Socialism: perpetual childhood as a political project
Socialism keeps citizens in a state of perpetual childhood: they give up responsibility and become dependent on the state. An analysis of an uncomfortable thesis.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
Socialism and the eternally underage citizen
Socialism does not promise to emancipate the citizen: it keeps them in childhood. The metaphor of the child the state must protect runs through political debate with a force not seen in decades. But the issue is not merely rhetorical: some argue that the West became massively infantilized after 1945 and, above all, after the fall of communism in 1991.
The renunciation of responsibility as the core of the problem
The harshest diagnosis does not stop at social protection. It points to a psychological foundation: the refusal to take responsibility for negative outcomes. As long as citizens do not bear the cost of their own decisions, they will be treated as minors. Far from emancipating them, the welfare state would entrench that state of minority.
Paternalism cuts across the spectrum, even if not everyone sees it
The interesting thing is that infantilism is not the exclusive preserve of the left. There are also right-wingers who expect the state to sort out their lives. The difference is often merely cosmetic: the same child with a different pacifier.
The qualified prediction: the state will keep growing and citizens will keep delegating. Unless an external shock of sufficient magnitude forces self-reliance, the eternal child citizen has plenty of rope left.
Socialism does not promise to emancipate the citizen: it keeps them in childhood. The metaphor of the child the state must protect runs through political debate with a force not seen in decades. But the issue is not merely rhetorical: some argue that the West became massively infantilized after 1945 and, above all, after the fall of communism in 1991.
The renunciation of responsibility as the core of the problem
The harshest diagnosis does not stop at social protection. It points to a psychological foundation: the refusal to take responsibility for negative outcomes. As long as citizens do not bear the cost of their own decisions, they will be treated as minors. Far from emancipating them, the welfare state would entrench that state of minority.
Paternalism cuts across the spectrum, even if not everyone sees it
The interesting thing is that infantilism is not the exclusive preserve of the left. There are also right-wingers who expect the state to sort out their lives. The difference is often merely cosmetic: the same child with a different pacifier.
The qualified prediction: the state will keep growing and citizens will keep delegating. Unless an external shock of sufficient magnitude forces self-reliance, the eternal child citizen has plenty of rope left.
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Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (11 replies).
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