"Socialism is the way to serfdom"

I was surprised when left children, or at least those who carried the idea of ​​socialism, voiced protest when there was a policy of a government that was considered authoritarian. The reason is, isn't authoritarianism a method of the socialist state? That way, those who defend socialism, or are in the left, should not need to protest when there is a government policy that is considered authoritarian. When they protest, it shows the contradiction of his thoughts.

Here, it may be necessary for us to understand again the difference between democratic systems applied by capitalist and socialist countries. In a capitalist country, their democratic system of government often finds the label "liberal democracy". This is because the ideology of liberalism that animates the lives of its people. Meanwhile, in socialist countries, their democratic system is "social-democracy".

Then, what's the difference? In capitalist countries, democracy is both a means and an end. As a means or a way, this has implications for the freedom of the people; freedom of opinion, expression, criticism, and even "insulting" his government. That is why, the life of the people of capitalist countries tends to be free, they are imbued with the principle of liberalism that values ​​individuals so much. Individuals are free to do everything to the extent that it does not harm other individuals: "I do not bother you, you do not bother me". As a goal, clearly, democratic societies are the ideals they want to pursue. From this, we found consistency between means 'ways' and ends "goals" for democracy and democratization: everything is in line.

Meanwhile, in socialist countries, democracy is merely placed as a goal, and not a means or a way. They do want a democratic society as the most complete ideals, but they believe, to realize that, sacrifices are needed "right now" to achieve them. In other words, the various freedoms of society must be "postponed first" to achieve complete freedom (read: perfect). That is why, socialist countries tend to exercise strict control over their citizens. What must be sacrificed "right now" is freedom of opinion, expression, criticism, let alone insult to government. This series of things is actually closely related to the concept of a controlled economy, which will be discussed later.

But the question is, until when will the strict control of the government continue? It was noted that in socialist-communist countries, oppression of the people continued until the fall of world communism in the late 1980s. When will the perfect democracy be realized? In fact, North Korea, which until this moment carries socialism, still maintains strict control over its citizens, and even tends to be repressive.

The mirror of the different controls between the capitalist and socialist state over its citizens is also seen through the economic life of its citizens. Capitalist countries tend to emphasize economic spontaneity, where markets are the dynamic drivers. All parties are free to compete for prosperity, while the state is only a referee or legislator who guarantees that freedom through various laws.

On the other hand, the economic life of socialist countries so emphasizes the importance of "planning". In fact, the term planning here is a substitute for "control", and it is entirely regulated by the central government - economic planning or control. This means that socialist citizens must carry out economic activities according to the rules set by the state. Excessive economic creativity is forbidden, even the country takes a much more dominant economic role than the people. Not surprisingly, this has actually led to a marked prosperity in a handful of government elites, inversely proportional to its poor population. That is why, Friedrich August von Hayek stated, "Socialism is the road to slavery".

Finally, as a reflection. In fact it became quite absurd to talk about ideology in the era that Daniel Bell called the "era of ideological death", and that is the era now. That is, there is not a single country in the world today that purely applies the ideology of capitalism, also socialism - or communism. All countries in the world have practiced "mixed ideology", which also means implementing a "mixed economy". In capitalist countries, this began when the Economic Depression of the 1930s began to implement Keynesian economics. Whereas in socialist-communist countries, it began when Deng Xiaoping carried out the economic restructuring of the PRC in the 1980s because he realized that socialism's economy would go bankrupt. Voila! Now the PRC is so capitalist and able to monopolize world trade through the free market.

In my opinion, you should not be too left, nor too right; it can cause heartache. Just mediocre ...