Cultural Survival Skills

Why Progressivism/Socialism (Communism in Disguise) Aways Fails and Always Will: A Psychological Perspective

The answer is clear and simple. The psychological contingencies of positive reinforcement (rewards), punishment (painful consequences) and extinction (no rewards) that are governmentally imposed are ass-backward and they produce incompetent and self-defeating behavior patterns within populations.

This assertion can be illustrated with two basic psychological principles, from among others.

The first is the Law of Effect. This Law states that behavior (a great deal of very important human behavior) is controlled by its consequences.

The Second is the Law of Least Effort. The Law of least effort states that animals and humans tend to learn to obtain their rewards, or escape and avoid pain, in the least effortful ways available.

When the rewards of the have-more people who have worked very hard for delayed rewards, behaved responsibly and avoided the many human foibles (immediately rewarding sex, drugs, alcohol, other self-destructive and irresponsible behaviors, that do immediate or delayed damage) are confiscated through taxation and given freely (i.e., non­-contingently) to the have-nots…..the have-nots will increase in frequency. This will occur simply because the government has reinforced the population’s have-not behavior patterns and this will predictably strengthen the have-not behavior patterns and lead to more have-not people applying to the government for free rewards. Modeling and imitation and direct reinforcement of have-not behavior patterns will predictably increase the future frequency of such behaviors within the population.

Also, increasing numbers of new people will join the have-not undereducated, low socioeconomic class because the have-nots are more likely to reproduce at higher rates than the have-more people. This outcome is dramatically increased when the government pays various material rewards to those have-nots for having children that they cannot afford.

It is just this simple, when the wealth-maker’s money is given to the wealth-takers for simply having more babies, they predictably have more babies than the wealth-makers do. The wealth-makers are just too busy getting educated, working in professions and businesses, making money and behaving responsibly to match the wealth-takers reproductive rates.

Now the plot thickens again. The basic psychological principles of Modeling and Imitation insure that the majority of children raised by have­-not/wealth­-taking parents will watch and learn to think, believe and to behave much as their parents do.

Within the span of several generations, this complex and spreading vicious cycle of bad behavioral contagion will shift the socio/political demographics and power to a rapidly growing proportion of the have-not/wealth­-taking population. Unfortunately, this undereducated group will believe almost anything they are told by their political curators. After-all the have-not/wealth-takers are under-educated in reading, writing, math, science, history and economics, etc., they have been taught by their families and the government to behave in these ways.  On what basis would anyone expect otherwise?

Initially, the political outcome for a voting Democratic Republic such as America, will be that increasing numbers have-not/wealth-takers will vote increasing numbers of their intelligent, but devious, political curators into office. In this way political curators can take more from the have-more/wealth-makers and give it to them. In this way they will rapidly grow their have-not/wealth-taking constituents . Of course the political curators are doing this at this moment, to solidify their own political base and power.

Over time the productivity of the have-more/wealth-makers will be reduced due to political contingencies of response cost punishment (the more you work the more the government takes to give away) focused upon them by the dominant have-not/wealth-takers and their increasingly dominant political representatives­.

Of course there must be a mathematical end to this form of social, political and economic psychopathology. When the money runs out, there will most likely be hell to pay in the currency of social rioting resulting from the psychological principle of extinction-produced aggression, as is now seen in Europe in the first decade of the 21^st Century.

Basic 20^th Century principles of human behavior (the science of psychology), easily predicts such socioculturally destructive outcomes. The history of failed Marxist/Leninist-Communist, Socialist, Progressive revolutions and evolutions provide strong corroborating testimony to these psychological predictions.

So now the greatest question emerges: Why do obviously intelligent social and political social leaders embrace the unattainable Marxist/Leninist­­-Communist, Socialist, Progressive pipe-dream?

The obvious answer is that they are not interested in long-term outcomes for their Socioculture. Rather, they are interested in the personal gains of power and self-aggrandizement. But there is a much more elemental problem involved.

I judge that the most fundamental answer is that they disproportionately suffer from psychological disorders that predispose them to such irrational behavior.

Certain forms of human psychopathology best fit with the Marxist/Leninist/progressive impossible dream.  Where reality-testing, the human conscience, and social reciprocity fails, human psychopathology too often succeeds.

Psychopathology can take many forms and I will only mention the forms that appear to me to be most frequently associated with both the impossible dream-leaders and their followers. No one that I know of has done systematic norm-referenced personality testing on these populations to empirically derive such information. Therefore, my theory is only based upon my readings in history, training and experiences as an academic and practicing psychologist, and my 70 years of life-experiences.   I suggest the following:

Marxist/Leninist/socialist leaders frequently show an all-consuming obsessive/compulsive quest for domination and control of the masses. They seek self-aggrandizement, as most leaders do, but they commonly show Narcissistic Personality Disorder levels of self-love, adoration and the need to be worshipped by others.

That they often lie, cheat, and deceive; or persecute, imprison and kill their opposition; or foment civil or interstate war to achieve their goals is suggestive of Antisocial Personality Disorder. That they often torture and even kill thousands, hundreds of thousands, even millions of their fellow-citizens who they suspect may threaten their dream suggests features of Paranoid Personality Disorder, and also Sadistic Personality Disorder.

Marxist/Leninist Followers seek to have their pathological dependency (Dependent Personality Disorder) needs met by relying on others for their sustenance and well-fare. There are numerous psychopathologies that tend to be associated with Dependent Personality Disorder. These are Anxiety Disorders, Depressive Disorders, and Alcohol or Substance Abuse and Dependency Disorders to name only a few.

I am deeply saddened that the science of psychology commonly does not get the attention and respect that it deserves and that it’s products are not more often used to improve our lives. You may wonder why I am deeply saddened, rather than just simply saddened.

I am deeply saddened that humanity’s ignorance about psychology’s basic principles of human conditioning, learning and motivation condemns countless billions of humans to tragic, even horrific sociocultural outcomes, over and over again, like a broken record…with no end in sight.

V. Thomas Mawhinney, Ph.D.

9/24/12