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On the heels of Congress voting to spend another $1.9 trillion on an assortment of relief programs related to the Covid pandemic, I thought it might be a good time to mention the dirtiest word in American politics: socialism. Before you race to the sink to wash your mouth out with soap, its time for a closer look.

While the word may conjure images of bread lines, cultural revolutions and the dour military parades of an authoritarian state, the truth is that socialism cant be summed up in one simple anti-capitalist declaration. The globally regarded Scandinavian model is proof positive that democratic socialism, where benefits like education and health care coexist with free enterprise, can be highly successful.

Here at home, Republicans have been able to cast socialism as a dark and sinister ideology on par with Stalins gulags. Most every progressive policy with a goal to offer a modest boost to someones quality of life is roundly attacked and denigrated by conservatives as wasteful spending or just another handout to lazy welfare queens. Never mind that these same politicos would never turn away an extra dollar earmarked for their states, and theyre certainly guilty of big spendingtheirs on the relentless growth of the military industrial complex and a raft of other corporate welfare projects.

The hypocrisy has been around for decades. In 1977, it encouraged New Yorks Senator Patrick Moynihan to begin reporting annually on a calculation called the balance of payments. His work consistently showed that New York sent more money to the federal government than it received in return. Moynihan spurred a national reckoning around each states balance of payments that continues to this day. Worst off is New Jersey, which receives only 74 cents back from every dollar it sends to Washington. Mississippi, on the other hand, receives $2.13 for every dollar it sends east. It doesnt make much sense based on what you hear from Republicans on the steps of the Capitol building, but trust that the states giving the most vote blue. Those that get the most vote red.

Just last year, during the height of the Covid crisis, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell expressed his reluctance to fund coronavirus relief for hard-hit cities and states. He called them blue state bailouts. To that, New Yorks governor reminded the Kentuckian that, in the past four years, New York put $116 billion more into the federal pot than it received. Meanwhile, Kentucky took out $148 billion more than it put in. The governor asked, Senator McConnell, whos getting bailed out here?" By one measure, of the initial money that was earmarked in the spring of 2020 for Covid relief, New York received about $12,000 per positive case. Nebraska received $379,000 per positive case.

The balance of payments is a good gauge to see which states rely more heavily on government, but its not the only one. Industry subsidies are another way to see where welfare is flowing. You may not have been aware the last time you slathered your hot dog that mustard seed subsidies totaled $13.7 million over the last 25 years, with Montana and North Dakota the biggest winners. Over that same period, Riceland Foods and their farmer members in Arkansas and Missouri reaped a whopping $554 million windfall in U.S.D.A. subsidies. Including money from Covid relief, direct government payments in 2020 to the farming industry were forecast at over $51 billion, making these handouts an astounding 43 percent of net national farm income.

If socialism is going to be defined as production, distribution and exchange owned or regulated by a community as a whole, should we be concerned that red states are routinely relying on socialist entities to the benefit of their residents? Nebraskas electric grid and utilities are publicly owned. There are no stockholders, and thus no profit motive, the Nebraska Power Association says proudly. Our customers, not big investors in New York and Chicago, own Nebraskas utilities.

The federally owned Tennessee Valley Authority is another example. When asked about the future of their socialist enterprise in such a deeply red part of the country, Senator Lamar Alexander of Tennessee said, This loony idea of selling T.V.A.s transmission lines seems to keep popping up. It has zero chance of becoming law.

Tennessee also has the honor of being the first state to offer two years of free college tuition to its high school graduates regardless of family income. Thats not criticism youre reading. Its jealousy.

When talk turns to a universal basic income, Republicans quickly cry foul. But what about Alaska? Since 1982, the Alaska Permanent Fund, a state-owned investment corporation funded by oil revenues, has paid out an annual dividend to every man, woman and child in Alaska. Ive yet to see any Republicans in that state tearing up their annual checksor their Covid relief checks, for that matteron principle.

If you look closely, its not hard to find a wealth of successful socialist programs in this, our cradle of capitalism. Whats interesting isnt what you find, its where you find it.

Amos Klausner lives in San Geronimo and serves on the local school board.

