The History of Socialism

The family had always been the basic economic unit and families had gathered into clans and tribes. But personal property had always been reserved for the family. Leaders emerged within the clans and further mergers created Empires and property rights evaporated.

Most Empires throughout history have failed because of government overspending and population under-producing. The Roman Empire (100 BC – 476 AD) couldn’t pay their soldiers.

For thousands of years, serfs and slaves suffered under monarchies and experienced no end of abuse. Refusal to submit to the monarchs resulted in death or imprisonment.  There had always been opportunities for talented individuals who did useful things to advance from serfdom to become a prosperous vendor to the King. Production was provided by crafts like masonry, metalwork and science. Merchants were growing their wealth through trade.  By 1400 the merchant and craftsman classes were growing to form the middle class.

When the merchant-based private sector became wealthier, they became a target.

Our current threat of big government socialism was inspired by the beginnings of the Industrial Revolution. We had been successful developing inventions and this knowledge culminated in the 1600s.  The Steam Engine was developed in the 1700s. We were ready to apply new science in the 1800s and it resulted in factories for mass production.

A Christmas Carol was written by Charles Dickens in 1843 and describes an unhappy miser named Ebenezer Scrooge, whose spirit of generosity was restored.

The Communist Manifesto was written by Karl Marx in 1948 and proposed that the working poor should embrace a “political solution” to end their plight.

Oliver Twist was written by Charles Dickens in 1867 and described the poverty and child labor common in England at the time.

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader