Collectivism is the foundation for socialism, progressivism, communism, fascism and most liberal based regimes. Collectivism can be found in conservative causes, although not as a foundation block. Collectives have a top down structure, giving individuals at the bottom few meaningful choices. Basically collectivism is the concept where the whole is greater than the parts. Which should be a hint why it fails.
One of the earliest Collective societies in America was the Mayflower Compact. They agreed there would be no individual ownership of farm land, pastures, or arbors. That the food produced belonged equally to all. Similarly craftsman producing shoes, clothing, and other items would be available for use by all the group. The outcome over time was to exile the lazy, allow private ownership of the agricultural lands, and allow craftsman to barter their wares.
One of the last collective societies to fail was the USSR. As with the Pilgrims, food production is a basic need. As the USSR moved into the 1960's their collective farms could not produce enough to feed their people. Outright mass death by starvation was avoided because of crime. Death related to food distribution crimes was so pervasive it was a statistical category.
The farmers on the collective farms were all allowed to have personal gardens for their own use. These small plots were so productive the farmers raised their standard of living by selling excess production on the black market. Their success caused the USSR to rethink their farm collectives. They allowed farmers to increase their personal holding by fivefold with the government buying the excess rather than confiscation or allowing distribution through the black market.
The recently passed Health Care Reform it is a collective. The system as designed focuses on the whole, not the individual.
No comments:
Post a Comment