View original post here:
Will the real socialist please stand up? - Point Reyes Light

To the editor:

Re: The letter to the editor entitled Biden is Destroying our Country by Karen Ostrom-Kelly. (Voice of the public, March 24)

Dear Karen, it might be useful to look up the word socialism before using it. Thats a good idea with any word you dont understand. Its not the scary buzz-word you want it to be. If youve ever driven on a road, youve got socialism to thank. As an actual socialist, I would be overjoyed if Biden or any Dem were one. They are not.

Madam, I want you and other readers to understand that no person is illegal. Immigrants to this country pay their taxes the same as you; they just use a Tax ID Number instead of a Social Security Number.

In fact, by your argument theyre owed even more, since we happily tax them without directly representing them.

Charity, madam, begins in the heart, so try to have one.

Jean Sanson

Attleboro

Excerpt from:
Letter to the editor: Socialism is not a bad word - The Sun Chronicle

A century ago, the Mother Ship of Socialismthe Soviet Unionwas teetering on the precipice. The Poles had just vanquished the hopes of dictator Vladimir Lenin to sweep across Europe. Under the bludgeon of Marxist central planning, the economy had collapsed to a fraction of its pre-war dimensions. The country was seething in discontent. Insurrection seemed imminent. Indeed, the month of March 1921 had begun with hungry Soviet soldiers and sailors mounting the Kronstadt Rebellion against the Bolshevik regime.

What was Lenins remedy for his unfolding socialist catastrophe? It wasnt more socialism, at least for the moment. That would be like chasing a glass of tainted water with a gallon of Clorox. Desperate to reverse the consequences of socialism, Lenin turned to their only known antidotecapitalism.

Sunday marked the 100th anniversary of the start of Lenins New Economic Policy (NEP). In a stunning about-face on March 21, 1921, the NEP began undoing the previous four years. Expropriation of businesses and the nationalization of industries stopped. Lenin proclaimed a partial restoration of, in his own words, a free market and capitalism. Even state-owned firms would seek to operate on a profit basis. Individuals could own small enterprises again. Market prices would be permitted in place of state directives.

A little bit of freedom goes a long way. In this instance, it turned the economy around and saved the infant Bolshevik tyranny. But it did not last long. Three years later, Lenin would be dead. Before the end of the decade, Stalin obliterated the NEP with a massive collectivist campaign to re-socialize the economy. Of the NEP, former US national security advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski wrote in his 1989 book, The Grand Failure, For many Russians, even more than sixty years later, these were the best years of the era ushered in by the revolution of 1917.

On that March day in 1921, the very day winter bowed to spring, the socialists in Moscow effectively admitted they had to stop stealing. There just was not much left to steal. In a 1990 article, economist Peter Boettke cited a litany of mea culpas from leading Soviet intellectuals, including a most revealing tribute to free market economist Ludwig von Mises from socialist architect Nikolai Bukharin. He grudgingly admitted that Misess devastating critique of socialism made him one of the most learned critics.

It would be Mises, nearly 30 years later in Human Action, who expressed the distinction between socialism and capitalism in the following eloquent fashion:

A man who chooses between drinking a glass of milk and a glass of a solution of potassium cyanide does not choose between two beverages; he chooses between life and death. A society that chooses between capitalism and socialism does not choose between two social systems; it chooses between social cooperation and the disintegration of society. Socialism is not an alternative to capitalism; it is an alternative to any system under which men can live as human beings.

Many socialists, however, stubbornly adhere to their vision no matter what happens along the way. Some will read the above paragraphs and object that what Lenin sought to reverse was a more radical version of their philosophy. They will say, Were not for that! We are democratic socialists! as if the veneer of democracy blesses socialisms multitudinous sins. The truth is this: disastrous policies are disastrous policies; it does not matter much that their advocates were voted in.

The track record of the 20th century brand of socialism often labeled communism is horrificthe worst mass murdering cause in world history. The Black Book of Communism documented its crimes, including the murder of more than 100 million people.

