In my last post I said you shouldn’t be like the socialists that want to change human behavior. Several wondered why I would say such a provocative thing on a marketing blog.
(Pictured in the USSR, I donate a new bell we made from a melted down artillery piece. It was the first bell put into a Russian cathedral since the Soviets stole bells from Orthodox churches to melt them into cannons.)
Simple. Marketing reaches over all borders and philosophies. Socialism and communism are based upon the public ownership of the means of production. State ownership of such things as banks, car companies, health care, etc. Problem is, it doesn’t work because it violates the laws of human behavior. It hopes and tries to legislate that people will NOT do something out of their own self interest. But, everyone works from the basis of their own self interest. It is counter to EVERY specie on Earth to first protect themselves from danger. That’s self interest.
I lived in England at the height of it's socialist push in the 1960's. I lived in France and watch what happened to the people there in the 1970's. And I spent 10 years doing business in the Soviet Union and Russia. Socialism destroys minds.
Deer’s hide, runaway or freeze instinctively to protect themselves. Mothers are sited as a departure from this. Mother’s in nature instinctively protect their new babies. But, once out of the nest virtually all species soon forget the off spring and fend for themselves. Why did mother’s protect the young? In animals it is instinct for the survival of the species by one that can defend taking care of several, and in some cases many, that are defenseless. Instinct is self interest. We’re doing what we must do.
For humans, communism and socialism demand that you ignore what is best for you and put it aside for the benefit of the state. Trouble is, the state also acts out of its self interest and if you don’t like it then the state has ways to crush you. It’s self preservation will trump you. Freedom is the casualty of socialism. Freedom is in everyone’s individual self interest. You do not like someone telling you what to do. You know that you know better than some faceless person in the capital deciding what’s best for you.
Socialism loves the Marxian maxim, “From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.” Clever but cruel. Who decides what your ability is? In a free market you and the market place do. In socialism someone else decides. Who decides what your need is? In a free market you take what you earn and determine how you’ll spend it. You may spend it on wants or needs. Your choice.
In the movie The Patriot, loosely based upon the life of the Swamp Fox Francis Marion who fought in the Revolutionary War. He serves in the local legislature and they’re trying to decide if they should vote to breakaway from England. Much is made of the tyranny of the king 3000 miles away deciding how they must live. Yet they all had their own bills locally telling others how to live. The Patriot states boldly to his fellow legislators, “I’m not sure which is worse. One tyrant 3000 miles away or 3000 tyrants one mile away.”
Thomas Jefferson wrote, “I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny imposed upon the mind of man."
When you decide what is best for other people; when you decide they need this more than their wants; when you decide what they ought to have and that they need to get educated to appreciate what you’re selling, you’ve entered the world of socialism where nothing works except in your image of how it ought to work. Socialists push legislation that people don’t want or doll it up so that it looks alluring but is ensnaring. They want what they want regardless of what you want. More than 80% of Americans like their own health care plans. Mandatory health care run by the government is disliked by 60% as of December, 2009. But the proponents know better than we do and are going to push it down everyone’s throats. I’ve seen the same thing with those who favor or oppose abortion. Steve Forbes once pointed out that until the majority of Americans favor a ban on abortion we have no business dictating to the majority, even if we find it morally repugnant. Freedom ought to rule even if it is inconvenient.
Good marketers believe in freedom because they have the confidence that their products has such high benefits no one could possibly resist wanting their product. They know no one owes them anything. No one MUST do something for them. Instead they learn: Irresistible, compelling, alluring, unavoidable, enticing because all are words of freedom... words marketers live by.
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