Public Property and Liberty Lost

I don't know where to start
Or where to stop
My luck's like a button
I can't stop pushing it
--General Public

If you're a socialist, then how do you advance your agenda in a society that values private property rights but also tolerates some public ownership? Simple. Gradually push for more public ownership in order to gain more control and authority over people's lives.

The possibilities of this strategy have been well demonstrated over the past months. A primary justification for the coronavirus lockdowns was that we needed to 'flatten the curve' so that hospital capacity would not be overwhelmed. Trends toward 'socialized medicine' have increasingly framed hospitals as utilities that must be managed as open access public goods rather than as private enterprises subject to natural laws of supply and demand.

Consequently, rather than a dynamic system where hospital managers would work in creating more supply (e.g., flexible capacity) in the face of a spike in forecast demand and having the pricing system ration scarcity, socialist planners were able to convince citizens that everyday behavior had to be forcibly restricted to preserve a static institution incapable of dynamic response.

And people have largely bought into it.

The more property placed in public sphere, the greater the loss of liberty.