Many, including its inventors, have tried to define Socialism.
The English writer, Bernard Levin, for example, wrote this in The Times of 24 August, 1983:
Deep in the psyche of the Left there is a belief, in itself by no means ignoble, that power is corrupting, and that the Left was put on Earth to resist corruption and to purify. In office, the Left must rub against the inevitable contamination of reality, where bills have to be paid and Christmas comes but once a year; in opposition, they can dream of a world in which water - or rather milk and honey - flows uphill and the sun never ceases to shine.
An abbreviated definition occurred to me this morning. Given that it is a defining characteristic of Socialism that you always have someone to blame for any perceived wrong or ill - the Government, the previous Government, conservatives, market forces, your father, your mother, your brother ... in short, anyone except yourself - I gently suggest the following, with apologies to Erich Segal (Love Story):
Socialism means never having to say you're sorry.
It's a pity you have to die, darling, but the moment you fell under the wheels of the economic juggernaut which is venture capitalism I knew you were a goner. I'll be voting Labour in 2008, I promise.Attached Image (viewed 100 times):
|
