Ah, to be young and unencumbered by reality.

Why is socialism appealing to college students? I believe it appeals to them because when it is removed from the realities of the world it makes sense. Everyone does their share, everyone get just enough to get by and everyone should be happy with that.

When she graduates from Ringling School of Art and Design next year, aspiring photojournalist Cassandra Avalon will bail on her apartment, located in low-income Newtown.Navigating through opposite ends of Sarasota's economic margins has, at her ripe old age of 20, given her a wide-angle glimpse of futility.

"I'm educated, but I don't think I could ever get there, into the rich society," says Avalon, who moonlights as a beverage assistant at the Longboat Key Club. "Not that I'd want to, really. "I remember, when I walked through the airport at (Washington, D.C.'s) Dulles, I counted 22 American flags. Everybody seems to have all this patriotism, but when you ask them to make a sacrifice for somebody else, no one volunteers to give up a Lexus so I won't have crackheads outside my door."

Avalon, an American citizen who grew up in Denmark, supports positions championed by many liberals: universal health care, affordable housing, an end to the war, etc. But what sets her apart is her political affiliation: the Socialist Party of Florida.

Yea, if we just took everything from the rich and gave it to the poor, that would solve it all. Sure Avalon, sure. I give up my Lexus and magicaly someone's crack addiction goes away.

It is only when you put socialism into practice you see it's fatal flaw. The human being. The human being wants more. More what? What do ya got?

I once heard something that made sense to me. My friends and I were talking about money and what we would do if we had a million dollars. We thought about what we could buy and where we would live and what kind of cars we would have. We all agreed that if we could work hard enough to make a million dollars, that would be enough. This was back in the 80's when a million dollars was actually a lot of money. My Father over heard us talking and said the man who would be satisfied with one million will never have the drive to make it. The man who has one million and wants five million, that's the guy to put your money on.

That is a fact. Not just an American fact, it is true the world over. If you have grass hut, you want a bigger or more water proof grass hut. If you have three flocks of goats you would like ten. If you have a one bedroom apartment and a 1996 Volkswagen, you want a two bedroom house with a new car in the garage. That is the flaw in socialism. The people who would be satisfied with a million dollars are everywhere, the people who have a million and want five are harder to come by. Those are the people who start businesses and corporation from their garage and turn them into billion dollar companies, they are the ones who hire employees, make payroll, buy products and services from other people and build factories. Oh, and by the way, those who would be satisfied with a million dollars, would not be satisfied for long. After they had the trappings and material possessions that a million dollars would bring, they would want more.

Why? Because it's human nature.

I have seen both sides of wealth, I have seen the upside and I have been dead broke. I have found a balance that I am comfortable with. I have a good job, a nice house, great family and above all, I have Jesus Christ. That maybe the other great flaw of socialism, any government based on human being doing what they are supposed to do all the time is doomed to failure. America stands out from the world. We were founded on the principals of freedom and built around the belief in a greater power than man. Socialists and liberals want to tear that down and replace God with 'the greater good'. Lots of luck with that.

Eventually everyone thinks they deserve 'the goods' without having to work for them. It's called a welfare state, and they will collapse under their own weight given time, take a look at Europe.