Gun Culture

Friday, June 03, 2005

The Cold War - did we really win?

Common perception is that the cold war was won by ‘The West’ following the collapse of the Soviet Union.  In some ways this is clearly a correct assessment, the soviet economy fell on its arse and the introduction of free market forces (to some extent anyway) has lead to an increase in personal and economic freedom in the old block counties.
War won right?
Maybe not so much.  If we view the ‘war’ as a face off between western powers and soviet block then the western powers came off on top.  No question.  However if we view the ‘war’ as being between the ideology of free market forces and communism then I think perhaps some reevaluation might be necessary.
Certainly in Blighty to promote pure free market forces is akin to promoting child porn - something that is so obviously wrong and evil as to require no further discussion.  It is a given that wage earners should pay as much of their earnings to the state machine as the state should require of them in order to pay out for non-wage earners or for unsolicited services.
In other words everything you own (and of course your person) belongs to the state and you are only allowed to keep what is yours at the pleasure of the state.
Doesn’t sound much like freedom to me.
We are required to pay top dollar for third rate services that we haven’t asked for and in some cases that we do not receive - NHS dental treatment does not exist in my area, but I don’t get a rebate on NI ‘contributions’.
It is accepted that it is state business what drugs I use, how many portions of fruit’n’veg I eat, when I can buy alcohol (indeed how much I should pay for it), when an independent retailer should open for business and a whole myriad of ever increasing regulations on individual freedoms.
It is illegal in Blighty to pay for a vote, yet this is precisely what happens every election time.  Under the Conservatives we saw headline grabbing ‘tax-cuts’ at the pre-budget elections, under the Labour Party we have new handouts and social engineering tax systems.  The people vote themselves bread and circuses and the wealth generators are expected to divvy up for them.
Essentially what we experience is institutional socialism.  Or as I prefer to call it Communism Lite.
If communism was manifestly wrong in the soviet block, then why do we seem so keen to have it here?