Socialism?

On the first page of the "Sunday Review" (opinion) section of the New York Times is an Op-Ed by author and professor of political science at Brooklyn College and the City University of New York, Corey Robin. The article is titled: "The New Socialists," and speaks quite favorably of socialism over capitalism. Professor Robin touts the young Democrats such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rashida Tlaib, who are openly socialist, and following in the footsteps of Bernie Sanders. He also seems to relish in what he calls the "skyrocketing" growth in membership of the Democratic Socialists of America, especially among the young.

The reader is told about the horrors of capitalism. "Under capitalism, we're forced to enter the market just to live." And: "Under capitalism, we're forced to submit to the boss." Of course, people might try becoming their own boss. Or, they could hope that someone just mails them a check every week. Although that really never worked for me. Or, one can play the lotto, if you don't mind really poor odds.

We are also told that "the socialist argument against capitalism, isn't that it makes us poor. It's that it makes us unfree." Old style Democrats, such as Al Gore, John Kerry and Hillary Clinton are not like today's socialist Democrats. "Today's young candidates of the left tell a story of personal struggle that meshes with their political vision." Interesting how the left, a la Karl Marx, equates all of life's struggles with economics. Thank you Karl Marx. Some of us have had life-long physical struggles; others, emotional struggles, family struggles, even struggles with friends. Of course, the left would find some convoluted way to connect it all to economics.

Then, we see what is perhaps the most telling comment in the article: "It's not enough to criticize Donald Trump or the Republicans; the Democrats are also complicit in the rot of American life." "The rot of American life." Wow. I am aware of various studies that do not rank the USA among the top ten countries in the world in either freedom or income; although we generally come in just over or under number 20. Those rankings get us in or near the top 10% of countries in the world. If life in the US is "rot," then what does that say about the other 90%? How comforting to know that professors such as Professor Robin get to fill young people's heads with loathing for America.

Then, the professor explains the difference between just liberals and socialists. "With their talk of Medicare for all or increasing the minimum wage, these socialist candidates sound like New Deal or Great Society liberals. There's not much discussion, yet, of classic socialist tenets like worker control or collective ownership of the means of production." (As usual, the socialists are really talking about communism, with government/worker control.) You see, "the socialist...believes that making things free makes people free." Hmmm. But who makes all the free stuff? And what motivates them to put in the hours to make free stuff?

Finally, we are told that socialists "are already debating the next steps: state ownership of certain industries, worker councils and economic cooperatives, (and) sovereign wealth funds." I am curious as to how this state ownership comes about. Do they steal companies from their rightful owners? If so, I guess that's not "freedom" for everybody. Does the government start new businesses, and undercut private businesses, putting thousands, if not millions, of people out of work? If you want to know what supermarket shelves look like in socialist countries, take a look at pictures from the Soviet Union, or more recently, Venezuela. And read the stories about how women in Venezuela have taken to prostitution in order to feed their families.

As for the so-called "socialist" countries of Scandinavia and Europe, the reality is that they are market based economies with high taxes, which allows them, in turn, to provide some of the "free" stuff that socialists think their worker collectives will provide. Actual socialist/communist countries fail - always. Which is why those that have tried it ultimately revert to capitalism - the greatest system ever devised for the creation of wealth.