LETTER: On socialism and communism

Karl Marx described socialism as the transition, the necessary scaffolding that leads to communism. He said that socialism is the road, not the destination, that leads to communism. Communism is the end of that road, and communism is the completion of socialism. Lenin called socialism the first and necessary phase of communism. Members of the Nazi Party (The National Socialists) hated communists — and even killed communists — but they shared the same foundational belief that the individual is disposable and the state defines the truth. Rights are not given by God but by political power.

The issue is not that the label is technically perfect. The issue is that the philosophical DNA is exactly the same. Collectivism over the individual, state control over personal agency, central planning over free will and human nature can be engineered by political force.

You can argue forever where socialism ends and communism begins. The road always begins with the state controlling your choices. Your choice of energy, money, your children’s education, your speech, your job and what car you drive.