Today I will conclude this series with my third installment of the Economic Implications of Socialism.  What follows is not verbatim from Dr. Maltsev, but paraphrased via my notes.

The last major component of socialism in the Soviet Union was what Dr. Maltsev called “Monopoly of Thought”.  This was in essence a mirror image of what a business monopoly was.  There was no market place of ideas; you had no choice in what you wanted to believe in.  The Soviet government would show people only what they wanted to show.  Many communications from outside the country were jammed, therefore forcing you to believe what they were saying.  After all, the Soviet government could not allow people to learn about the wonderful freedoms of the west and the seemingly infinitely higher quality of life than that of the Soviet Union.

Many schools and universities would serve as brain washing institutions.  Even the newspapers lied about everything; after a while people began to secretly distrust them.  This eventually led to the creation of underground newspaper publishing.  The Soviet propaganda was so powerful that they even portrayed Jesus as an evil con-man.  Through the use of fear and propaganda, the Soviet Union was able to stay in power.  Economically, there was no way the country could sustain itself.  The very principles behind Economics foster trade and specialization.  The Soviet Union was not a very arable country; they had limited resources and could not produce everything alone.  Coupling that fact with the gross misallocation of resources within the country; the Soviet Union was looking at one of two options: admit failure and reorganize as a government, or subject themselves to Western demands for resources.

When the Soviet Union finally disbanded, the country was in ruins, millions have died, and many were poor.  However, as Russia is still not a Capitalist society, it is moving in that direction.  Unfortunately many obstacles still stand in the way.  People like Vladimir Putin and his advisors were former proud KGB officers.  Under him many areas in Russian were forced to be condemned by government.  One example would be Aral Sea.  This once salt water sea was destroyed by central planners hungry for resources.  Today it is a salt bowl with violent salt storms that kill many people in the area every year.

After reading my three part series on Soviet Socialism, I hope you can see the many problems that exist under this system and why it is important for the United States to adopt as little of these philosophies as possible.  Sure, it is a warm and comforting notion that everyone is equal and should be treated as such; however it is untrue.  Each and every one of us is unique; some of us are great at math, others are good with their hands.  Some of us love to teach, while others are introverts.  There is nothing wrong with any of this, the simple is, we are all different, and our paths in life should represent that difference and allow us to thrive in whatever context we feel fits us.  Subjecting everyone to the same professions and quality is just not real.