Socialism

Let me begin this by saying that I'm not very politically minded and I don't have answers to these questions yet, but some conversations I've had this week have caused me to question some stuff.

- Does socialism inhibit freedom? Social health care for example: If the government provides health care to you, they can dictate when you are and aren't eligible to receive certain services... a woman in China is only allowed to have one child and if she exceeds that number the government will likely require that she abort her pregnancy and be sterilized... I would not call that free.

- Does socialism encourage mediocrity? Socialism, as far as I understand it, attempts to put everyone on a more level playing field. What's the point of striving to be successful if everyone receives the same benefit? What's the point of working hard if you can reap the same benefit as those who do not work at all?

- Do our consumeristic ideals encourage us to buy into socialism? Think about this - Consumerism is about getting more for less, right? Consumerism asks the question, "Where can I get more for less?" Naturally, if we are already in this mindset we will probably be excited when someone comes along and says "I'll give you all this for nothing, and you can be just as good as everyone else!" However, are we so excited to get something for what seems like nothing that we forget about the implications it might have on our overall quality of life? ... What about taxes, housing, the number of children I have, the future of those children?

Here's my last question... and again, I have not thought through this completely:

- Is socialism antithetical to the message of the gospel? Jesus says "give up everything to follow me, you father, your mother, your riches. Leave your family and give what you have to the poor and follow me. Store up treasures in heaven" There are many more examples than the few I can think of off hand, but it seems that Jesus says that some will have a reward that is greater than others. This reward seems to be directly related to how much they gave up for the kingdom. Everyone is an heir and everyone can receive the saving blood of Jesus, but not all will enter into heaven. If Jesus was a socialist then what would be the point of even accepting him and trying to live for him? If Jesus were a socialist, wouldn't he have to bring into the kingdom even those who don't believe in him...

I really don't know... Maybe I am completely misunderstanding the premise of socialistic society...

I'd love to hear what you all have to say.