Socialists are coming for the Democratic Party

Smitty

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Rick Newman
Senior Columnist
Yahoo FinanceJuly 24, 2018

If you don’t like President Trump’s economic policies, you might have an even worse choice in upcoming elections: socialism.

As Democrats try to figure out how to counter Trump, they’re lining up behind some Bernie Sanders ideas from 2016, including “Medicare for all” and free college for everybody: Appealing ideas, as long as you don’t consider the cost. Unspeakably expensive, if you do.

Now comes Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a charismatic, 28-year-old Latina who upset an old-guard Democrat in a New York House primary on June 26 and will probably be headed to Congress next year. Ocasio-Cortez is a self-proclaimed Democratic socialist who’s even more leftist than Bernie Sanders, and her ascent has triggered hopes among some that the Democrat Party will become a sort of workers collectivist movement.

Except that’s not what Americans want. Americans’ impression of the federal government has fallen sharply and consistently since 2002, and it’s not just a Trump phenomenon. Only 18% of Americans say they trust the government these days, a portion that’s only slightly lower than during Barack Obama’s presidency. Yet the leftist solutions to legitimate problems almost always involve huge new bureaucracies that will somehow do everything better than private-sector entities.

Trump’s tax-cut legislation is unpopular, but that sure doesn’t mean Americans favor the huge tax hikes that would be necessary to establish or expand a vast array of new government agencies and benefits. People dislike the Trump tax cuts because they feel the wealthy benefit too much and the middle class too little. That’s not the same as “Raise my taxes to make government bigger.”

Ocasio-Cortez belongs to the Democratic Socialists of America, which dates to 1971 and supports some of the worst economic ideas in history. Here’s an example of what it stands for: “Very large, strategically important sectors of the economy — such as housing, utilities and heavy industry — would be subject to democratic planning outside the market, while a market sector consisting of worker-owned and -operated firms would be developed for the production and distribution of many consumer goods.”

That’s the old Soviet model of central planning, which has failed everywhere it has been tried because as bad as capitalist abuses can be at times, a government-run economy is infinitely worse. They still haven’t gotten the memo in Venezuela, where inflation is approaching 1 million percent because corrupt socialist leaders can’t figure out how to bake bread or pump oil. Thing is, they shouldn’t have to.

Socialism is apparently becoming trendy. At least 42 socialists are running for office this year, according to the Associated Press. In a Harvard poll, one-third of millennials said they support socialism, with capitalism edging it out by just nine percentage points. A group of liberals in Congress has drafted a “people’s budget” that would fund trillions of dollars in new federal programs and soak the rich to subsidize the poor.

Awful socialist ideas arise in response to legitimate problems. The U.S. health care system is broken and discriminatory. Quality education is too expensive. Income inequality is too severe. The Trump tax cuts did disproportionately favor the wealthy, and may be clawed back amid the next populist revolt.

But putting government in charge of the parts of capitalism that work—namely, the efficient production of most things—would wreck economic growth and lower living standards, uh, collectively. There are better ways to fix real problems, including bipartisan efforts at health and education reform, including smaller, regional programs that can be scaled up if they work.

Some Democrats, such as House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, have tried to swat down efforts to socialize the Democratic Party, aware that large blocs of pragmatic independents and other swing voters may flee just when Democrats need them the most. Maybe they should tell genuine socialists to drop the “Democratic” part. Rational centrism is still the best antidote to Trump radicalism.
 

Smitty

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I'm mildly pleased at the pushback against socialism that we're seeing make it's rounds through the media right now; though it may be more concerned about winning elections for Democrats that anything else. But hopefully it does actually have sincerity in realizing socialism is BS.
 

Chocolate Lab

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Biggest threat to our country as we know it, and I'm not even joking. To see this many young people brainwashed into believing everything should be free from the nanny state is shocking.

Khrushchev said before most of us were born that they'd defeat us not with guns but by influencing our schools, and I wonder if that isn't finally happening.
 

Cotton

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Biggest threat to our country as we know it, and I'm not even joking. To see this many young people brainwashed into believing everything should be free from the nanny state is shocking.

Khrushchev said before most of us were born that they'd defeat us not with guns but by influencing our schools, and I wonder if that isn't finally happening.
Good thing is, they are only kids. People's views change as they age and become more worldly educated.
 

Chocolate Lab

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Good thing is, they are only kids. People's views change as they age and become more worldly educated.
I hope so, but I don't ever remember young people being so dug in to such a leftist position, do you? I know my generation wasn't. Maybe in the 60s there was something similar, but I bet even then it wasn't this bad.
 

Cotton

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I hope so, but I don't ever remember young people being so dug in to such a leftist position, do you? I know my generation wasn't. Maybe in the 60s there was something similar, but I bet even then it wasn't this bad.
I don't know. This generation reminds me a lot of the hippies from the 60s.
 

Simpleton

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This is the key:

The U.S. health care system is broken and discriminatory. Quality education is too expensive. Income inequality is too severe. The Trump tax cuts did disproportionately favor the wealthy, and may be clawed back amid the next populist revolt.
In my opinion the boomer generation has gone way too far with a Gordon Gecko "greed is good" mindset. The disparity between rich and poor is massive and only growing and when you basically throw your hands up and say "fend for yourself, capitalism", this is what you get.

