Imagine a future where people don't believe socialist nonsense
By: Steven Greenhut (R Street Institute)
Yep, it's crazy to believe the promise made by DSA (or any other flavor of Socialism). But don't ignore the irony of unattainable 'free market' promises as some sort of alternative.
We're being forced to choose between the government taxing the rich - or - the rich taxing government. The voters won't benefit from either one.
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
July 31, 2026 -- SACRAMENTO — It's 7 a.m. on Thursday, the sun is out and I'm stuck at my desk staring down a long day of work rather than, say, sleeping until 11 and spending the day kibbitzing at a coffee shop. Instead of enjoying my comfy house, purring cat, quick internet connection and full belly, I'm fantasizing about what life should really be like. I am, as the Democratic Socialists of America program explains, imagining "a future without capitalism."
According to DSA, that world would be groovy. Admittedly, the group's first promise is confusing: "You enjoy your work; it's interesting to you, and you're well trained for it." In this capitalistic hell-scape, I do in fact enjoy my work, find it interesting and am trained for it. But then the DSAers offer this sweetener: "You work as much as you are able and no more than needed." I need a chat with my boss, as he unfairly insists that I work as much as needed to complete the tasks for which I'm paid.
Still, working only when I feel like it would be a plus. So would DSA's next promise: "You have no debt. You don't need health insurance. You don't pay a mortgage or have a landlord, because comfortable housing is a human right. Your retirement is publicly funded." That sounds great, as everything would be mine by right and for free. (Without a landlord, who is going to fix the broken toilet, but I'm picking nits.)
However, being a highly trained policy wonk, I've written about healthcare, housing and public-pension debt. Money doesn't fall from the sky. Big programs are funded from taxes on productive labor that bosses are willing to pay for. Government healthcare and pensions always are awash in debt. If the past is a guide, government-provided housing is more Cabrini-Green and less Newport Coast. There wouldn't be enough money on the planet to fund this post-capitalist daydream.
But I suppress such tawdry thoughts given the fun I'll have once the DSA agenda is in place. Instead of churning out copy, I could play sports and meet with friends for dinner. I could spend my time as I choose "without worrying about cost or dreading going back to work." To get there, we simply need to elect leaders who have the foresight to "build a new society from the ground up." Presumably those leaders will not have spent any time reading about nations that have tried to build utopias, but I digress. Google "bread lines," just for fun.
Seriously, this platform could be chalked up to something emanating from an 8-year-old, except democratic socialism is surging among U.S. voting-age adults. As The Wall Street Journal reports, "[T]he Democratic Socialists of America now counts more than 120,000 members. Its recent primary wins are stirring panic among mainstream Democrats…." DSA leaders "view the Democratic Party less as a partner than a hostile takeover target."
Many DSA candidates are somewhat careful about how they position themselves on the issues (no sense scaring anyone), but virtually all DSA candidates blather about billionaires and propose government takeovers and new programs. The DSA promises it "leaves behind authoritarian visions of socialism in the dustbin of history," but it's hard to believe this new vision will lead to a better place.
Granted, some DSA ideas are simply wasteful and silly, such as New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani's plan to create government-run grocery stores, which will surely be as well stocked and enticing as the ones in the former Soviet Union, or similar to Pennsylvania's dismal state-run liquor store monopoly. (As economist Milton Friedman said, "If you put the federal government in charge of the Sahara Desert, in five years there'd be a shortage of sand.")
If the DSA does to the Democratic Party what MAGA has done to the Republican Party, we won't have any major party even slightly committed to limited government. I've long predicted that the rise in MAGA-style populism, which is increasingly hostile to free markets, would ultimately energize a left-wing counter push. Are we taking the Latin American path, where elections vacillate between far-left authoritarians and far-right ones? We better hope not.
A public-opinion survey last year found 62% of people aged 18-29 hold a favorable view of socialism. A survey last week found Americans would reject a democratic socialist presidential candidate, 55% to 39%, but three-quarters of Democrats would be open to one. The Washington Post explains the term can be nebulous, as DSA "members hold a variety of left-leaning political views that range from support for Nordic-style social welfare programs to a staunch belief in communism."
It's nevertheless cause for alarm that so many Americans are willing to envision a future without capitalism. Only in a capitalist world can we live free and prosperous lives — even if it means that we all have to show up to work on time.
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One of the ideas behind MAGA was to take the government and the rich out of the equation. But allowing a penthouse billionaire from New York to take over MAGA was just as crazy as believing the promises of Socialism.
Everyone in politics is promising steak but they're only delivering a dirty plate. Where's the beef?
I dont recall any of these "socialists" proclaiming that no one needs to work, but ironically that will happen (the not working part) sooner or later. When AI eliminates the majority of jobs and universal basic income is put in place. That result can be blamed on capitalism not socialism.
America is the most wealthy society in human history. In just 100 years capitalism has allowed the poor people completely dependent on government handouts to have possessions and comfort the richest human in the world could not have possessed just 100 years ago. Our "peasants" live lives of comfort past kings could only dream of. Its created a society where the biggest public health problem is having too many calories to consume. And the ignorant, reared on propaganda and consumed with jealousy, want to destroy that in favor of systems that created more human misery and industrialized death like none other in history.
Without socialism most red states would starve to death...
You think Mississippi is socialist... As I was saying, And the ignorant, reared on propaganda and consumed with jealousy, want to destroy that in favor of systems that created more human misery and industrialized death like none other in history.
I think everyone likes and approves of innovation and invention. What they dont like is watching the rich exploit every aspect of our economic system.
So you prefer the party elite exploiting every aspect of an economic system while the rest wait in breadlines.
That may have been true 40 years ago but it doesn't withstand scrutiny today. The Free Market nonsense has killed Free Enterprise capitalism. Foreign entrepreneurs are taking the risks in our marketplace and providing the touted comforts we enjoy. Our domestic businesses either live on rent or depend upon government protections for mere survival. Capitalism has been exploited by Free Marketeers to feed on the carcass of Free Enterprise like vultures.
The United States is rapidly losing its claim to be a truly capitalist economy. The US is becoming a captured economy serving financiers, rent-seekers, middlemen, vultures, and non-producers. That captured economy is no longer capable of providing possessions, comforts, or riches. Our captured economy only creates debt ridden credit slaves. We're getting to the point where people cannot buy the boots they're suppose pick themselves up by without going into debt and owing rent to the rich.
Please, please look up what socialism is before you make claims like that.
Those "poor states" have higher per capita income than countries like Great Britain or Canada.