The divisions in this election are deep and widening across the country. When I called this “an age of rage” years ago, I noted that the rage historically tends to burn off in time. We are clearly still at the flow rather than the ebb stage as rage politics continues. However, the most worrisome elements of this period are fundamental changes being demanded to our constitutional and economic systems. A new poll by The Economist/YouGov is consistent with other polls showing rising support among Democrats for socialism. More Democrats (38%) prefer socialism to capitalism (25%). Other polls show 60% had a favorable view of socialism and only 32% had favorable views of capitalism.
Capitalism is still favored by 79% of Republicans in comparison to only 5% favoring socialism. The poll of independents showed 44% favored capitalism, with only 21% favoring socialism.
As I wrote in Rage and the Republic, the success of this Republic was a mix of Enlightenment and free-market principles. It was the combination of economic and political liberty that produced the most successful republic in history. This is the 250th anniversary not just of our Revolution but of the release of Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations.
The founders knew that true individual liberty could not be achieved without economic freedom. Smith’s idea of the “invisible hand” offered an idea of individual economic freedom where the individual tastes and choices of citizens drove whole economies.
As I write in Rage and the Republic:
“While he never visited the United States, his theories seemed quintessentially American to many of his generation. For a revolution that was triggered by tariffs and fueled by events like the Boston Tea Party, Smith’s general principles read like an economic version of Common Sense. It was a type of declaration of independence not just from the British policy of mercantilism (emphasizing British exports over imports) but from economic controls over individual productivity and self-determination….
In summary, Smith was first and foremost viewed as a political theorist, and his economic theories were closely tied to his views on the natural liberties of humanity. He saw capitalism as a liberating system that gave individuals the wealth and resources to pursue their chosen paths. Conversely, he saw government controls and subsidies as forms of control and potentially forms of suppression of the human will. If people are to be truly free, they must have the resources to pursue that freedom. The government dole can become a type of servitude or at least a subterfuge for citizens. If they are dependent on the government, they are never truly free.”
I believe the key to our surviving and thriving in the 21st Century will be preserving what I call a “liberty-enhancing economy.”
The rise of the Democratic Socialist Party has fueled the trend away from capitalism with calls “to dismantle the capitalist state.”. Many of the rising candidates have spent years working the anti-capitalist movement. For example, Senate Democrat nominee James Talarico appeared intent on bringing a touch of Trotsky to Texas. In a video from a climate forum, Talarico is shown declaring capitalism an “oppressive system” linked with white supremacy and that it must be “dismantled” to achieve a better world. It is reminiscent of Leon Trotsky, who denounced the “fundamental evil of the capitalist system” and called on citizens to free themselves from its oppression.
As a state representative, Talarico addressed the 2020 climate conference with an attack on capitalism:
“I’m so thankful that you asked this question and also thankful that young activists have really drawn the link between climate change and White supremacy and capitalism in our country … And I think only ending the ways that all three of those oppressive systems work together are we gonna be able to begin the process of dismantling them.”
Talarico’s views closely parallel socialist and communist talking points online. Democratic Socialists of America has challenged people to “Imagine the end of capitalism.” Those words in the Democratic Socialists of America manifesto offer Americans a world without landlords, debt, mandatory work hours, and “food, education, energy, medicine, and transportation… are common goods and utilities.”
The DSA is premised on the same stated objective of Talarico, declaring that there has to be “a revolutionary transformation to replace the capitalist social order based on exploitation and oppression.”
Other candidates have sought to pander to this radical mob. Recently, California Gov. Gavin Newsom thrilled the mob by declaring that “nostalgia is not working,” adding that “capitalism as we know it doesn’t work either.” He also recently said that the DSA is the future of the Democratic Party.
The Framers understood that political rights mean little without economic freedom. Capitalism offered citizens the ability to transcend class and social barriers, to advance as far as their skills and labor would take them.
Together, those political and economic theories created the most prosperous and stable democratic system in the world. That system is now under attack on both sides.
“You know, when people’s voice start getting squeaky and really high pitched, usually they’re lying. And Ashley Moody knows that I’m not a socialist,” Nixon said, claiming to only join DSA because she aligns with them on “fighting for adequate public housing, as well as fighting for quality health care, as well as making sure that we are getting our veterans off the street, taking big money out of politics.”
