Back in June, I wrote about the bizarre allure of socialism and said that advocates (who generally don’t even know what socialism really means) were some of the most anti-empirical people in the world.
…even though the real-world evidence against big government is so strong, it’s rather baffling that many young people are drawn to that coercive ideology and disturbing that a non-trivial number of voters favor this failed form of statism.
…Socialism has a technical definition involving government ownership of the means of production and central planning of the economy. But most people today think socialism is big government, with business still privately owned but with lots of redistribution and intervention (I’ve argued, for instance, that even Bernie Sanders isn’t a real socialist, and that there are big differences between countries like Sweden, China, and North Korea). For what it’s worth, that’s actually closer to the technical definition of fascism.
Now let’s update that column.
It seems that the cancer of socialism is spreading, at least if this story in The Week is any indication.
Things are looking up for the Democratic Socialists of America. With a membership of 25,000, it is now the largest socialist group in America since the Second World War. And last weekend in Chicago, it held its largest convention, by a considerable margin, in its history. …Membership has more than tripled in a year, gaining a large boost from the candidacy of Bernie Sanders… That sharp surge in new recruits — most of whom are fairly young — has created a fairly stark age bifurcation among members. Somewhat akin to Sanders campaign, there is an old guard of people who have been carrying the left-wing torch for years, and a recent surge of new members…most of the major proposals were adopted with large majorities. Among other things, delegates voted to…endorse the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement (directed at ending the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza), …and to endorse Medicare for all as a major priority.
I’m guessing that the bifurcated conference meant a handful of old people who are genuine socialists and a bunch of young people who think socialism is just a bunch of government-coerced redistribution and intervention.
Both groups, however, deserve scorn for favoring a system that elevates the state over individuals. That approach is grossly immoral.
Not to mention that it’s never worked. Nobody has ever provided a good answer to my two-part challenge.
There is no example of a successful socialist nation anywhere in the world. Cuba? No. North Korea? No. The Soviet Empire? Don’t make me laugh. Venezuela? You must be joking.
Denmark or Sweden? Umm…, they’re not socialist, though their economies have been hurt by excessive redistribution. Greece? Give me a break.
I could continue, but no sense beating a dead horse.
Let’s close with a bit of humor. A friend in Australia sent me this clever image. I gather it’s a parody of an actual left-wing gathering Down Under. Regardless, I found it rather amusing.
P.S. If you like visuals mocking socialism, I’ve amassed a very nice collection. Click here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here for examples.
It seems that capitalist wealth redistribution (i.e. bold tax reform) is a better way to go than socialism. The poorer half of the population that now shares just 1% of family wealth may not know the technical differences. Those who know the differences don’t give a damm about the poorer half.
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Dan, love your work as always. And yes, the poster is a parody of a Socialist conference being held in Sydney. We, LibertyWorks.org.au, has replaced the socialist version with hundreds of the more accurate version you’ve posted. The organise are most upset, all very amusing…
new public school textbook?
from Amazon:
“In the Bernie Sanders Guide to Political Revolution, Independent congressman, presidential candidate and activist Bernie Sanders continues his fight against the imbalances in the nation’s status quo, and shows you how to make a difference to effect the changes America―and the world―need to create a better tomorrow.”
“Bernie Sanders Guide to Political Revolution”
It isn’t surprising that most Americans–products of our “public indoctrination system’, aka, education system–are ignorant of the facts and history of socialism…or even its definition. The former Chairwoman of the DNC, when she was STILL chairwoman, couldn’t answer the question of how is the Democrat Party and its platform different from socialist Party and platform? Five times she was asked on air by different people over multiple days…and she had no answer*. She had the deer-in-headlights eye glazing and the fish-out-of-water mouth motions …open, close, open, close…
The only ‘ideology’ which is directly responsible for more deaths is Islam and that’s over more than 700 years AND it is also a fascist-socialist political model so arguably their in-excess of 240 million dead can be attached to the “generic” model, too.
I realize that fascism is a one-off version of socialism. Has its own “name” and everything. But it’s still a socialist model in that it is still gov’t control albeit technically indirectly. I’ve seen it explained as: the communists killed all the business owners; the fascists killed all the business owners who didn’t obey.
“Socialism only works in two places: Heaven where they don’t need it and hell where they already have it.” -Ronald Reagan
* Granted, she is not a bright bulb but then that shouldn’t have required a genius IQ to answer
and for kindergartners Amazon also has:
“Communism for Kids”
by Bini Adamczak
(published by MIT press…)
it encourages the little tykes to free themselves of the miseries of capitalism and embrace a pure new form of communism… the book is complete with illustrations of “lovable little revolutionaries experiencing their political awakening”…
I attribute the youth problem to our public school system that has failed to educate our children on the great (once experiment- now reality) social system that was created by our founders. Having been well-read, and having studied all of the governmental systems that came before, our founders found a very good mix of the best of all of these. And they created a system that – if it was left as created – is still the best in the world for individual rights and the ability to succeed without government interference.
So, my point is – let’s get those classes in GOVERNMENT that were once required back into the curriculum. Let’s explain once again WHY we are the way we are, and explain how our government works better than others.
Now if we could just abolish that pesky 17th amendment. Having seen the failures in the senate in the last months, I continue to rail that the reason for their failure is that the 17th amendment ruined our system. The senate was intended to be the house that honored the states’ interests. If senators were once again appointed by the states, there would be no reason to argue for term limits. Senators would be swapped out at the whims of the state legislatures, who would appoint only those who were doing their bidding. And just imagine what sort of control the conservatives and libertarians would have in congress should such be the case. Our laws would once again honor states’ rights. Imagine… people paying attention to state politics to make sure they reflected their views all the way back to Washington. A true republic once again.