Some might be reminded of Marx’s famous dictum: “The philosophers have only interpreted the world in various ways: The point, however, is to change it.” 

That’s a great quote for a dormroom wall; but what does it mean to change the world? Some things can be changed, like the wallpaper in your bathroom. Other things can’t be changed, like gravity. And some things shouldn’t be changed, like the love of a mother for her children. Before trying to experiment with half of mankind, it might have been a good idea for communists to ask a few questions, like: What is the nature of economic reality? What is man really like? What does the state have a right to change? What is within its power to change? What is beyond its control? And then they should have made sure that the changes they made were for the better, not the worse. 

Instead, the communists sought to create a society in which everyone was equal, to establish a “heaven on earth,” to attain nirvana as they imagined it. They plowed ahead without asking key questions about reality. Some, such as Mao, seemed to deny a reality apart from our minds, to which we must adapt, preferring instead to try to create their own reality by the sheer power of mind and will. Others, like Lenin, adjusted Marx’s system because they found to their dismay that it led to instant disaster. The history of communism in the last century is the starkest example of what happens when you tangle with reality: You lose, and so do the subjects of your experiment. 

Socialism failed because it treated human beings and human society like wet clay. “It is on a blank page,” wrote Mao, “that the most beautiful poems are written.” Instead of starting with man as he really is, communists sought to create their ideal man in an ideal society. The ideal for them was perfect equality, but they knew it would take a while to get there. To have any chance of success, though, they had to abolish private property, since property is the most obvious sign of inequality. Again, that’s socialism—the stage that is supposed to precede the communist utopia. Social- ism doesn’t mean no one controls the property. It means the state must confiscate and control whatever property is in private hands. It must coerce and kill, since most people don’t willingly hand over their property to aggressors. The communists tried to draw heaven down to earth. They brought up hell instead. 

Marx spoke naively of “changing the world.” There’s much more wisdom in Reinhold Niebuhr’s “serenity prayer,” repeated by millions of alcoholics over the years:  

Lord, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. 

Excerprted from Jay Richards' book: Money, Greed and God