The success of politicians like Zohran Mamdani in promising to introduce people to the “warmth of collectivism” has only worked due to a young generation with no memory of the failure of the socialist systems in the last century.
As I explain in “Rage and the Republic,” the French economy collapsed, as the British economy had earlier during the “winter of discontent” under Labour Prime Minister James Callaghan. Britain was even forced to seek a loan from the International Monetary Fund.
Both France and Britain would later reintroduce capitalist policies and roll back socialist policies to stop the economic collapse.
We also tried collectivist policies in cities across this country, including a commune on Long Island called Modern Times (now called Brentwood). It lasted about ten years before collapsing.
Yet, candidates such as Colorado’s Democrat congressional candidate Melat Kiros recently declared that there is nothing more American than socialism.
In places like New York, that message has resonated more with young college-aged voters than with blue-collar voters. Indeed, the DSA admits it has not done well at attracting actual blue-collar workers. Indeed, almost one-third of DSA members earn over $100,000.
This election is being fueled by temporary economic fluctuations in gas prices and other conditions. Those are real issues that citizens must grapple with. However, a more fundamental debate is just beginning over the economic principles that will guide this country in the future.
Jonathan Turley is a law professor and the New York Times best-selling author of “Rage and the Republic: The Unfinished Story of the American Revolution.”
You can practically see the flop sweat dripping from the brow of Professor Turley has he tries one more scare tactic on the day of the blue tsunami. No dice, Professor – today is the beginning of the of Trump and MAGA. Good riddance.
Media Matters is not sending us their best.
x (the good one),
Nope. I mean, “today is the beginning of the of Trump and MAGA.”
Okay.
It’s the beginning of the end for MAGA. Slightly.
Don’t forget to remember. Good morning! It lexicon Tuesday where we all select the words we use to detail our lives, place ourselves in categories and define for the general public who we are. Some of the better ideas were brought about by Edward Johnson in the Checks and Balances article this morning. He urged us to remember the abuses of monarchy in any one of the branches. He reminded us to place front and center the urgency of Federalist 51 and the protections we create when we think and do for ourselves. They are worth nurturing because when you look back on your choices and feel the exhale of relief that you decided to think for yourself and not have someone else do your thinking for you, telling you what to eat, what to say, what to think. Sapere Aude is the motto of the enlightenment. It translates to “dare to know”. Make up your own mind and speak through voting. It was at this time the original board of directors of the United States reminded us that any one of the branches can become too much and leadership too unbalanced. Voting corrects this imbalance. Stand up, put your shoes on, walk to the car, drive to the voting place and control what happens to you. Have a meaningful life!
I have in my household someone who endorses ‘socialism’ and also a cousin who endorses it. Both are fond of Bernie Sanders. One is a quondam IT tech, the other a jack-of-several-trades whose preferred trade is ‘writing instructor’. Neither have made a hobby during their life of studying political economy. One I am certain and one I’ll wager would be confounded if you began discussing ordinary economic phenomena because their mental filing system has no place for it. They have their suspicions and resentments and that’s to what ‘socialism’ amounts.
==
In neither case does it have anything to do with welfare dependency. My cousin is very nimble and takes whatever job he can do wherever he can to keep earning. The closest he’s ever been to dependency was time in jail and his father’s last months in a nursing home (financed how idk). The other was between the ages of 21 and 66 employed f/t year round about 90% of the time (though incorporating sick leaves that amounted to about six months in sum); she’s never collected unemployment, never filed a workman’s comp claim, never signed up for SNAP, never signed up for AFDC / TANF, never signed up for Medicaid, has no veterans’ benefits, never received disaster relief, and was never adjudicated as disabled. She paid payroll taxes for 46 years (with some interruptions) and now collects Social Security and Medicare. She did arrange for Medicaid financing of her step-father’s two year stay in a local nursing home as the man was in hopeless condition and didn’t have squat other than the Social Security benefits forwarded to the nursing home operator.
==
Understanding the discontents of the poll respondents is not a straightforward task. We can blame the schools. During COVID, many parents were most surprised at what they observed of their children’s zoom lessons. That having been said, the schools in my lifetime have seldom if ever been defenders of the economic order in any obvious way. The family members to whom I’m referring saw the midpoint of their schooling in 1968 and 1996 respectively. Neither has spent much time in leftoid parts of the country.
