High Moral Ground
Wednesday, February 14, 2001
It is inspiring to see the young demonstrators renew the call for a caring and sharing world. God knows, we are still far from it. But let’s not waste their good will by simply pitying their ignorance.
If we elders, who have lived through a little history, explain a few basic facts to them, they can draft more realistic positions, gain in credibility, and hopefully make a difference – and not just a noise.
Socialist movements take the high moral ground on looking after the underdog. They equate profit with greed. They attack capitalism, for example the McDonalds chain of fast food restaurants, because it is a mightily successful, profit-seeking commercial enterprise.
But McDonalds is a wonderful means of feeding the working class, when compared with queuing all night in the hope of a loaf of bread at the state-run food dispensaries of the Soviet Union. Or the death by starvation of millions in Russia and China under a state-run food industry.
The moral of the story is that the factions that make the biggest noises about caring for the underdog are not necessarily the ones that deliver. Many things in this world do not live up to their own description.
Teach the young what we have learnt about ideological propaganda. Teach them to look at what is done rather than what is said.
Philip O'Carroll