Socialism, Slavery, and Sin

"There will be a day when you will wish that you had done a little evil to do a greater good."
--Sybilla (Kingdom of Heaven)

Socialism is an economic system that prohibits private ownership of property. Property is said to be 'socialized,' meaning that whatever is produced is expropriated from the producers and pooled together in the public domain and then redistributed by a group of central planners.

The economic problems posed by socialism are well known with Mises (1951) delivering perhaps the most decisive critique.

Here, Prof Williams considers the moral argument against socialism. On the most basic of levels, socialism is theft. Property of one person is confiscated for the benefit of another.

Because property is confiscated on an ongoing basis, then socialism can be seen as a form of slavery. Slavery is "the forceful use of one person to serve the purposes of another."

As Prof Williams observes, various euphemisms are employed to cloak the evil. Social Security, Medicare, transfer payments, contributing, fairness, social contract, common good, democracy, et al.

Many people see socialism as a good thing because it can have good ends (helping people). Of course, good ends do not justify evil means. As WEW observes: "Reaching into one's own pocket to assist his fellow man is noble and worthy of praise. Reaching into another's pocket to assist one's fellow man is despicable and worthy of condemnation."

With the commandment "Thou shalt not steal" as a backdrop, Christians on the road to truth must conclude that socialism is sinful.