We Can’t Afford Socialism – by Amanda S. Green

If you think life is expensive now, wait till how much it costs when it’s “free”.

One of the most important reasons for studying history is that virtually every stupid idea that is in vogue today has been tried before and proved disastrous before, time and again. – Thomas Sowell

This morning, as I sat down to write this post, I stared at the computer screen wondering what in the world I was going to blog about. I didn’t have a book review ready to go (those will resume next week, thanks to the generosity of TRX). Looking at the headlines didn’t lead to anything I felt I could sink my teeth into – at least not without lots of cussing and Sarah sort of frowns on that. VBG. Then I saw the above quote posted by a friend along with this article on another friend’s wall. And, well, today’s post was born.

In her article, Carmen Alexe writes about what it was like growing up in Romania during the 1970’s and 1980’s. At that time, Romania was a country rich in resources and poor in so many other ways. Yes, there were lines for what we look at as basics – bread, milk, eggs, etc. Romanians couldn’t go to the neighborhood store and find anything and everything they wanted. The resources the country had were allocated by the government and that didn’t always mean that allocation was to the benefit of the citizenry.

The state controlled almost every aspect of our lives: our education, our job placement, the time of day we could have hot water, and what we were allowed to say. . . Despite the fact that Romania was a country rich in resources, there were shortages everywhere. Food, electricity, water, and just about every one of life’s necessities were in short supply.

How would any of us react if our landlords decreed there would be hot water available only two hours a day? Think about yourself as a teen, knowing that pack of gum you want is a luxury and might not be available for months – or longer. Consider having to turn to the black market to get blue jeans or other “fashionable” clothing. Consider living in a country where this is how you feel:

God bless our black-market entrepreneurs! They made our lives better. They gave us the opportunity to buy things we very much desired, things we couldn’t get from the government-owned retail stores which were either half-empty or full of products that were ugly and of poor quality.

According to Alexe, and just about anyone else with an ounce of common sense who has lived under the Soviet/Russian regime, economics is at the heart of many of the problems with communism.

Due to its profit incentives, capitalism encourages innovation. Innovation leads to progress and an increase in the standard of living. But progress and the climate which offers humans a high standard of living cannot be created without the capital to transform and turn resources into the final products that give us the—relatively—cheap energy and food, smartphones, fitness gyms, and overall the life we currently afford. Capital moves in the direction of less regulation, less government intervention, and less taxation. In short, capital moves to where there’s more economic freedom.

In contrast, communism, socialism, fascism, or just about any government-controlled system lacks the profit incentive. The people, who are the human resources, have no desire to engage in a business where the reward is not attainable (unless it’s done in the black markets). They accept the state and its bureaucratic cronies to dictate their faith.

Yet, what are we looking at in our country right now? We have politicians – yes, I’m looking at you, DNC – who want to tear down our way of life, strip us of our capitalist tendencies and turn us into Socialist “paradises”. They don’t even try to hide it these days.

In a recent interview, Hillary Clinton basically said she lost the election because so many Democrats are socialists and she admitted to being a capitalist.

“It’s hard to know, but if you’re in the Iowa caucuses and 41 percent of Democrats are socialists, or self-described socialists, and I’m asked, ‘Are you a capitalist?’ And I say, ‘Yes, but with appropriate regulation and appropriate accountability,’ you know, that probably gets lost in the ‘Oh my gosh, she’s a capitalist.'”

There’s a lot of ifs, ands and buts in there but when you get down to it. She said several things of importance. First, at least in Iowa – which has for decades touted as the indicator of how the Democratic Party leans – almost half the Democrats identify as socialists. Considering Iowa is more conservative than bastions of the Democratic Party like California and New York, that number is probably higher nationwide.

Now let’s look at what Clinton herself said. She identifies as a capitalist – coff, coff, Clinton Foundation – but with modifiers. She’s a capitalist but there should be regulation and accountability. In other words, the government gets to limit capitalism and, in turn, limit innovation and the improvement of our standard of living. Of course, with folks like Clinton, that limitation only applies to others, not to them. After all, they are the more equal among equal. Double standards are us.

But Clinton’s not the only one. We have Nancy “Crumbs” Pelosi, she who has her own fortune, turning her nose up at the $2,000 tax break most of the rest of us received under President Trump even as she has promised to take that tax break away from us. You know what removing a tax break really is? It is a tax increase. And this is one of the platforms the Democrats are running on.

