Socialism in theory sounds very appealing however, in practice it’s a disaster. Gerald Cohen a pronounced philosopher talks about how socialism could be good for people. Although, his arguments are weak and unclear on why socialism is better. It brings up the question on how can socialism be better than capitalism, and why his argument isn’t convincing. In his book, Why not Socialism he talks about the pros about having a socialist system.
Gerald Cohen starts off by talking about a camping trip that he uses as a metaphor for a socialist system. In this camping trip, everyone equally shares their goods (equally distributed) and everyone seems to be happy about it. No one is complaining about needing more than the other, or why I received less than the other. In essence everyone is equally the same and no one is superior than the other and the work is distributed equally (5). He goes on by saying that problems start to arise when people start to get greedy and assert their rights over each other.
Metaphorically, speaking he is describing a capitalist system where everyone is arguing about who gets more than the other. He uses the example of Harry who is a good fisher, but later questions why he doesn’t get to dine on the best fish if he catches them (7)? Cohen gives another …show more content…
He mentions everyone being in harmony and working together without a complaint. However, he fails to take in account everyone’s efforts meaning, that everyone who works more than the others (Harry) deserves to dine on better fish. Also, Morgan whose father stashed fish for her years ago deserves those goods her father worked hard to save for her. Cohen’s socialist theory on making everyone equal makes inequality for those who are hard workers or inherited goods prior to us being here. His utopian trip becomes an injustice to those who deserve more than the rest who aren’t