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The Current Crisis in Venezuela Demonstrates Why Socialism is a Bad Idea

The Current Crisis in Venezuela Demonstrates Why Socialism is a Bad Idea

By Lee Enochs

Socialism is on the rise in America today. There is inconvertible evidence for this disturbing political and economic trend as veteran correspondent Andrew Malcolm reported in his recent insightful op-ed entitled, “How President Trump Helps Divide Democrats by Fanning the Flames of Socialism.” Malcolm cites a recent Gallup poll that indicates that 57% of Democrats viewed socialism positively, while only 47% viewed capitalism positively (See: Star - Telegram, February 20, 2019).

So serious is the rise of socialism in America today, that President Trump devoted a substantial portion of his recent “State of the Union” address dealing with the issue and said, “Here, in the United States, we are alarmed by new calls to adopt socialism in our country. America was founded on liberty and independence — not government coercion, domination and control. We are born free, and we will stay free. Tonight, we renew our resolve that America will never be a socialist country.”

The economic and political issues involved here are enormous and put simply, socialism is a dubious economic theory that opposes capitalist notions of individualized profit and private property and advocates that that the vesting of the ownership and control of the means of production and distribution of capital, land and etc., should be controlled and regulated by the state.