Senior Fellow Yuri Maltsev recently lectured in Mauritius and was interviewed in Le Mauricien. Here is a portion loosely translated from the French original:
So what is the meaning of socialism in a globalized world dominated by the market economy ? In states that prefer socialism, living conditions deteriorate and abuses of human rights are observed. One has only to see Cuba and North Korea that have degenerated into bloody socialist monarchies because leaders can not trust anyone outside their families...the introduction of the market economy elsewhere, notably in China, has led to a reduction in the level of poverty and a better quality of life for the population.
Some people tend to cite Sweden and Finland as the country where socialism works . This is not true. None of these countries can not be considered as having practiced socialist or socialist policies. Socialism is government ownership and it is pretty small in Scandinavia . In the Soviet Union and Mao’s China , and while everyone were considered the property of the state. True socialism is synonymous with public slavery. So you think that socialism is an outdated notion today?
If this were the case, I would have chosen another topic for my presentation here . Unfortunately, it is clear that we do not learn the lessons of history . Despite all the crimes and lies of the Socialists, there are still many people in the world including Africa who still believe in socialism and use an appropriate tool to assert more power over others. These people , and there are many in the United States , ignore the bloody history of socialism and trying to launder the hideous crimes against humanity committed by the socialists. Do not you really believe that socialism is capable of making the difference to capitalism? The only thing that socialism can produce is an abundance of poverty.
Sir Winston Churchill once said : “ The inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries. “ The market economy encourages entrepreneurship so that socialism discourages . For an economy to succeed, it must be based on equality of opportunity, the rule of law ... F. A Hayek noted that “ A claim for equality of material position can be put only by a government with totalitarian powers .” You can see the statement concretely in many countries around the world so that our efforts to reduce inequality Have led to an ever-expanding government and has vast regulatory state depriving people of human rights and civil liberties .
Read the whole thing.