“Do we want to feed a starved humanity in order to let it live? Or do we want to strangle its life in order to feed it?” - We The Living
Millennials have a new love affair with socialism, with a third of them pining for the good old days of communism. During the glut of marches that disgraced our TV screens since Terrible Trump was elected, we have been assaulted with several clever Marxian signs: “Capitalism is the Disease, Socialism is the Cure” and “People and Nature before Profits, Vote Communism.” If the kids had their way, the US would be well on its way to the socialist utopia of their dreams. And they’ve found the perfect puppet master in Bernie Sanders.
Whether its name is socialism, communism, or fascism, all forms of collectivism have the same adverse effect. Democratic socialism, a new contender, is a prettied-up version, advocating for the transition from capitalism to socialism by highlighting the social disparities caused by inequality.
Bernie began his Marxist love affair with the Soviet Union back in 1988 when he swept up his bride and made off to the communist paradise. There the couple basked in the light of tyranny for 10 whole days. Unfortunately for Bernie, three years later in 1991, the Soviet Union would be no more, a result of its flawed economic system. Liberty: 1, Bernie Sanders: 0.
In a 2011 editorial on his Senate website, Bernie advanced the notion that the American dream was more likely to occur in South American countries like Venezuela. At the time, Venezuela’s collapse had already begun, and its citizens were only a few short years from killing zoo animals for food.
In Venezuela, socialism began as democratic before it failed and ultimately led to oppression. Elected in 1998, Hugo Chavez aligned himself with the Marxist-Leninist government of Cuba, creating his own political ideology called Chavismo, a collection of anti-imperial policies for the people. Chavez nationalized key industries that led in time to a severe socio-economic crisis. Deficit spending and price controls proved unsustainable leading to increases in poverty, inflation, and shortages. While Venezuela was one of the wealthiest nations back in the 1970s, the poverty rate in 2017 climbed to nearly 90 percent. By then it had become even more repressive than Communism’s top-dog North Korea. To date, more than ten percent of Venezuelans have fled the country, the largest Latin American exodus in history. Liberty: 2, Bernie Sanders: 0.
Now Bernie has moved on to the Nordic countries of Sweden, Finland, Denmark, and Norway. Between the late 1800s to the mid-1900s, Scandinavian countries, promoters of free markets, landed in the top ten wealthiest countries in the world. The large welfare states that followed were built on top of previously acquired wealth. Under this new scheme, low-income and middle-class citizens in some nations paid effective marginal tax rates of up to 56-57 percent. This worked for a while, aided by the homogenous population of their countries. After the money dried up, however, market reforms became necessary. These reforms included cuts in income taxes, corporate taxes, and inheritance taxes. Pensions were reformed, while both education and health care moved toward privatization. Not one of these policies would be remotely considered in Bernie’s democratic socialist agenda. Liberty: 3, Bernie Sanders: 0.
That’s not to say that socialism may, in fact, have its place in society. Let’s look at the Amish. They live in a socialist type of community where resources are pooled, and support is provided to all. There are two important differences, however: first, the Amish have never suggested that everyone in America live the way they do; and second, they have never asked the taxpayer to fund them. They live their lives voluntarily on land they acquired. This free-will group also found a way to sell their wares to the public to support their livelihood. Bernie, reportedly, was kicked out of a Vermont commune in the 1970s for refusing to do his fair share. Liberty: 4, Bernie Sanders: 0.
In Ayn Rand’s 1936 book, “We the Living”, Rand provides a clarion call, a warning to her beloved new country, America. Having been an eyewitness to the Russian Revolution of 1917, she knew too well the horrors of communism. In many ways, Rand’s book mirrors her own experience watching as industries were nationalized and banks were declared state property. The communist revolution brought long queues, a lower standard of living, and a struggle for citizens to feed themselves. While the Soviet Union was considered one of the great experiments in history (for its progressivism), another little country called America, was also known for its own experiment (with freedom). Thankfully, Rand was able to leave her failing country behind when she fled to America at the age of 21.
In Rand’s book, a communist sympathizer and member of the secret police, after realizing the deceit of his party platform, asks his fellow party men: “Do we want to feed a starved humanity in order to let it live, or do we want to strangle its life, in order to feed it”? America chose the prior, the Soviet Union, the latter.
Millennials are at an age and intellectual development where they want, and they want, and they want. Well, be careful what you wish for. For history has been kind to Rand. It might be wise to heed her warning.
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