Winston Churchill, a man revered the world over like our own Nelson Mandela, put it quite well when he said, “Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy.

Its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery.” I will break these clauses apart and example the EFF and ANC for my post because well, it’s easier because I know where they stand unlike the DA.

Socialism is a philosophy of failure. In my context, that relates closely to the policies of the incumbent ANC, and certainly with those of the EFF. For example, the healthcare system in South Africa is in utter shambles.

I am one of those who argue that it’s better than nothing, but (of 8% of GDP), the return on investment is quite mediocre. And it gets worse: the Health Minister wants to further socialize health with a universal healthcare system.

Friends, the government, which is failing at managing the country’s health wants to further have a say over the pains and aches of our society with a system that (as in the USA) will eventually go bankrupt, costing taxpayers many billions to bailout.

This is quite common: imagine a big brand like a bank sharing pictures of cute kittens online in the hopes of getting likes and shares, etc. We (the people), then react accordingly, because we like cute kittens. These make us feel good about ourselves.

However, what has happened is that the bank has offered no value to its potential clients because, well you can’t really use your cat as collateral for a loan. Similarly, seeing a cat won’t change the fact that you can’t access credit because you are of low income.

These political parties do the same. Cheerleading the silliest of ideas like expropriating land without compensation and telling the citizenry that they will benefit. Sure we will benefit, but how sustainable is that in the world we live in?

But who cares, it makes me (the voter) feel good that the EFF is going to give me land, irrespective of the fact that I will now take the risk of failure, instead of a private institution which can better do that. This is the creed of ignorance in my view. We are either ill-informed, and/or don’t want to be well-informed.

When you look at South African DOMESTIC companies’ net income, the EFF and others calling for nationalisation and/or increased taxes, are in outright envy of the dividends and other gains made by shareholders, executives and employees.

It’s a place where the government, which receives taxes from these enterprises in various forms looks at what’s left for the other stakeholders, and drools at the pie.

Thus, legislations to increase corporate taxes on revenues that the state is unjustified to (by the ANC), and/or the complete devouring (nationalisation) of the pie (by the EFF) are nothing but envy.

The last part of Churchill’s statement is by far the most important. Its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery. At the failure of these overtly socialist policies, when hospitals are dysfunctional, you and me, rich or poor will be affected by an increasingly ill and dying population.

When the education system has failed, your sons and daughters will be affected by the the lack of understanding of themselves and the world beyond the township and the rurals, thereby demonising everything that is different from what he or she knows because of the lack of education.

When security services fail and crime is rampant, not only in the form of butchering innocents, corrective rape, etc., but crime in the form of corruption of elected representatives of the people, we will share in the misery.

I could go on and on, but ultimately, how then, after examining Churchill’s speech in a South African context, do you not see that an increasingly socialist state, where everything revolves around the swelling power of government, a corrupt government will you still vote for the proponents of this system. How do you not see that it is their way of consolidating power in the hands of the few.