Monday, October 25, 2010

Wisdom of the day...

Been out of town, friends. Back now, with some wisdom for today...

Winston Churchill, on socialism:

"Socialism is a philosophy of failure,
the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery."

~~

...'nuff said.
~~~

11 comments:

Brooke said...

Churchill had great views on socialism and on Islamism.

Danny Wright said...

This hearkens back to a day when people knew who they were, and they knew who their enemies were; a time when half the world, it seemed, had set itself against the misery a socialism (except for a few). I'm wondering at this point if we really won the cold war, or its front simply moved to washington.

Susannah said...

Indeed, Brooke. Would that we could remember...

Thanks for coming by.

Go vote! ;)

Susannah said...

Dan~ I'm wondering at this point if we really won the cold war, or its front simply moved to washington.

Very interesting thought. You know what 'they' say, that the communists bled out into the world after the 'wall fell' & went underground...and are now rearing their heads as the environmental/green movement...thus, those in Wash...I think you're onto something.

Thanks for swinging by.

cube said...

Great quote. Must be why the big Zero got rid of Churchill's bust from the Oval Office.

Susannah said...

Cube~ "...got rid of Churchill's bust..."
I think you're EXACTLY right.

Thanks for stopping by.

Joe said...

Churchill was one of my heros. Not without fault, but a hero, nonetheless.

Always On Watch said...

No wonder that BHO got rid of the Churchill bust in the White House.

Craig said...

Hi Susannah,

How is one of my favorite righties? I have had the urge to bug you guys since Z banned me for acting like beamish. Oh well, it's her blog.

I think it might be important to make a distinction between Socialism (central planning) and Social Democracy (a basic safety net provided by all and administered by govt.). The extent to which govt. is involved has been a debate since the Founding. It's usually expressed as the Jeffersonian or Hamiltonian interpretation of "provide for the general welfare" clause in the Constitution.

It's a debate worth having. Just branding people (Obama, lefties, Dems, etc.) Socialists doesn't do much to advance the debate.

As for Churchill, he championed National health care in the U.K. Here is what he said to the members of Royal College of Physicians in London:

The discoveries of healing science must be the inheritance of all. That is clear. Disease must be attacked, whether it occurs in the poorest or the richest man or woman simply on the ground that it is the enemy; and it must be attacked just in the same way as the fire brigade will give its full assistance to the humblest cottage as readily as to the most important mansion. Our policy is to create a national health service in order to ensure that everybody in the country, irrespective of means, age, sex, or occupation, shall have equal opportunities to benefit from the best and most up-to-date medical and allied services available.

He's a hero.

Jim said...

Craig, don't confuse me with stuff that blows the argument out of the water.

Susannah said...

Joe~ "not without fault" You're right; as Craig is apparently trying to illustrate for us. ;)

AOW~ "Bye, bye Churchill!!" says Barak Hussein Obama...

Craig~ Glad you found your way back. Things were getting a little thick @ Z's, no?
"Just branding people (Obama, lefties, Dems, etc.) Socialists doesn't do much to advance the debate."
...if the shoe fits...

Re: Churchill - I don't pretend to be a Master of British history, I just know this quote makes perfect sense. And what I said in my most recent post about taking people's quotes out of the tone, timbre, context of their full body of work likely applies here.

(I'd have to ask my father-in-law about your quote of Churchill. He's the one who really knows everything there is to know about that stuff...)