Dr. Martin Hash Podcast

Government's function is leadership & oversight, and nothing makes people more unhappy then when Government seems to give preference to one person or group over another, therefore, by definition, Government is socialist because it must look out for the best interests of everyone. In contrast, during everyday American life, because we are a Liberty nation any question of priority always defaults to individual first. Not only were we raised with that ideology but it seems to work remarkably well in almost all circumstances, but there are a handful of activities that are important to the citizens of our nation that are best socialized, meaning the needs of the group supersede the wants of the individual.

There are activities performed by government that could theoretically be privatized, but for some reason should not be. The most obvious activity socialized by government is, of course, defense. I can think of nothing more dangerous to a country's survival as a democracy than a private military. Then there are some things that simply cannot be left in private hands because the survival of all of us depend on them, like the environment. And there is the American mythology that we should all get equal opportunity, making us believe that everyone should access to & equal treatment under The Law. Healthcare is a natural monopoly because people don't have a legitimate Market Choice whether to receive it not, how much, which, when, or what. And no natural Market Forces exist to maintain a social safety net, that is almost purely a charitable function that The People of America have chosen to do, and so Government has to do it

The number of things socialized should remain small & must meet the stringent requirement of not being subject to normal market pressures. Indeed, socialism is a slippery slope because any amount of socialism encourages control-seekers to propose more. The last thing I want is confused people to use limited socialism as an excuse to decide what is best for me, therefore government expansion must be highly scrutinized, and not allowed into areas that could be performed by the private sector.