The False Collectivism of Liberal Progressives

Collectivism is a principle foundation of all left-wing ideologies. The Utopian idea that if we all agreed and worked toward a common goal we'd make a worker's paradise.

Or some such nonsense.

The point is that collectivism within the progressive framework is a red herring. It's a false ideal used to bludgeon folks into submission via groupthink, ideology, and indoctrination.

A good example of what I mean comes from my current reading - a book called The Forgotten Man by Amity Shlaes. This book is a deeply interesting review of the Great Depression and what people were actually thinking AT THE TIME. Not what people decided to think after events unfolded.

What do I mean? Well, like Jonah Goldberg's book "Liberal Fascism", Shlaes references the publications, newspaper articles, and government policies during the Great Depression as they were published so that you can easily see what the players were thinking then. You read about the events as they happened with citations, not an overview that interprets happened.

I found this moment illuminating. It deals with a gent called R. C. Tugwell, an economist with strong collectivist leanings (he went with others to the USSR to meet with Stalin). He and some like-minded economists published a college textbook on Economics with pictures and captions to illustrate their points.

One picture was of a skyscraper and the caption that states, "Collective effort built this; the inference is inescapable; but we sometimes attempt to avoid the logical further inference that more collective effort is needed. Sometimes we say that what we need is more individual enterprise. No individual ever built a skyscraper."

What a load of horsehooey!

If no individual ever built a skyscraper, then no collective ever built one either. There is ALWAYS a leader, a decision maker, a financier, an architect. Always.

Whether in a capitalist society or a collectivist society, someone has to make decisions and be responsible for them. The only difference is that in a capitalist society, the decision maker can also profit financially from the risks he or she takes, while in a collectivist society the decision maker will only be punished for failure and gain nothing from success.

No "individual enterprise" succeeds without workers but no random group of workers can succeed without an individual leader.

There is an "I" in TEAM. It's the "I" of Coach and the "I" of Team Captain. To claim otherwise is ignorance beyond bliss and well into oblivion.

And that is the big lie about liberalism, progressivism, and/or collectivism. It's never just a bunch of workers united. There is always a decider, a leader, a decision maker who emerges and leads. And he builds his leadership into power by convincing others they will make out better with him or her than with anyone else, by building a groupthink that supports him without question - often in fear.

Capitalism and conservatives have leaders too. But followers can disagree with their leaders, can go somewhere else. Followers of a practitioner of "individual enterprise" tend to make money, even the lowliest follower.

The same can not be said of liberal elites who expect blind faith from their followers while enjoying all the benefits of elitism.

At least, you can disagree with your capitalist boss, but woe betide the folks who speak up under collectivist rule. Remember the Gulag? Don't think Putin has forgotten.

When liberals start demanding that we all agree, they are a engaging in false collectivism. When liberals say we should all sacrifice but makes no sacrifice themselves, they are engaging in false collectivism. When liberals demand we accept the low life while they live the high life, they are engaging in false collectivism.

Engage in capitalism. You'll make out a lot better.