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.”
Thou Shalt Not Covet
Thou Shalt Not Bear False Witness
Thou Shalt Not Steal
________________________
The communist parasites, from Karl Marx (i.e. sickly invalid and drunk) down, are consumed with jealousy of other people’s money; they lie to obtain other people’s money, and, therefore, they steal other people’s money by majority votes, which the Constitution and Bill of Rights preclude.
The American Founders provided freedom that is all that good people need—the one thing good people need.
The vote was restricted at the inception of democracy in Greece and the perpetuation of democracy in Rome and the United States.
The Constitution provides for the vote to be restricted by state legislatures, which have failed to understand their duty.
No viable organization allows its workforce to direct and execute its operations.
Congress may not tax for charity or favor, and Congress may regulate only the “value of money,” “commerce among nations, states, and Indian tribes,” and “land and naval Forces,” per Article 1, Section 8.
Marc Elias needs to lawyer up. Democrats are already circling their wagons to defend him and cast aspersions on the DOJ.
The Wall Street Journal
@WSJ
The Justice Department has sent letters to more than a dozen people telling them they might be targets in its criminal investigation into the potential manipulation of the Alaska Senate race, including top Democratic lawyer Marc Elias
https://x.com/WSJ/status/2117719163175068009
==
In other news, “I voted for the first time in my life a straight Republican ticket” is trending on Twitter/X, comments made by self-proclaimed die-hard Democrats: blacks, hispanics and the alphabet people (LGBTQ) etc
Adam B. Coleman, Proud Father & Imperfect Man
@wrong_speak
Well, I did the thing you’re not supposed to do.
I voted down ballot Republican while being black in New Jersey.
I had no choice because I’m not voting for progressives and commies and no amount of racial expectation can get me to vote for open border politicians.
https://x.com/wrong_speak/status/2117597216122585263
As with most all polls, the fundamental flaw with the one conducted by Economist/YouGov is the uncomplicated and superficial question it asks. “Which is the better economic system?” offers no assurance that respondents sufficiently understand the subject matter. It is encouraging that the 38% of democrats who responded “Not sure” effectually allowed for their lack of adequate knowledge, but can anyone be as sure about the other 38% who may think they know what socialism is and/or how it can be made different from what it has historically been?
Once we are through the current “affordability” turmoil and have been given to greater experience that government supervision of our lives is no panacea, present day would-be socialists will rediscover that income inequality is not a bugaboo but rather a result essential to the welfare and prosperity of the whole of our human condition.
Actually, the fundamental flaw in all polls is that the average person is pretty stupid.
As George Carlin famously said, “Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.”
By definition, 50% of people are below average intelligence. And MAGA morons are even lower than that.
S@@libs, I need help from my moral bettors with this one! A common refrain when socialists are confronted with the past shortcomings of their system is “well the right people weren’t running it.” What makes today’s DSA folks believe they will be any better?
Calling me a ‘racist’ or ‘nazi’ for having doubts about the upcoming socialist paradise is not a reply.
antonio
It is becoming increasingly clear, that a Civil War between the Constitutional Republic v. Communist Republic is in the foreseeable future!
The healthcare issue hasnt asked physicians if the agree with dem dreams. Health insurance controls medicine? The cost of insurance doesn’t have a limit.
*hasn’t * they
Contemporary “Democratic Socialism” reawakens, repackages, and reactivates 45 Communist Party [CP] Goals published in the January 10, 1963 Congressional Record. These publicized destructive goals were designed to undermine and overthrow the U.S. and remain active – serving as an influential blueprint for the present day USA chaos and turmoil.
Reading and reflecting upon the below 45 Goals will serve to assist in “making sense” of the increasing overt agitation and political unrest occurring within the USA, and other parts of the Western World over the past several decades.
Western Civilization beyond U.S. borders also remains under ongoing attacks by this Totalitarian Ideology whose applied practices are repressive, and suppress dissent. Furthermore, it is arguably important to comprehend that like “a rose by any other name is still a rose”, the essence of Totalitarianism by any other name remains Totalitarianism.
Further proof of the active infiltrating and implanting similar and variations of these 45 planned destructive goals is clearly revealed and delineated within the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) 2026 national policy platform called “Workers Deserve More”. The DSA policy platform content is easily accessed via an online search.
Unsettlingly, combining “socialist” and “workers” in a political party’s name/policy evokes a chilling historical association: “Nazi” is a phonetic abbreviation of the National Socialist German Workers Party.
The Founders understood that the greatest threat to individual liberty was not necessarily a king, monarch, or tyrant, but the unchecked power of a numerical majority. They recognized that democracy, unrestrained by constitutional limitations, could become a dictatorship of the majority, permitting the many to deprive the few of their rights, property, liberty, and the fruits of their labor.