All hail Lennon and Marx
https://firesigntheatre.com/catalogue-index/2018/11/28/how-can-you-be-in-two-places-at-once-when-youre-not-anywhere-at-all
As is always the case with Turley, certain facts are taken out of context or twisted to fit a specific partisan narrative.
The reality is that a majority of the conservative base has no real concept of what “socialism” or “communism” actually means. These words are used purely for denigration—and it works, so long as no one is forced to define them or their many iterations.
What we are seeing is not state-controlled socialism, but Democratic Socialism, which is remarkably different from what Turley and those in the MAGA-verse want to believe. The truth is that many democratic socialist policies actually do work, and they have functioned successfully for years in places like the Nordic countries.
While Turley is correct about the polling numbers, he misinterprets what they mean. Democrats are not embracing authoritarian socialism; they are opening up to democratic socialism largely because Donald Trump’s economic policies failed to lower the cost of living and make life more affordable. Concern over affordability is universal. Everyday Republicans are also deeply worried about the cost of living, yet their politicians keep campaigning on social issues like immigration and transgender “threats” rather than the economy. Voters want things to be more affordable, but Republican legislators have failed to address these issues. Because they lack an effective economic message and a policy to back it up, they are avoiding campaigning on Trump’s failed economic policies altogether.
The reality is that a majority of the conservative base has no real concept of what “socialism” or “communism” actually means.
==
Thanks for the projection Mr. Dunning-Kruger.
Nope. That’s a fact small x. MAGA has no idea how to define those words. It’s like fascist. Anything they don’t like is…fascist, communist, Marxist, socialist, etc. depends on their mood.
Are you joking? The polls Turley is talking about ask about Socialism, not Democratic Socialism. You are imagining that the Democrats confuse the two, and so you are claiming actually that the Democrats don’t understand the terms. As for fascist – the Democrats call Trump that all the time, which is obviously not true, and so again it is they that don’t know what words mean.
That you claim to know “as a fact” that MAGA has no idea what terms mean is beyond ridiculous. Apparently you don’t know what the word fact means.
Goodbeavis, nope. Not claiming that at all. Where did I claim that?
Turley uses the term “socialist” like MAGA does for everything. It’s not the kind of socialism Democrats support.
“That you claim to know “as a fact” that MAGA has no idea what terms mean is beyond ridiculous.”
I stand by that claim, because it’s true.
“Nope.”
“Nope”
“I stand by that claim.”
Aw, georgie learned so much copying others on this blog.
The poll asks about Socialism, not Democratic Socialism. You say the Democrats mean the latter. Logically, that means that they don’t understand the terms. Pretty simple.
“Fact” is different than opinion. You thinking you speak for all MAGA and claim as fact as to what they don’t understand is again, ridiculous.
The term ‘fact’ does not mean what you fancy it means.
Yellow X, you wrote on this blog just a few weeks ago that Democrats are enthusiastic capitalists. I disputed that, suggesting that everything you say is just designed to confuse and conceal. Now you’ve switched your argument to democratic socialism is good–another maneuver intended to deceive those you despise. Gotcha.
Democratic socialism is stupid. People can’t vote themselves into prosperity. All they’ll do is vote themselves a free lunch. On paper, communism makes more sense than democratic socialism because at least there is an authority to overrule the excesses of democracy. Unfortunately, communism only outlasts democratic socialism because it has all the guns. Eventually, the extreme concentration of power corrupts even communism.
No economy is purely capitalist. In the West, we practice convergent economics. The government does some things, and the market does the rest. The question isn’t which is better but rather what is the correct mix. That’s not easy to answer, BUT when social security and Medicare are bankrupt, public education is a farce, and government debt is out of control, it’s safe to say we’re too close to socialism for our own good.
This is a strange election, BTW. People are voting for the party of bashing gasoline because the price of gasoline is too high. That makes no walking around sense, but I’m sure you’ll conjure some nonsense to explain it all away.
I only write this for the benefit of those who might be taken in by you.
What the Democrats do is manufacture (quite unnecessarily) patron-client relationships which are brokered by politicians and require their maintenance.