To say the DNC and their candidates don’t get basic economics is putting it mildly. Or, if they do get it, they ignore it. We have them tossing out such proposals as universal healthcare, single payer healthcare, education for everyone, etc. Yet, when asked to specify how these programs will be paid for, we get – at best – handwavium. We’re told the government will pay for them. But, other than saying they will cut military spending, they don’t say where that money comes from.

We know where, don’t we?

It will come from our pockets. Worse, if they do cut funding for the military and other programs, what will be the result? Making our country even weaker than it is now. And that, I’m afraid, is their goal.

Think about it. Today voters in Maryland have a traitor running for U. S. Senate. Yes, a traitor. Bradley, now Chelsea, Manning, former member of the military, oath breaker and traitor, smiles for the media and spits (figuratively if not literally) on the graves of every man and woman who died in the service of the country. And what does Manning want to happen if elected?

No borders, no restrictions, nothing

No prisons.

Universal and single payer health care

No cops.

Abolish ICE because it is “ramping up for a massive ethnic cleansing in America.”

Universal basic income

There is more, but you get the idea. Sounds familiar on a number of points, doesn’t it? And how well have those policies worked?

The European Union is suffering greatly because of its open borders policy. Without some sort of immigration oversight, there is no way to protect the country and its citizens from those whose main desire is to destroy it. Yet the Democrats, and not just Manning, want to severely limit, if not completely do away, with border control. Yes, we need to do something about our immigration policies but simply throwing open the doors isn’t the answer. Besides, even in their demands for immigration reform, the Dems aren’t talking across the board. Despite their rhetoric of being so inclusive in their policies, they are focusing only on certain ethnicities. If they were truly going to be “democratic” about it, they would say we need to open our borders or reform our immigration policies where everyone is concerned – European and Asian as well as Hispanic, etc.

Universal healthcare? Nope. There is a reason so many Canadians and others come to the U.S. for treatment.

I could go on, but it comes down to this: who is going to pay for all these so-called wonderful programs politicians like Clinton, Pelosi, Bernie Sanders and even – gag – Manning propose? We are.

What will the result be? Less money in our pockets and more governmental control over our lives. We are already moving down the road to a country out forefathers couldn’t recognize, one where the Bill of Rights is nothing but a distant memory. Do you want the government telling you what doctor you can go to? Or, worse yet, what treatment you can or can’t have?

If the government is paying for your education, how long before it tells you what you are going to study and, by expansion, what job you will have upon graduation?

The Dems try to scare us with horror stories about what the Trump Administration will do (and I’m no fan of the man, but they are forcing me to support him). Yet, the only real danger I see comes from their camp.

As Alexe writes:

Aside from better economic and legislative policies, what America needs is a more intense appreciation of individual freedom and capitalism. Such a crazy idea is not acquired through public schools or becoming a public servant. Young people don’t need more years of schooling with more worthless college degrees and student loans in default. America needs more entrepreneurs and businessmen. It needs more people with drive and ambition, more self-starters, more innovators, more people who are willing to take chances.

It starts in our own backyard, in our home, in our small group, in our community. It starts with loving, involved, and dedicated parents who’d instill the values of personal responsibility and delayed gratification in their children. It continues with an education that entails both theory and hands-on practice in environments conducive to learning how to think independently and how to acquire life- and work-skills. It evolves into a purpose-driven life rich in learning and experiences. And this may be just the beginning of attaining the intellectual maturity to perceive the value that free markets and individual freedom afford most of us.

It also, as Sowell states, requires that we remember history. All the crazy ideas the Democrats tout today have been touted by crazies before. We’ve seen the path those ideas took countries like Russia and Romania. Do we want that to happen here? I certainly don’t. That means we have to get involved. We have to stand up and speak out. We have to vote and get people with our own core values running for office. It means we fight to take back the media. Most of all, it means we educate out children and not let them fall victim to the indoctrination of our public school systems. Teach them about looking at issues for themselves and doing their research before drawing a conclusion. Teach them about how there are consequences for actions and inactions. Teach them the value and importance of independence and of ambition. If we lose the drive, if we lose the innovation, we have lost.

I don’t know about you but I refuse to go quietly into the night and I sure as hell don’t want our kids to live in a system that doesn’t value them and allow them to do and be all they can.

Let’s not sit still while history tries to repeat itself here, in our own house.