I probably don't have to tell you that socialism is rising in popularity among some segments of the population. You can tell that because self-described socialists are winning elections at the local, state, and federal levels.
A self-described socialist won the Democratic nomination for Mayor of Buffalo earlier this year, but was defeated in the general election by the incumbent mayor who ran a write-in campaign (the Republicans don't even bother to run someone for Mayor of
Buffalo).
"But you don't understand," they say. "This will be democratic socialism. Were not talking Stalin here; we're talking Sweden!" Never mind that Sweden was five minutes from being Venezuela in the early 1990s and only survived because they significantly cut back their socialist
programs and drastically deregulated their economy.
Today, they rank higher on the economic freedom indexes in most categories than the U.S. There are no national minimum wage laws in any of the Scandinavian countries and their corporate tax rates have been in the low 20 percent range for decades (the U.S. merely caught up to Sweden
when similarly lowering its corporate rate).
Things Bernie Sanders forgot to tell you.
Well, here's something your elementary and high school teachers forgot to tell you. The Pilgrims tried democratic socialism for several years after landing in Plymouth and it was a disaster. According to Plymouth Colony Governor William Bradford himself, it was this socialist system
that led to their starvation and high death rate the first few years; and it was ditching it for a private property system that saved them. The Jamestown Colony in Virginia had an identical experience.
It doesn't end there. From 1800 - 1859, over 100 voluntary socialist communes were launched in the United States and every one of them failed miserably, too. So, no, "democratic socialism" is not some new idea that has never been tried.
Here is something else you don't want to miss: If you haven't already, you can download a free copy of my new e-book, An Anti-State Christmas, at antistatechristmas.com.
It's also available in paperback here. It'll cost you less than a fiver and makes a great stocking stuffer!
Thanks for all your support,
Tom
Like the music on Tom Mullen Talks Freedom? You can hear more at tommullensings.com!