Socialism is a distortion, in a collectivist direction, of human beings’ natural need for familial connection with others. But socialism and the family are incompatible. The family requires independence from governmental interference in order to flourish, and parents know its needs better than government officials can. Meanwhile, the breakdown of the traditional family leads to greater need for state assistance. The ethos of self-gratification that weakens commitment to the family also leads to increased desire for services from the state. Hence it is no accident that, historically, advocacy of socialism has always tended to go hand in hand with hostility to the traditional family structure. Anyone opposed to socialism should defend the traditional family and anyone concerned to defend the traditional family should oppose socialism.
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Satan VS the family…socialism is just an external symptom of the devil's works!
Socialism should of always stayed contained within the family unit and marriage!
Many socialist families competing in a free market with minimal government is the ideal society!
Unlike many specialized political theorists, Dr. Feser has managed to elucidate carefully a general and proper definition of socialism. Thank you, Professor, for all your great insights and thank you Heritage Foundation for hosting such a brilliant mind.
You filled in some gaps for me from the chaos of society today and the forceful need of some to make everyone the same. Extremely logical. Thank you! Now I will be able to explain this better. As you say, people often find themselves helpless because they have no family, There are those behind the scenes who have to bring America down to accomplish their goal which is globalism. They will never stop. It is their religion.
The only thing that could have made this lecture better would have been if Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Rashida Tlaib were in attendance…if only for the exquisite schadenfreude which would have resulted if they tried arguing with Prof. Feser during the Q & A.
It's Feser as in fade
@The Heritage Foundation.
I would recommend you add Prof. Edward Feser's name to either the title, or in the description, so that this video can be quickly retrieved when someone does a YouTube search for Edward Feser.
To paraphrase Pope Pius XI in Quadragesimo Anno, socialism is a world view which posits as the chief end of man the production, for public ownership, of as much material wealth as possible, as efficiently as possible.
Can’t wait for president sanders in 2020 and president Ocasio Cortez in either 2024 or 2028. Watching the heritage foundation shaking in their boots brings tears to my social democratic eyes.😪
Is there a way to get this transcript I would like to read it because he speaks quickly?
Starts @4:40
Trust me I talk with many on the left and we are indeed in favor of socialism. Most of the anti gun stuff you hear on the left is blown out of proportion. We love guns, without guns how would we be able to confiscate rich peoples wealth to pay for our socialist programs? Get ready for president and democratic socialist Bernie Sanders and soon to be senator Alexandria Ocasio Cortez. We will be using the principles of modern monetary theory to deficit spend into oblivion, devaluing our currency and exporting massive inflation to the rest of the world while generously giving large welfare programs to our citizens at others expense.
Good talk if you ignore that he confuses liberalism with socialism.
Dr Feser will not admit this owing to his Catholic faith: the fact is that non egalitarian Socialism in Nordic nations works for three simple reasons: racial homogeneity, non predatory practices ensuring fair and equitable outcomes, relatively high IQs. To this extent, it is not unlike National Socialism. Christ, Himself, was a racial Socialist.
This is making me think of Orwell's 1984.
Don't know if it was just my device or service or what but the video has annoying stoppages. Great lecture besides that.
Just described Scotland to a tee
[Manchester] Liberals (now called Libertarians) like myself don’t even want any welfare state whatsoever
wonderful talk – well presented and articulate. I can't think of a single sentence that was inaccurate or untrue.
I am a Socialist and I enjoyed this video, unlike most of my American counterparts I am interested to hear what the other side has to say.
We need David Bentley Hart give his opinion on this matter.
Ed doesn't understand socialism
Starts at 4:40
Wow! Just wow! Parents in a socialist society are just friends with benefits and the local administrators of public policy for their children.
Great talk. Edward Feser is a great Philosopher and while I don't always agree with him I can still say he is a vastly important Scholar for the modern age.
The Problem is that religion isn't profitable. What use does a Capitalist CEO have for a religon that at it's very core is anti consumerism. The issue is that Captialism ends up eating out it's own foundation. Traditional values get in the way of profit so therefore traditionalism must go. On the contrary socialism seems to be very profitable
what Ed Feser and many Christians don't realize is that liberal ideology and capitalism go hand-in-hand. When liberalism does fail, you usually end up with fascism. A powerful state working in the interest of either a few corporations, or a few aristocrats, or a ruthless dictator backed by cronies who themselves profit from the economic system. But you will never get the type of christian society under capitalism because christian values are fundamentally antithetical to capitalism. Capitalism values acting in your own self-interest, individualism, and only values collectivizing when it serves to feed the economic machine (ex. in the case of mega-corporations and monopolies and whatnot. They are collectives of sorts). Ed feser is a fool if he thinks that things like the sexual revolution weren't at least in large part a byproduct of the relations under capitalism.
It is hard for me to see socialism or capitalism. All I can see is free market or forced economy. Democratic government or authoritarian to totalitarian government. Charitable people and selfish people.
Does anyone has the link to this other talks, in the same series, on problems of socialism ?
Thank you! Dr. Feser put in to clear language within my own thought has been more instinctive and inchoate.