Excerpt:
Socialism adoration comes from brainwashing. A recent City Journal survey of 120 “prominent colleges and universities” showed that a grand total of zero schools required economics courses to graduate. Only 15% required some U.S. government or history classes, while half required diversity, equity and inclusion-like courses. Ugh. So bye to jobs, hello socialism.
We need to educate our youth with a full-throated defense of capitalism and free markets because for too many, the most intelligent thing they say coming out of college is, “It’s like, whatever.”
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Our Champagne Socialists
Old, failed ideas have a way of appealing to young, naive people.
ET
What’s with the rash of socialists inflaming our politics? Didn’t socialism die in Berlin in 1989? Yes, but awful ideas are eternal for the power-hungry. Much as ObamaCare was meant as a gateway drug to single-payer healthcare, city-run grocery stores and free buses are a path to government-run everything.
America’s youth are infatuated—almost two-thirds of those under 30 have a “favorable view” of socialism. They are told artificial intelligence will destroy jobs; they worry about never-arriving climate disasters and are seduced by universal basic income (aka welfare for all). Oh, and they hate the filthy inequality schemes and unfathomable riches of billionaires—but they sure enjoy iPhones and Starbucks’s Iced Brown Sugar Oatmilk Shaken Espresso.
Young voters help elect oxymoronic democratic socialists. The effect has been swift. In April, Seattle’s socialist mayor, Katie Wilson, declared, “I think the claims that millionaires are going to leave our state are, like, super overblown. And if—the ones that leave, like, bye.” Starbucks announced a $100 million expansion in Nashville, Tenn., and former CEO Howard Schultz moved to Florida. As in, like, bye.
New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani seemingly ran out of money to fund collectivism shortly into his term, saying: “We are forced to raid the rainy-day fund, the retiree health benefits trust reserve, and to increase property taxes.” Well, half of personal income taxes are paid by 2% of city dwellers. Florida beckons. Finance firms Citadel and Apollo are expanding elsewhere. A New York Post headline nailed it: “We Are Zo Outta Here!”
Los Angeles mayoral candidate Nithya Raman, nicknamed the “Champagne Socialist,” voted against keeping homeless encampments away from schools and daycare centers, saying, “It’s like, whatever.” Endearing. Add a potential wealth tax on November’s ballot, and the exodus from California accelerates. By the way, $2 trillion of income moved from blue states to red from 2012 to 2023.
Katie Porter, a socialist-adjacent candidate for California governor was asked at a debate about taxpayer-funded healthcare for undocumented immigrants (progressive code for illegal). She said it’s “what Californians deserve as answers to these questions.” Good and hard. These folks make Chicago-destroying Mayor Brandon Johnson (26% approval rating last year) seem moderate.
Note to youngsters complaining about late-stage capitalism: Touch grass. We’ve seen how late-stage socialism ends—in tears. I get it: Worthless college degrees in critical identity studies. TikTok-length attention spans. A mountain of student-loan debt. Many worship “hot assassin” Luigi Mangione for trying to fix healthcare with bullets. C’mon.
Too many of our youth hate the rich but then applaud sanity-defying let-them-eat-cake costumed celebs at the Met Gala. They buy gunk on Goop and go gaga for Gwyneth Paltrow (worth an estimated $200 million), who recently said, “Now all that matters is kind of these superrich white dudes who are breaking rules, setting rules, seemingly not caring so much about the downstream impact on everything, from health to culture.” Gwinny, look in the mirror. No wonder we have a generation inflicted with anxiety, they’re so self-contradicting. Bring on the gummies.
Socialism’s patron saint in a pantsuit, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, recently declared, “You can’t earn a billion dollars. You just can’t earn that. You can get market power, you can break rules, you can abuse labor laws, you can pay people less than what they’re worth, but you can’t earn that.” Thanks, comrade. If only she had said “surplus value,” we could Scooby-Doo-like rip off her mask to reveal Karl Marx.
Twenty years ago, comedian Ron White presciently observed, “You can’t fix stupid.” Socialism fails. Every time. If you’re offended, go read a history book. Or visit Havana. The leaders reap the spoils. Bernie Sanders has three homes and flies private. He told Bret Baier about his “Fighting the Oligarchy” tour: “Think I’m going to be sitting on a waiting line at United?” and added, “No apologies.” Joseph Stalin had 20 dachas while the proletariat went hungry.
Thanks to capitalism, we are living in unprecedented good times. Space launches. Weight-loss wonder pills. Happy-hour-friendly autonomous cars. AI bots that will meet our every imaginable need. A more peaceful Middle East on the horizon. A resurging middle class around the globe. But that’s nothing that a few commies—er, democratic socialists—couldn’t destroy in a generation.
Socialism adoration comes from brainwashing. A recent City Journal survey of 120 “prominent colleges and universities” showed that a grand total of zero schools required economics courses to graduate. Only 15% required some U.S. government or history classes, while half required diversity, equity and inclusion-like courses. Ugh. So bye to jobs, hello socialism.
We need to educate our youth with a full-throated defense of capitalism and free markets because for too many, the most intelligent thing they say coming out of college is, “It’s like, whatever.”
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