Socialism Does NOT Work | Theodore Dalrymple | Oxford Union

mr. president ladies and gentlemen I in turn will point out what I think this side of the house is under no obligation to prove and that is that no system other than socialism shall we say feudalism or slavery or primitive hunter-gatherer that we see in so many parts of Great Britain or or even the corrupt corporatism of contemporary Britain fails to solve the problems that socialism is allegedly the solution to all we have to do is to show that socialism does not solve the problems that it allegedly sells and it does so it fails to do so because of its very intrinsic nature there's something contradictory to its claims that prevents it from producing the benefits that are claimed for it now the definition of socialism I will use is that of the Oxford English Dictionary and it's the only definition really I think that is worth debating a theory and it says that socialism is a theory or system of social organization based on state or collective ownership and regulation of the means of production distribution and exchange for the common benefit of all members of society and that is the same ladies and gentlemen mr. president we're not debating social democracies such as Sweden or Denmark which maintain their generous social provision by a very efficient private-sector economy let us turn then to this socialism in which the means of production etc are allegedly organized for the benefit of all members of society the first thing to notice is that all members of any society may not agree what is beneficial certainly to them this is not possible and here I speak from experience is not even possible in a marriage let in a let alone in a society of many millions in other words conflict over desirable ends is irreducible except for an anchorite in the syrian desert subsisting on locusts and honey so the very idea of socialism is absurd from the start you can only impose theoretical absurdity by force if we turn to so those societies in which socialism as I defined it and as I say is the only way worthwhile to define it was put into practice namely the communist countries that are now almost non socialist with the exception of Cuba and North Korea there are no advertisements for socialism and I hope I don't have to rehearse the historical record of those societies which has been almost universally disastrous from the first and from every possible angle the record could be summarized as millions dead freedom unknown and nothing to show show for it the reasons for the failure were intrinsic to the theory on which the practice was based it was not just because a theory was applied wrongly but people who were apply applying this theory were somehow foolish or weak or so on I won't go into the economic inefficiency entailed under socialism by the virtual abolition of the pricing mechanism and the replacement of the impersonal allocation by price by allocation by political influence which is obviously far more conducive to tyranny let me just remark instead on something that I think is so obvious that it takes considerable intellectual effort to avoid thinking about it and it requires training in order to be able to avoid thinking about it when socialists talk glibly of organizing the economy the organization of the economy for the benefit of all there must be some organizer for the benefit of all some philosopher king or kings who will do that organization there are the organized and there are the organizers and not much in between and so there's no freedom no spontaneity and it is not in my view coincidental that not much in the way of innovation or invention ever arose in any socialist state tyranny and shortage both organized and disorganized is the natural result and were mitigated only by jokes on the one hand and black marketeering on the other which was the re the reestablishment of a market human nature being what it is the organizers do not and will never work for the benefit of everyone with selfless indifference to their own personal advantage I once worked in a socialist country in Africa Tanzania where millions of peasants had been moved off of course by force from their land and herded into collectivized villages for the benefit of everyone apparently and to the hosannas of socialists around the world in short order the country in which 90% of the population were peasants and there was no shortage of land could not even feed itself let alone produce anything for export indeed by far its largest expert export was requests for emergency foreign aid but you could tell the members of the organising party the party of the revolution the trauma charm a pin doozy and you could tell them very simply by their girth they were fat and the peasants were thin we on this side of the house do not have to claim that man is only a selfish beast and inevitably acts red in tooth and claw in his own private interest we do not believe that no society has ever been like that socialists however tend to think that that is what people are like left to themselves which is why they want to dragoon them in their own in the interests of society as a whole let me remind you of the opening words of the Theory of Moral Sentiments by a man not often known for his socialist sentiment namely Adam Smith how selfish so ever man may be supposed there are evidently some principles in his nature which interest him in the fortune of others and render their happiness necessary to him though he derives nothing from it except the pleasure of seeing it this is from the the profit if you like of economic freedom it does not follow however from the fact that all of the people are altruistic some of the time and some of the people are altruistic all of the time that all of the people can be altruistic all of the time which is what socialism requires for it to work it never can be so and therefore socialism does not and cannot work socialists in my view have always been and are fantasies Marx thought that when under socialism the division of labor was abolished society would regulate the general production and thus make it possible for me to do one thing today and another tomorrow to hunt in morning to fish in the afternoon to rear cattle in the evening criticized after dinner just as I have in mind without ever becoming hunter fisherman Shepherd or critic there is scarcely mr. president a religious fantasy ha so absurd and you might as well make Hogwarts the blueprint for British education mr. president socialism does not work because it cannot work [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Music]

Channel: OxfordUnion

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Rating: 4.7071633 out of 5

Keywords: Socialism Does NOT Work, Theodore Dalrymple, Oxford Union, Socialism, Does, Not, Work, Theodore, Dalrymple, Oxford, Union, Writer, Philosopher, Left Wing, Politics, Ideology, Freedom, Theory, Organise Economy, Africa, Tanzania, Socialist, Society, Collectivist, Peasents, Poverty, Economy, Deficit, Tax Rates, Equality, Communism, Wealth, Rich, Poor, Failed, Social, Britain, UK, Margaret Thatcher, Argument, Opposition, Proposition, Oxford Union Society, Oxford University, University, Debates, Debating, Interview

Id: Z-SdftH0mfA

Length: 9min 15sec (555 seconds)

Published: Wed Dec 18 2013

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Video Submitted by /u/civic95:

In /r/conservatives:

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-SdftH0mfA

It's sad to see people mindlessly parrot talking points in the manner that you are, and it's frustrating because you legitimise a dangerous and populist ideology in the process.

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Original Comment: /r/conservatives/comments/8zv7bu/what_is_democratic_socialism/e2z5efw/