Democratic socialism may be more seductive and less bloody but it too has a miserable track record. Like its nuttier communist cousin, it consumes lives and wealth and must sooner or later be administered the capitalist antidote. If countries embrace democratic socialism and stay afloat, their longevity is always explained not by the socialism they adopt, but rather, by the capitalism they have not yet destroyed. And the more a country drowns itself in democratic socialism, the more the democracy part evaporates in the face of concentrated state power.

Socialists and socialism possess no theory of wealth creation; indeed, they show no interest in it. Wealth is just there for them to vilify, confiscate and redistributeuntil its producers produce no more. Long-term thinking is not their strong suit.

The next time you hear a democratic socialist declare that his system hasnt been tried yet, reel off this list for starters (for more, check out the recommended readings below):

Ancient Romes Republic began its deadly experiment in democratic socialism in the 2nd Century B.C. It began as a welfare state, degenerated into a regulatory nightmare and finally collapsed into an imperial autocracy. Legislative assemblies voted into office by the Roman electorate constructed the socialist edifice brick by brick. Rome was not built in a day, but concentrated state power had no trouble tearing it down completely.

The Pilgrims of Plymouth, Massachusetts famously tried another version of democratic socialism seventeen centuries later. It was the communal variety, in which they placed the fruits of their labors into a common storehouse and then distributed it to each other equally. Their Governor was elected, by the way, which made it democratic. Starvation forced them to scrap it rather quickly in favor of private property.

Adolf Hitlers National Socialists came to power through the democratic process in 1933. Oops, back to the drawing board for socialists on that one too!

After World War II, Great Britain voted the democratic socialists into power and turned the country into the Sick Man of Europe. Margaret Thatcher administered a strong dose of capitalism 30 years later, before the patient would have expired.

Scandinavia adopted the welfare state version of socialism around the same time as Britain. Economic decline set in as it took hold. But Norwegians, Danes and Swedes learned much from their mistakes and reversed many of them. Today, their economies are among the freest in the world.

New Zealand found itself mired in the doldrums of democratic socialism by the 1980s but recovered dramatically through drastic reductions in government. (See New Zealands Path to Prosperity Began With Rejecting Democratic Socialism.)

On and on it goes, like a broken record. Socialists make big promises, wrap them in velvet, and beat the economy into submission using the iron fist within. Then when its victims have had enough, capitalism must come to the rescue.

Wouldnt it make a lot more sense to simply avoid the socialist trap in the first place?

Soviet Admissions: Communism Doesnt Work by Peter J. Boettke

Private Ownership: A Must by Henry Hazlitt

The Soviet Tragedy: A History of Socialism in Russia, 1917-1991 and Russia Under the Bolshevik Regime by Richard Pipes, Martin Malia and Ralph Raico

Socialism: Force or Fantasy by Lawrence W. Reed

Four Ways Socialism is Anti-Social by Lawrence W. Reed

Margaret Thatcher on Socialism: 20 of Her Best Quotes by Lawrence W. Reed

The British Parliamentarian Who Jumped Ship from Socialism by Lawrence W. Reed

Socialism on My Mind by Lawrence W. Reed

61 Quick Facts and Observations on Socialism, Jesus and Wealth by Jon Miltimore

A Revolution to Always Remember but Never Celebrate by Lawrence W. Reed

Dont Call Scandinavian Countries Socialist by Lawrence W. Reed

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When the Soviets Admitted Socialism Doesn't Work - Foundation for Economic Education

In China, Yang Lians poetry has been banned, destroyed and derided as spiritual pollution.

The censorship began in earnest in the early 1980s, after Yang wrote the poem Nuorilang, which deploys Tibetan mythology and was seen as a critique of Han Chinese nationalism. It reached its peak in the wake of the Tiananmen Square massacre and another poem, 1989, in which he said the violence and suppression were nothing new and they signified no doubt a perfectly ordinary year.

But in Britain, Germany, Spain, Italy and Scandinavia, the dissident is hailed as a literary superstar, a poet praised by Allen Ginsberg before the Beat poets death for his individualism, and even tipped as a future Nobel laureate.

To his mantelpiece of honours, as of yesterday, Yang can add another: the inaugural Sarah Maguire Prize for Poetry in Translation, for his book Anniversary Snow. He shares what will be a biennial award in memory of one of Britains most distinguished champions of international poetry with his long-time Scottish translator, Brian Holton.

