I firmly believe that a person's possessions, money, property, etc. belongs to that person and no one on principle has the right to tell them what to do with it or to force them to give it away just so that others can have a piece of the pie. I think that is wrong and that is what I'm talking about.
The early church written of in the book of Acts gave out of their generosity because God had been generous to them. They were not forced into giving to each other by some ruling dictate, they were each choosing to give out of the generosity of their hearts as they each felt compelled. Which is also my point in Acts 5 when the Apostle Peter states that it was Ananias's property and he could do whatever he wanted with it. He confronted Ananias because he lied about giving, not because he didn't give. There are numerous other Scripture references that I can think of that show it is not that we should be forced into giving and sharing equally, but that every person should decide for himself as he pleases what he/she wants to do with their own possessions. They should want to be so generous, but not forced to do it against their will. But, talking about the early church isn't exactly the same as talking about a civil, national government.
But, what exactly are we talking about here? What is socialism and how does it work, what are the advantages and disadvantages? Now talking about socialism can get very complicated, as there are different types of socialism and there's a difference between economic socialism and political socialism or national socialism. I've even heard the term democratic socialism. It's all good when everyone is getting something, but, the point that I've been trying to get at this whole time is that a system in which the government controls all businesses/companies is a system that is limiting personal freedom. The little guy gets brought up but the big guy gets shrunk down so that everyone is exactly at the same level. How is that fair? Is it not more fair to have equal opportunities, but to get what you actually earn? A system in which those who have more money by their own merits are forced into giving to those who have little money by their own merits is not fair. And a system in which those who are successful by their own merit have to be limited so that those who aren't by their own merit can be at the same level is not fair either. In society the majority people need to vote to agree to make things a certain way not be forced into it by a few elite.
It's the whole thing about limiting personal freedom, succession and property that I dislike. I don't want the government to end up controlling everything, especially a person's own property. I am against greed and I do not like people being robbed of their money and I do not like people being denied opportunities just because they're poor or something like that. But, is that because the system has failed or because people are corrupt? How does someone become poor or lose out on something, for example? If it's because they're being robbed of something or being discriminated against then yes of course that is wrong and that corruption needs to end. But, if it's of their own background or doing then that's their personal issue and other people shouldn't have to be forced to compensate for that. Everyone should have equal opportunities, but get something based on their own merits, their own work.
So what are we really against here? A corruption in the way things are being run or people being poor, for example? Is everyone supposed to make good money or make good grades in school and if they don't because that's just not happening then everyone else has to compensate for that? It doesn't make sense. It makes it seem like everyone is supposed to be living in some sort of Utopian state ideal or trying to do whatever it takes to make that happen and if it's not happening the bigger guy will get robbed - so to speak - in order to make that happen. That's as unfair and corrupt as the little guy getting robbed just because he's the little guy. But the reality is that not everyone is equal, not everyone has the same abilities, talents, connections, backgrounds, upbringings, beliefs, opportunities for whatever reasons. Everyone should have the right to make their own choices and have their own possessions as they please and give as they please.
When I think about the state of the nation, or even the world, and how corrupted and messed up it is, I feel a sense of hopelessness (not completely but somewhat) as if it is so bad that it's so hard to imagine that it can truly be fixed. There is hope, but I feel like there has to be such a major change and I don't know what it's going to take for people to make all of this happen. And it's not going to happen by constantly flip-flopping between political parties hoping that party will bring the "real change" whenever there's an election, because the problems always seem to be the same and they're never truly fixed no matter what party is in charge. I don't think that looking to the government to solve all our needs is the answer, but that to truly change things it all needs to start with turning to God primarily and I also think we as Americans need to get back to basics, get back to what our Founding Fathers intended for this nation.