We have shown that a socialist society, regardless of whether it is based on Marx's notions of "ability" and "need" or upon some vague standard of "economic equality," requires comprehensive central economic "planning," imposed coercively by the state. What are the implications of such control for the lives of citizens? For example, can the people continue to enjoy traditional freedoms of thought and expression?

As should be clear from previous discussions, total state control over economic resources automatically entails total state control over the media. Every public expression of opinion requires the allocation of scarce resources, including labor as well as land and machinery, which might otherwise have been allocated to the expression of opposing views or to other uses. Since the planners control all scarce resources, they must implicitly control what thoughts are publicly expressed, even if they attempt to exercise this control in a "broad-minded" and "impartial" fashion. Any dissent to officially endorsed views must involve the illegal and surreptitious private use of publishing or broadcasting equipment—and therefore represents a departure from true socialism. Such actions, if tolerated, may play a role in the eventual demise of the system, as in the instance of the underground samizdat ("self-published") copying of manuscripts in the late USSR. By controlling the expression of opinion, of course, authorities can to a large degree mold the beliefs and thinking of the populace to support the régime and its ends. Trends described on each page are highlighted in red; scroll down as needed.