Truth.
Diogenes,
Democratic socialism is not only stupid, but it failed. Just ask Sweden.
https://brianowendoff380627.substack.com/p/the-scandinavian-myth-why-sweden
Excellent example!
This is the age of oligarchs who employ millionaires to convince the middle and lower classes to become minions to the billionaires. The rage is manufactured by those getting the message out in order to distract from the leading of the majority of Americans to the economic slave estate.
Why can’t the traitors who are attempting to destroy our constitutional republic be stripped of their US citizenship & deported?
Let’s start with Jack Smith.
The arguments tend to join issue as economic models. I have a suggestion on looking at the discussion as about liberty. What we have now is government is a cost of doing business. The invited replacement is business is a cost of doing government.
The title of this fallacious exposé says everything about how ignorant and delusional we are today. Our system of government cannot have empowered political parties fighting over control to make policy to determine the direction of the country, and socialism and capitalism are economic systems, not governing systems. What democrats and republicans believe in is irrelevant and inconsequential in the United States of America, which is different from the united States which is the union assembled in a congress as a decision-making instrument of the States to determine all acts and things the States may of right do collectively as a free and independent State.
Government is based upon consumption, economics is based upon Return on Investment (ROI). Meaning the government is a consumer not a producer. We do not have a Gross Domestic Product, we do not have State or Federal economies, the government doesn’t produce anything and we do not create, or facilitate the creation, of wealth.
Furthermore, elections cannot have consequences because the composition and distribution of power in our legislative assemblies, State and Federal, are specified immutably before those bodies are assembled, there are no seats to win, and a majority is determined by consensus not assembly to control the operation and output of the legislative body. This concept of reforming government based upon competitive elections for power and control is a European Parliamentary characteristic, not a principle of democracy, nor any democratic or republican form of government, which are all democratic forms of government, one is participation in person, which is only possible for small populations, and the other is an extension of in person participation to large populations through an exact “representation” of the population which allows participation as if present in person.
Government facilitates decisions based upon cost/benefit, the greatest benefit at the lowest cost, not ROI as the government is neither a producer or investor. By the way, no one today understands socialism or capitalism anyway, or the controls that must be in place flr either to function to their purpose.
It is more than possible, probable, that there is no clear definition of socialism in anyone’s thinking. Depending on the respondent, it could mean
The Democrats, for decades, have mastered the art of the one-issue voter. It may be that the poll only reflects a multitude of definitions.
When a large portion of the electorate are on some form of government support, other than social security, they will always vote to continue the freebies. Also as long as those same people do not pay or pay a small amount of taxes, they will not care about rising taxes. They will only care when there are not enough people with money and they lose the freebies.
We are in unsustainable monetary conditions. Providing free food and other benefits are not guaranteed rights in the constitution. The congress at any time can limit or eliminate much of the social welfare laws or programs. There may be delays by activist judges but in the end if congress passed they can revoke.
Then rage will raise its ugly head and we will experience what France and Europe are now.
Don’t feed them. Don’t house them. They have guns.
What happens next?
Put them in prison and feed them and house them there for a higher cost?
MAGA farmers are on some sort of government support. Thanks to Trump’s tariffs. They do love their handouts while griping about free handouts for someone else. Crazy stuff.
Government intervention in agriculture prior to 1916 consisted of homesteading laws. The real plunge into it occurred during the New Deal. There is less government intervention in agriculture than there has been at any time since 1934.
Which came first, the progressive agenda or the indoctrinated tool? Of course, anyone still considering remaining a democrat is either fully indoctrinated or ritually democrat because of past past family precedences. Either way, they are on a preconditioned auto pilot and have not used their critical thinking function (if they had one) and just obey.
Funny, of all the crazies here, you of all the crazies claim to possess “critical thinking function”.
More Dunning-Kruger.
“Most democrats are in favor of socialism”, because they THINK that everything they have and enjoy now will just be compounded, they’ll lose nothing but enjoy all the “free” stuff touted. When they find there’s a cost to all the “free” stuff they’ll cry foul. They’ll want to return to good old capitalism but will find their commi leaders will put the boot on their necks. When they start digging into people’s bank accounts to pay for “free” stuff they’ll cry foul. Remember Janet Yellen tax unrealized gain, stock, home values, bank accounts?