Hardcore socialism isn't the answer to anything but politicians, and the extremely wealthy, need to get serious about addressing what ails society and quit washing their hands of everything because "pull yourself up by your boot straps, capitalism". The key to a peaceful society is making sure that the majority of the population has opportunities and is more or less taken care of, you have to make sure people are comfortable enough to not sow the seeds of rebellion, give them their breadcrumbs and keep them happy enough.

It's manipulative but it's human nature.

I'd be on board with a universal basic income.
 

Sheik

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I'd be more sympathetic of income inequality if it was truly just too much of an uphill battle to create your own stability in life, it's not. The issue is not the system, its people feeling sorry for themselves instead of being motivated to actually do something about their situation.

Everyone is greedy. Everyone wants "more". Some people are greedy enough that they feel entitled to what belongs to others.
 

Smitty

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This is the key:



In my opinion the boomer generation has gone way too far with a Gordon Gecko "greed is good" mindset. The disparity between rich and poor is massive and only growing and when you basically throw your hands up and say "fend for yourself, capitalism", this is what you get.

Hardcore socialism isn't the answer to anything but politicians, and the extremely wealthy, need to get serious about addressing what ails society and quit washing their hands of everything because "pull yourself up by your boot straps, capitalism". The key to a peaceful society is making sure that the majority of the population has opportunities and is more or less taken care of, you have to make sure people are comfortable enough to not sow the seeds of rebellion, give them their breadcrumbs and keep them happy enough.

It's manipulative but it's human nature.

I'd be on board with a universal basic income.
Yeah, but more capitalism is the answer, not less. Socialism stagnates growth, capitalism creates and grows wealth. The problems you name are almost entirely due to NON free market forces, not because of capitalism.

Ironically the end result of capitalism very likely is that certain things become so cheap that they are essentially free, so "universal basic income" is probably not entirely a pipe dream. Imagine a world where the government can, on a ridiculously small percent tax of our labor, like half a percent, maintain robots to grow food in hydroponic skyscrapers and build houses in underground silos for everyone. Fusion has made energy so cheap that a couple of small plants across the country provide enough energy for every citizen hundreds of times over, so it's dirt cheap also. Bam, universal basic income. Capitalism achieves these things.
 

Simpleton

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Yeah, but more capitalism is the answer, not less. Socialism stagnates growth, capitalism creates and grows wealth. The problems you name are almost entirely due to NON free market forces, not because of capitalism.

Ironically the end result of capitalism very likely is that certain things become so cheap that they are essentially free, so "universal basic income" is probably not entirely a pipe dream. Imagine a world where the government can, on a ridiculously small percent tax of our labor, like half a percent, maintain robots to grow food in hydroponic skyscrapers and build houses in underground silos for everyone. Fusion has made energy so cheap that a couple of small plants across the country provide enough energy for every citizen hundreds of times over, so it's dirt cheap also. Bam, universal basic income. Capitalism achieves these things.
I agree although having a sprinkling of socialism in a majority-capitalist system is perfectly fine, obviously just not to the extent the original article describes.
 

Cotton

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They are probably worse.
You are probably right, but I'm still holding out hope that a few life lessons along the way will correct their path.
 

Smitty

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Culturally, the 40's belonged the liberals, the 50's belonged to conservatives, the 60's and 70s belonged to liberals, the 80s and 90s belonged to conservatives. The 00's and 10's are belonging to the liberals. Hopefully it swings back.
 

L.T. Fan

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Yeah I think that's a terrible idea economically speaking at this time.
It’s great if you have little or no ambition but it will stifle a competitive person because they will see no need to be or do anything extrordinary because there in no reward for doing so..
 

Simpleton

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You'll be singing a different tune in 2-3 decades when million of jobs go extinct, and I don't want to hear about "maintaining the machines". I don't necessarily think it's something that should be implemented tomorrow but I think it should be seriously studied/considered over the next 10-20 years.

UBI is a very libertarian idea and I'd bet that it'd save money in the long-term if there were corresponding reforms made to Medicare/Medicaid/Social Security, etc., to account for the extra income people will have.

The only problem is that it's the direct opposite of the American ethos that glorifies work, which is mostly just a fairy tale people like to tell themselves.
 

Cowboysrock55

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You'll be singing a different tune in 2-3 decades when million of jobs go extinct, and I don't want to hear about "maintaining the machines". I don't necessarily think it's something that should be implemented tomorrow but I think it should be seriously studied/considered over the next 10-20 years.
I understand that in a theoretical society where automation has taken over and there are few jobs left that it's necessary. But we also thought we would have flying cars by now. I don't buy this theory that jobs are going to be obsolete coming soon. This fully automated society is way further off than that. Sort of like the people who think self driving cars will be everywhere in 5 years and no one will be driving. No way in hell that's happening.
 

Cotton

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It’s great if you have little or no ambition but it will stifle a competitive person because they will see no need to be or do anything extrordinary because there in no reward for doing so..
This is 100% correct.
 

Cowboysrock55

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It’s great if you have little or no ambition but it will stifle a competitive person because they will see no need to be or do anything extrordinary because there in no reward for doing so..
Yeah and to afford it you have to tax the shit out of people. So now the upside isn't their to work your ass off either. It's bad economics.
 
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