Socialism is popular!
A Pew survey reported that more than a third of American adults viewed positively.
How is this possible? (Related: Tom Basile: There’s one big reason Democrats hyperventilate via Doge)
It did not bring about much misery. First in the Soviet Union, then in China, Cuba, Nicaragua, and now in Venezuela…
One reason young people support socialism is that their social media feeds show videos made by popular but economically illiterate people.
Tiktok’s star Madeline Pendleton has 1.6 million subscribers. my New Video It shows what she’s telling them: “Socialism works better than capitalism than 93% of the time!”
Where does she win 93%? (Related: David Blackmon: Trump was able to bring every aspect of the Obama climate agenda to one side.)
From a study published in 1986 by the self-proclaimed Marxist of the Journal of Health Services.
The author conveniently ignored the United States and other wealthy countries, comparing the socialist economy with “capitalist” countries such as Uganda, Rwanda and Somalia.
That’s so stupid. But based on that, Pendleton tells his followers that “there is all the data that shows that socialism works.”
She also celebrates communism for “increasing life expectancy.”
That’s also nonsense. People are the longest-lived capitalist countries such as Japan (1985) and Korea (1984). Even in the US (79), many of us die younger as we drive more (car accidents), eat more, shoot more often, try more dangerous medicines.
Socialism is also excellent, says Pendleton because of its “90-100% homeownership rate.”
Of course, “100%” is ridiculous, but China (if you believe in party statistics) has 90% homeownership.
But not under socialism! They only achieved this after privatizing urban housing. Before 1998, only 20% of Chinese people owned homes when Chinese housing was still socialists.
Several social media stars have rave reviews about China. “Socialism worked in China!” says Tiktoker Dante Munoz. “They lifted over 800 million people out of poverty.”
Again, it is true that over the past 50 years, China’s GDP has grown from $156 to more than $12,000 per person. However, this only happened after China gave up on real socialism and began to accept the market. Hong Kong adopted Actual Capitalism has increased per capita GDP to $50,000.
Before China was reformed, millions of people died of starvation.
Another stupid social media star, JT Chapman, told his nearly 2 million YouTube subscribers:
Democratization? In most socialist countries, there is only one political party.
The popular Tiktoker, known as Rathbone, told his 100,000 subscribers:
Similarly, Chapman says socialism provides “guaranteed rights to health care, food and shelter.”
Well, of course socialism promise They argue that they prioritize people over profits, but what people actually Get is different.
Just like a Cuban doctor put it in This video“The Cuban health care system is being destroyed…people are dying in the hallways.”
But Chapman said, “Innovation can thrive even if people are not motivated by profits. The Soviet Union has given the world a charcoal thr vaccine, satellites and one of the earliest mobile phones.”
That’s true. But today no one is using those phones. Capitalism creates more.
Finally, Chapman says, “ownership should be a collective.”
Collective ownership feels good. “I’ll share everything!”
However, all attempts at collective ownership have failed.
One famous American example: 200 years ago, Indiana’s New Harmony abolished private property and promised a “community of equality.”
The result was hunger.
When people realized they were as little as they could work hard, as much as they could work naturally. Within a year, the commune experiments failed, and the property was returned to the hands of individuals.
What do these popular social media stars say when I stand up to them with these inconvenient truths? Sadly, I don’t know. No one appears on Stossel TV to discuss.
Conclusion: Incentives are important. No one will wash your car rental. Few people care about what they belong to everyone. It’s just human nature.
Capitalism is not perfect, but if you want a better future and freedom, capitalism is the only thing that works.
Every Tuesday at JohnStossel.com, Stossel posts a new video about the government and the battle of freedom.
The opinions and opinions expressed in this commentary are the views of the authors and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation is an independent, nonpartisan newswire service that is free to use for legitimate news publishers that can provide large audiences. All republished articles must include logos, reporter signatures and DCNF affiliation. For questions regarding our guidelines or partnerships with us, please contact Licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.
