Marx

Less than 200 years ago Karl Marx introduced the concept of socialism. It was a time of great income disparity or as Dickens said, it was the best of times and the worst of times. Marx wanted to do something to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor. He wrote a simple pamphlet explaining his ideas and it spread quickly among the poor and downtrodden. His idea was to spread the wealth around and it led to two world wars and the death of hundreds of millions. This was followed up with 40 years of cold war during which time countries like North Korea, Cuba and Venezuela continued down the socialist path. What Marx failed to see was the industrial revolution and how the free market enabled the poor to purchase the goods they produced. When Henry Ford introduced the assembly line it allowed the people who made the cars to buy the cars. This concept carried over into a vast array of consumer goods and today 200 million Americans live in their own homes, a fact that would have astounded Marx. Free market capitalism is based on equal opportunity and socialism is based on equal results. A young women in congress, who has a much louder voice than a pamphlet, is now sounding the socialist clarion call and her ideas have the same appeal that they have had throughout history and her words should not be taken lightly.