Socialism vs Capitalism

Socialistic Illusion vs Capitalistic Reality
The View from the Middle

I have to admit that I am amazed at the gullibility of many Americans, especially the young people, who can listen to the likes of Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Alexandria Ocasio Cortez literally and shamelessly try to buy their votes with mountains of “free stuff”. As my old boss at Procter & Gamble used to say, “the promise is the easy part”, and in this case it’s the only part. Let me give you a list of just some of the things that these Democratic Socialists are promising:

-Free college tuition.
-And soon, I’m sure, the forgiveness of all college debt (1.2 trillion dollars)
-Free Healthcare for all.
-A guaranteed job, and
-A guaranteed living wage (whatever that is)
-Guaranteed medical leave and paid vacation.
-Guaranteed affordable, safe and adequate housing.
-Guaranteed economic security (again, whatever that means)
-And, of course, guaranteed retirement security.
-Guaranteed access to healthy food.
-Guaranteed access to water, air and nature.

As usual, these people are long on the promises and short on the explanation of how they are going to deliver on them. Their feeble plan always makes yet another promise – the other guy will have to pay for all of this “stuff” and you will get it for free. The estimated cost of these freebies and guarantees is over 90 trillion dollars over ten years and would more than triple the size of our government over that same period. As I explained in my article back in February, there are not enough “rich” (top 1%) people in this country to pay for all of this and every American would end up with massive tax increases to fund this wish list.

What these politicians are falsely promising in order to get you votes is a guaranteed, easy life with no effort on your parts. What they eliminate in the process, however, is the concepts of risk & reward, and incentive. And, when it comes to taking risks and creating incentives, why would anyone want to eliminate them? But this socialistic, guaranteed outcome, freebie platform will do just that. Risk and incentive, in fact, are key drivers of our current economic system. Capitalism rewards intelligent risk taking and incents hard work and productivity, and these are good things.

It amazes me the Sanders, Warren and AOC can sit in the most powerful, most prosperous country in the world that has been driven by a capitalistic economic engine almost since its inception, and suggest that capitalism doesn’t work. The proof of the power of capitalism doesn’t lie in our GDP or our military capability, although they are the best in the world. It lies in the fact that over a million people each year leave their countries of origin and come to our country legally, and another million risk their lives on a treacherous journey across the country of Mexico in pursuit of “the chance” at a better life in these United States.

It is true that Capitalism can be corrupted by monopolies, corruption and cronyism. We must always be striving to insure equal opportunity (not outcome) for all of our citizens and a fair marketplace for our goods and services so that risk and effort will be rewarded. Even with these watch outs, Capitalism has already lifted more people out of poverty than any other economic system in the world. Don’t be lured away by the false promises of a guaranteed, easy, risk-free life. Stick with the system that has delivered for this country for over 200 years. It’s the best guarantee you can get.