The Democrats seem to be operating an aspiring Cargo Plane Cult this time around. We shouldn’t have lowered the minimum voting age down to 18.
100% agree. And we shouldn’t have passed Amendment XVII
I’d be surprised if more than half the Democrats who support Socialism over Capitalism were able to define either “ism”. Or were able to describe the history of success/failure of either “ism”.
I think it’s more likely that they support “give me, give me, give me” over everything else.
Excellent point. Totally agree. They will say “give me, give me, give me” but the shelves will be empty. I believe the increasing temporal distance between the daily news and images about the Soviet Union and prominent defectors contributes to the ignorance of those who didn’t live through the Cold War. Nothing surprising there. The SDS protesters in Chicago in 1968 became the academics who brainwashed the next generations to form the DSA. We’re so done.
Mary,
You are so right. When President Carter convinced the Soviet Union to allow Jews to leave, I hosted a couple of families who got out. One evening I picked up a young couple at the airport and drove them to my hometown (an upscale community in New Jersey). Although the stores were closed for the evening, the lights were on in the window displays. When the young stylish Russian woman saw the upscale display of stylish shoes, she (without thinking) blurted out “Shoes!”. She was astonished to see shoes for sale.
Soviet industry was famous for the phenomenon of ‘value subtraction’ – e.g. materials for the manufacture of shoes which would sell on the international market for more than the finished shoes would.
==
Scarcity and cost are phenomena in any economy. In the Soviet economy, they rationed with administrative directives and with queues. There were prices, but all the prices were prescribed by state agencies.
X,
It’s not about economics. It’s about George Orwell’s “Animal Farm”. The Communist Party leaders had all the shoes they wanted.
“able to define either “ism”. Can you?
Anonymous,
Thank you for admitting you can’t. Thank you for proving my point.
‘Capitalism’ refers to the division of labor in an economy of private enterprise, when labor, management, ownership, finance, underwriting, and power generation are distributed between different parties. ‘Socialism’ is a shorthand for widespread state ownership of capital equipment and housing, central planning (especially of factors of production), and widespread redistribution of benefits.
“‘Capitalism’ refers to…an economy of private enterprise…” ‘Socialism’ is a shorthand for…state ownership…”
Your definitions are accurate. One persistent problem is that nearly all political writers, unfortunately including our host, pretend (or actually believe, which would be inexcusable stupidity) that the correct definition of capitalism includes government-enabled protectionism and cronyism, which it certainly does not. That mistake has deep historical roots, but that does not excuse it. How many who currently evince sympathy for socialism as a remedy for capitalism would continue to do so if they understood that all of the current government-dependent special/protected interest corporations (defense contractors, social service contractors, and those in many other categories) would be required to compete with all others based on cost vs value (a level playing field) in a truly capitalistic economic system, and also comprehended the potential benefits to themselves from a capitalistic system that excluded government from choosing winners and losers?
Democratic, National Socialists under a Diversity umbrella armed with a liberal license. Abort?
The push among Leftists, Democrats and American Marxists away from the principles which spawned the most successful nation in the history of the planet began accelerating when the usurper who promised a “fundamental transformation” of that nation toward the dark and somber clouds of socialism took office in January, 2009. The precipitation from those clouds now becomes an ugly torrent. Memo to the electorate: don’t vote for ineligible presidential candidates.
The principles that spawned the most successful nation in the history of the planet were slavery and genocide of native peoples.
As much as I am not liking what I am seeing right now with the Democrats, I take heart that this too shall pass. They will burn themselves out and get voted out when the taxes go up and things get worse. At their core Democrats are as chicken hearted as their Republican counterparts. When it is obvious they are losing elections, they will modify and change.
In the meantime, grab the pop corn.
and wait for the Republican debacle in 2028. It’s over.
Alright MAGAots. You day has come. MAGA dies today! Power to the people!
And if the Blue wave never materializes, then what?
Democrats are again fighting a CIVIL WAR
they hate America
they LOVE illegals and criminals
Time to DEFUND them. Always better to destroy the fascists earlier rather than later! GOP has to stop being fair and nice!
What an impressively stupid comment.
How so?