If Socialists and Communists felt that everyone over 35 should have his teeth pulled, to promote the general welfare, they would see to it (if they had the power) that everyone over 35 had his teeth pulled; but they would go about it differently.
The Socialists would wash the people with propaganda to convince them that they should have their teeth pulled. They would arrange White House Conferences and public opinion pools to prove that a majority of the people wanted their teeth pulled. Then, Socialists would pass a law to provide, at government expense, anaesthesia and other medical services for the extractions. Communists wouldn't waste time on law and comforting gas; they would just pull the teeth.
The Communist program would be an abrupt, universal application of brute force. The Socialist program would be an application of persuasion reinforced by the veiled threat of brute force. The end result would be the same : wholesale extraction of teeth whether people liked it or not.
If people cooperate, Socialists use no force. If people don't cooperate, Socialists have to use force. At that point, Socialism and Communism become identical not only in aim but in technique.
It may console some to know that they can keep Socialism from becoming Communism by simply bowing, without resistance, to the programs of government. That is the consolation of slaves who know they will never feel the master's whip as long as they obey.
From The Dan Smoot Report, Nov. 28, 1960
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