Capitalism vs. Communism: Children's Edition

“You took away the market that had everything we needed, and now we're starving, said the animals.” – The Island of Free Ice Cream

The Tale of Two Wolves begins one evening when an elderly Cherokee tells his grandson about a battle inside people.  “My dear one, the battle between two wolves is inside us all.   One is evil.  It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.  The other is good.  It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith.”  The grandson thought about it for a moment and then asked his grandfather: “Which wins?”  The old Cherokee replied, “The one you feed.” 

In Jack Posobiec’s 2021 children’s book, “The Island of Free Ice Cream”, Posobiec, a former Navy intelligence officer specializing in the Chinese Communist Party, tells the story about the town of Rushington and how a pack of wolves made promises they could not keep.  After enticing the animals through envy to vote for them in exchange for free ice cream, the end of Rustington’s markets would bring hunger to its unsuspecting citizens.  Printed by Brave Books, a Christian-based publisher, Posobiec’s tale of good versus evil shows how capitalism is always superior to its malevolent alternative, communism.

Rushington Market had long provided its citizens with all the goods and services they could want.  Asher the Fox had the biggest booth at the market, having invented a freezer to turn cows' milk into ice cream.  In doing so, he provided value to its people.  In a market economy, people own the things they want by buying and selling the products and services that entrepreneurs continuously create to solve problems and improve lives.  When the wolves took over, however, the markets were closed, and all the valuable and desirable products were no longer available.  As animals began to starve, their lives became miserable. 

Having been tricked by the wolves' promises of free things, the town soon learned the folly of empty promises.   If it sounds too good to be true, it generally is and is often destructive as well.  Everything costs someone something.  If the government provides something for “free”, it is usually paid for by taxes from the citizens in an attempt to make people more equal, whether they are deserving or not.  It is, in fact, a hidden tax.  Not only is there no free lunch, but there is also no free ice cream. 

Communism is often portrayed as a utopia, with promises of something for nothing, like free college, free health care, and equal outcomes.  While communism feeds the evil wolf through envy, jealousy, and greed, capitalism feeds the good.  Good may require personal responsibility and hard work, but it will always provide the greatest advantage for most people. 

While sharing with others is a great thing for individual citizens to do, when it is done by the government through redistribution, it is done coercively, and with great inefficiency and harm.   

Like Asher and his countrymen, free market defenders are needed to escape the lure of tyranny.