socialism

Woodstock Monument

Woodstock 50 Years Later: An Eyewitness Account

The 50th anniversary of the 1969 Woodstock Music Festival prompts many to reminisce about the extraordinary gathering of musical talent and idealism associated with that event. It more than lived up to its promotional billing as “three days of peace and music.” Read More ›
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Universal Basic Income? Fear of AI Fuels a New Argument for Socialism

With Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and other Democratic candidates for president floating wilder trial balloons than a psychedelic circus, I’m surprised they have not (yet) picked up on the universal basic income (UBI). The UBI (guaranteed income for employable people who choose not to work) is far and away the favorite “solution” among those strong AI enthusiasts who expect machines to replace human work. They expect vast swaths of the country to be out of work for good. So far, the only candidate plugging UBI is entrepreneur Andrew Yang. Yang is more idea-oriented than his Democratic opponents and he has made UBI central to his presidential campaign in the key state of Iowa. His plan would offer $1,000 a month per person. I suspect it’s only a matter of time before other Democratic candidates pick up on this platform plank, on the assumption that their likely voters will imagine it as free money. Read More ›
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Economist George Gilder on Capitalism, Socialism, and Google

Life After Google author George Gilder explains the role of creativity in capitalism as he shares economic insight on Life, Liberty & Levin. Learning, he says, is the heart of capitalism. Whereas capitalism is about creativity, socialism is about planning and rests on the assumption that we already know everything we need to know in order to plan our future.

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Future car, retro 80th

Back to the Future by Connecting with the Past

In the 1985 classic American science fiction film Back to the Future, Marty McFly travels back in time in a DeLorean time machine, and with the help of its inventor, the eccentric scientist “Doc,” history gets repaired so that when McFly returns to the present he finds healthy relations restored, providing optimism for the future and a happy ending.  As a film Read More ›

Republic of Cyprus. The Town Of Paphos. Ancient ruins in Paphos. Remains of ancient buildings. Old Christian Church. Panorama Of Cyprus. Attractions of the Mediterranean coast.
Republic of Cyprus. The Town Of Paphos. Ancient ruins in Paphos. Remains of ancient buildings. Old Christian Church. Panorama Of Cyprus. Attractions of the Mediterranean coast.

No, the Early Church Was Not Communist

You’ve heard this question. Since I write a lot about Christianity and economics, I’ve been asked it dozens of times. Was the early Church communist? It’s not a crazy query. In the book of Acts, just after Pentecost, members of the new Church sold their belongings and shared their wealth. That sounds like communism to some folks. And if Christians Read More ›

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Shanghai, China

China Rising

I just returned from two weeks touring the People’s Republic of China. The Great Wall, 2,200-year-old Terracotta Warriors, the Forbidden City—what an experience! The size of the place is mind-boggling. Shanghai alone has almost as many people as the entire state of Texas. Most of the cities I visited are unattractive in that old communist way, with mile after mile Read More ›

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Georg Lutz at Berlin Wall
"Untitled" by Georg Lutz (Rauschebart) on the Berlin Wall at Mühlenstraße (East Side Gallery), 1990.

Why Millennials are Warming to Socialism

Vermont senator and self-proclaimed “democratic socialist” Bernie Sanders vanquished Hillary Clinton in West Virginia last week with more than 51 percent of the vote, to Mrs. Clinton’s 36 percent. The average Appalachian coal miner is not a socialist. Mr. Sanders won because Mrs. Clinton foolishly pledged to destroy the coal industry. Hence, according to a CBS News poll, 44 percent Read More ›

Time to Wean Millennials Off the Lies of Socialism

Over the last century, national socialism murdered tens of millions; international socialism murdered or starved at least a hundred million; and a softer socialism impoverished nations stretching from Europe to Latin America (see Venezuela). But apparently that’s all old and stupid history stuff. According to a new Harvard IOP poll, around 1 in 6 young voters identify as socialist, and Read More ›

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George Gilder on Why capitalism works
Still image from Prager U video

Why Capitalism Works

Cultural depictions of capitalism are almost all negative. There’s the Monopoly guy with the top hat and cigar. There’s Gordon Gekko saying, “Greed is good.” And, most recently, there’s the hedonism of the “Wolf of Wall Street”. The message is clear: capitalism is selfish. Socialism, or something like it, is selfless. In fact, the opposite is true. Renowned social critic Read More ›