They did not establish a government to redistribute wealth, guarantee economic equality, or subordinate individual achievement to the demands of those who had less. Nor did they regard poverty as a justification for violating the rights of others. Their objective was to establish a constitutional republic in which government was limited to its enumerated powers, individual liberty was protected from popular passions, private property was respected, and every individual remained free to pursue happiness through personal initiative, industry, and self-reliance.
The genius of their Constitution was not that it empowered the majority to rule, but that it denied any majority—the rich or the poor—the authority to rule without constitutional restraint.
Does the dictatorship of the majority equate to Marx’s communism? Not precisely, but there is a significant philosophical connection. The dictatorship of the majority and Marxist communism are not synonymous, but both can result in the subordination of individual liberty to a purported collective interest.
The singular American failure is the judicial branch, with emphasis on the Supreme Court.
Anon, you may be right.
@anon. While I appreciate your view, it may also help to consider the power of a minority to overtake democracy – as illustrated in Prof. Turley’s “Rage and the Republic”. The Montagnard (Mount) ruling the “Reign of Terror” were NOT a majority, they were an acting minority who put everyone whose business or support they required with the Guillotine.
Examples of the “Rule of Minority”.
Sadam Hussein’s Sunni party (20 of the Muslim population versus the almost 80% of the Shi’ites who lived in Iraq.
Cuba’s totalitarian rule of the Castro family
THE UNITED STATES SENATE MINORITY BLOCKING ALL HOUSE RESOLUTIONS FROM REACHING THE SENATE (even Committee) THROUGH EXERCISE OF THE MINORITY FILIBUSTER. Effectively destroying the democratic (notice no D cap) process of the US Constitution
3 “Activist” SCOTUS Associate Judges who seem not to have ever read the US Constitution, using their seat as a way to write, execute, and administrate the law of the land – preferably by doxxing the Constructionist majority associates hoping that one of their opponents deaths will lead to the packing of the court in a way that democracy can be eliminated.
Welcome to America
NOTE TO SUPREME COURT:
Communism is unconstitutional per the absolute enumerated powers and restrictions on government in Article 1, Section 8.
Communism is unconstitutional per the absolute 5th Amendment right to private property.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
“In this sense, the theory of the Communists may be summed up in the single sentence: Abolition of private property.”
– Karl Marx, Communist Manifesto
There’s always competition. Walmart is entering the amazon market in distribution.
“There’s always competition. Walmart is entering the amazon market in distribution.”
This takes the thread OT, but you might want to cite a different example. Have you tried to purchase anything from that channel through the WM web page? It is effed up beyond belief. I have some issues with Amazon, but the WM site is pure and utter garbage. Each of the four or five times I have tried it, I found an item I wanted at a price I was willing to pay, then spent 10 minutes or more jumping through their hoops to get to check out, only to have them inform me at the very last step (after I had furnished my CC and shipping information) that the item was unavailable. If the WM people that run that site were in charge of a railroad, there would be high speed head-on crashes each and every day.
Say WHAAAAT? You mean the ‘Everything Should Be Free’ Gang is openly and proudly embracing the faux economic model of Other Peoples Money can give you anything you want in life via your All Knowing Government Politburo Masters? Wow, I guess the DSA finally kicked the hypocrites over the edge and no need to wear the mask of “democracy” any more.
When a goose lays golden eggs, there are two views:
1. The gold is limited, so let’s kill the goose, get the gold that’s inside, and redistribute it (putting aside the question of whether those in charge of the gold will follow through on their promise to redistribute the wealth).
2. Because the goose is valuable, let’s make sure the goose is protected and fed so it can keep laying those golden eggs.
Socialism opts for (1), while free market capitalism opts for (2). What socialism overlooks is that the goose keeps making the gold rather than laying eggs from a finite amount of it. That is what innovation, entrepreneurship, and capitalism are all about. The leftists commenting here, and saying the opposite, are (ironically) using sophisticated computers that came into existence through that very innovative process.
Anon, socialism is meant to give everyone the least they need. It isnt based in “want”, what you want or desire.
The fundamental problem with socialism is that a central planning committee decides on the price and quantity of goods and services. The members of a central planning committee could not price a chicken if their lives depended on it. Not because they’re stupid, but because there is no way of obtaining and assimilating the vast amount of information needed to arrive at a price. Only the price-signal system can do that. See F. A. Hayek, The Use of Knowledge in Society (1945).
Omfk, there’s a really nifty equation (math) that gives an optimal price. I cant find it anywhere but one consideration is the target market of the goods or services. The basic income in a town or city is one factor. It, equation produces a price that yields the greatest income.
I can’t find it anywhere. It’s lost.
Someone once said: “Capitalism is the exploitation of Man by Man. Communism is the exact opposite.” It is magical thinking to believe that social, economic and political hierarchy will ever disappear. They will just change their names. Suggesting that bosses or landlords or other forms of hierarchy will disappear is a form of exploitation of human weakness, like legalizing gambling or drug usage.
The really s0a9f thing is that They dont even know what socialism is.