by government and socialization of the industry will be paramount. This of course will require heavy restrictions or dismantling of the private portion and with that will go your choices of healthcare. Whether it is the healthcare industry or any other industry ( such s the railroads ) government controls and waste, and will wipe out innovation, trust, instill bribery and favoritism and turn America into a third world country which practices socialism and denounces capitalism.
This socialist ignorance and reliance on faith it the same rhetoric that calls multitudes into cathedrals and synagogues and mosques listening to myths of fantasies that are not observable in reality and have a long history of conflict and failure. It is the epistemology of the abandoned mind. Clinging to misguided feelings of truth that is substantiated by multitudes of the like minded is only a road to a comfortable trip to destruction.
An awakening of America will the more than a leader with charisma, a mob of the unsettled not knowing what they want or a return to the past. It will require a mental effort and an attitude of a devotion to truth based on reason. The current crop of socialists won’t leap this hurdle as they are as misinformed about capitalism and socialism as they are about the workings ( or non workings ) of their own minds. The proof is in the lessons promoted in academia and the lack of objectivity in the field of journalism.
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