By Katherine Timpf
Wednesday, August 16, 2017
The popularity of Democratic Socialism is rising, and
more and more people are viewing it as a generous, compassionate alternative to
“cruelty” of capitalism.
As The Week
notes, membership in Democratic Socialists of America has more than tripled in
the past year, and last week’s conference in Chicago was by far the largest
ever. There are many reasons for this — and the “likability” of Bernie Sanders,
especially compared with the likability of Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, is
certainly part of it.
But another part is the way that progressives routinely
portray their economic platform as being morally superior. The holier-than-thou
branding is everywhere; just think about how often progressives accuse economic
conservatives of wanting to kill sick
people, just because they believe that the free market can solve problems.
The ultra-liberal are the “generous” ones, the ones who want to “give” you
things like health care. The conservatives are the mean, old ogres who want to
take those things away.
The popularity of the Democratic Socialists seems to
suggest that these kinds of tactics are working, and I have just one question:
Just how in the hell do so many people seem to believe that it’s “generous” to
spend other people’s money?
Let me clear this up for the people who don’t seem to
understand: Progressive politicians are not people who are going to “give” you
health care, because in order to “give” something, then it has to be yours to
give away in the first place. Think about it: If your boyfriend were to
surprise you with dinner and a present, then you’d probably be quite happy and
thank him for giving you those things. But if you found out that your boyfriend
had actually paid for those things using your
credit card? Well, then you’d probably think much less of it, and maybe you’d
remind him that the only way that that could count as “giving” would be if he
were nine and you were his mother. People who advocate for progressive
politicians are not advocating gratitude; they’re advocating for big
government, plain and simple.
Believing in the ability of big government to solve
problems doesn’t make you any better than the people who believe in shrinking
government to solve them; it just means that you have a different view of
economics. And the politicians who promise to “give” you health care, welfare,
and other benefits in exchange for votes aren’t really promising to “give”
those things at all; they’re promising to take
resources from others in order to fulfill their promises, without ever having
to feel the pinch themselves.
It’s going to be incredibly difficult to find solutions
to these sorts of problems unless we all acknowledge that everyone is, in fact, looking for them. There isn’t just one
ideological group who wants people to be healthy and prosperous; literally
anyone who is not a sociopath wants that. It’s just that one group believes
that the best way to do that is to take other people’s money and let the
government distribute it. Democratic Socialism is not generosity, it’s a political view — and one that has historically
had outcomes more despicable than heartwarming.
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