Yang describes the process of reinventing his work in English as like growing a second tree but from the same root. But this second tree, I have to say, is a very beautiful tree.

Were sort of like the Morecambe and Wise of our language pair, says Holton, who has worked with Yang since 1993. I dont know of any other translator and poet whove stayed together so long.

The Scotsman is delighted, too, to see some adulation for his own craft. Translators always feel underappreciated, you know. As I have written, the translation may be a cover version, but some cover versions are as good as the original. Some are better, even.

Read more:
China is the worst capitalism plus the worst socialism: poet Yang Lian on the regime he fled - Telegraph.co.uk

The statement but real Socialism has never been tried can be seen on forums across the internet. It really is quite fascinating how convinced many people are by this statement. The underlying implication is that these forum commenters think that they know what real socialism is and that they could make it work. Not only is this incredibly narcissistic, but its a fundamental untruth. Socialism has been tried again and again, and it just hasnt succeeded. I think American economist Thomas Sowell says it best. Socialism in general has a record of failure so blatant that only an intellectual could ignore or evade it. Even countries that were once more prosperous than their neighbors have found themselves much poorer than their neighbors after just one generation of socialistic policies.

Socialism in general has a record of failure so blatant that only an intellectual could ignore or evade it

Thomas Sowell

This is not for lack of effort on the part of those that have tried to implement a socialist form of government, but because the Father of Socialism, Karl Marxs theory is dependent on a continuous transformation of human nature, these attempts have taken many forms. Whilst cultural norms do slowly shift over time, the basic principles of human nature are static. For thousands of years, subsistence agriculture was the primary source of food for the majority of families. If a family had a little surplus, they didnt hand it off to whoever owned their land for even distribution. They fed their own children a little more or stored it in case next years crop failed. A 21st century American would do the same with a little extra money. Given the choice between handing it over to the government in hopes they disperse it evenly or spending it on loved ones, pretty much everyone would spend it on their loved ones. A person putting their loved ones before strangers is human nature. Being wary of the people who hold power is also human nature. Even if the system in place to collect and distribute resources from each according to his abilities and to each according to his needs, was miraculously one hundred percent free from corruption, human nature makes it unsustainable. It doesnt matter how magnanimous you believe yourself to be.

Consider your grade point average. If its at or near a 4.0, you very likely had to put in a lot of work to earn it. That probably involved missing out on nights with your friends, putting a stop to Netflix binges, and dealing with a chronically high stress level for months on end. Seeing those high marks on your transcript though really makes it worth it. Now imagine that, after getting near perfect scores on every exam, you look at your transcript and realize you ended up with straight Cs. You ask the professor what your final percentage in the class was and are informed it was well within what is usually the A range from that class. So why did you get a C? The professor tells you that new school policy is that grades have to be distributed evenly since some kids struggle in school or have other commitments that eat into their study time. They cant prove that any given student was slacking off or if they truly were having trouble, so to be fair they just spread out all earned percentage points in the class evenly.

Can you honestly say that you would miss out on nights out with your friends the next semester to study for hours before an exam that you will get a C on whether you study or not? A person that would is certainly too rare for a socialist grading system like this to work. Working for no incentive is against human nature, and thus that system would not be sustainable.

Some like to point out things that are government funded like K-12 schools, USPS and the DMV as a form of socialism. Even if someone believes that to be true, thats not a good argument. A 2014 study conducted by the ACT found that homeschooled students had composite scores an average of 2.2 points higher than public school students. A package from the USPS takes an average of 4-5 days to arrive at its destination compared to Amazons average of 2-3 days. As for the DMV, its not uncommon to sit and wait around for 2 hours before its your turn to go up to the counter. People across the country will tell you most government services arent known for being efficient or easy to deal with.

People that call for less government intervention and socialism in the same breath seem to have missed the fact that a big government is necessary to oversee any socialist system. All four countries currently classified as socialist are unitary one-party states. Take that information as you will.

Continued here:
Yes, We Have Tried Real Socialism - Kent Kaiser