Nearly all American adults, 95 percent according to a Harris poll conducted this summer, believe that the country is facing an “affordability crisis.”
Higher costs for housing, healthcare, higher education, childcare, groceries, utilities, travel, leisure, attire, etc., are haunting households and making it exceedingly difficult to balance the monthly budget.
The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), “the largest socialist organization in the United States,” seeks to convince Americans that free enterprise is the problem and “free” stuff is the solution.
Specifically, the DSA seeks to “create a democratic socialist republic” under its Workers Deserve More Program.
Make no mistake, the DSA is at war with the Democrat Party, which it says has been “asleep at the wheel” while capitalism has failed. The DSA does not intend to reform the Democrat Party; it intends to destroy or overthrow it.
This internecine squabble bears mention because the DSA is no longer a fringe arm of the extreme left; it is becoming mainstream.
The DSA is running hundreds of candidates in the upcoming election on the Democrat Party ticket. DSA members already hold hundreds of political offices all over the nation. And, most ominously, the DSA has money, momentum, and the hearts and minds of today’s youth.
On substance, the Workers Deserve More Program is nothing more than an odd assortment of dumb Marxist ideas and concepts that sound too good to be true because they are indeed too good to be true.
“Establish paid family leave for all workers, a 32-hour work week with full pay and benefits.”
“Provide free, quality public education from pre-K to college and cancel all student debt.”
“Guarantee universal healthcare at no cost to individuals.”
“Build new, publicly-owned social housing” and “establish universal rent control.”
“Enact reparations.”
“Pass a federal jobs guarantee.”
“Implement massive investment in sustainable, publicly owned energy and transit infrastructure. Phase out the use of fossil fuels.”
“Establish public ownership of the largest corporations and essential industries.”
“Enact aggressive wealth taxes.”
Somehow, these wacky policies the DSA is advocating for under the guise of addressing affordability and making life better for workers are resonating to some degree.
However, they are not gaining traction among blue-collar workers or those working multiple jobs because they are anathema to their self-interests. For instance, please explain how a universal basic income for those unwilling to work benefits workers?
On the other hand, these derivative ideas are being embraced by young Americans who have been brainwashed by public schools into believing that capitalism is evil, collectivism is moral, prosperity is a zero-sum game, and the United States has more than enough billionaires to fund all the free stuff if they just paid their fair share.
By no means am I saying that all of today’s youth are lazy, stupid socialist sympathizers.
But, as the data show, and my years of teaching social studies in public schools in Illinois and South Carolina demonstrated, America’s public education system is doing a poor job of teaching the truth about collectivism while framing free enterprise as inherently immoral and unfair.
Whereas political indoctrination mostly took place in colleges and universities decades ago, it has now seeped into some middle schools and most high schools.
Over the long term, this can be abated with state laws that mandate public schools to teach the truth about Marxism. Credit to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who began this very process years ago, when he signed a bill into law that requires public schools to “include comprehensive instruction of the full history and global impact of communism.”
In the meantime, it would be nice to hear clearly articulated arguments explaining how and why free enterprise generates societal well-being, prosperity, and personal dignity from leading figures of all political persuasions.
Understandably, Americans are frustrated with ever-rising costs. But they must be reminded that decades of government intervention in sectors like housing, healthcare, higher education, and many more, although well-intended perhaps, have created wildly skewed markets rife with corruption, capture, and cronyism.
Free enterprise is not the problem. "Free" stuff is not the answer. Free markets always have, and always will, produce the best solutions to social and economic problems because the magic, invisible hand unleashes dynamic human flourishing and outside-the-box innovations that can be summed up in one word: freedom.
Another way of looking at it is that an affordability crisis like we are currently experiencing pales in comparison to the affordability crisis that socialism would bring in the future.
In socialism, an affordability crisis means literal bread lines, rationing, and shortages.
Chris Talgo ([email protected]) is editorial director at The Heartland Institute.
Editor's Note: The Democrat Party has been infected by socialism, and it's spreading FAST. Democrats are claiming there's nothing to worry about, but we know the truth.
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