“This book should not be necessary,” were the opening words to my first book for the Cato Institute, Best-Laid Plans. It covered the same ground as many previous books, most notably Frederick Hayek’s The Road to Serfdom. It appears, however, that every generation has to learn for itself the reality that socialism doesn’t work.
Part of the problem is that socialism can mean several different things. One answer is worker ownership of the means of production, but the United States already has that: numerous firms are owned by their workers, and the biggest investors in major corporations are pension funds that exist for the benefit of workers. I suspect that most socialists don’t see this as any different from capitalism because it doesn’t include a role for government to step in to reduce inequality or protect the environment.
Another kind of socialism is a social democracy, which is capitalism with a safety net. The problem is just how big should the safety net be. At its most basic, it seems to include unemployment income for those who lose their jobs along with housing, food, and health care for the chronically unemployed. But where do you draw the line? It seems that all it takes is someone chanting “X is a human right” and sudden X becomes part of the safety net. In addition to free medical care for all, Bernie Sanders thinks the government should provide free higher education, free childcare, and build at least 10 million affordable homes. Lately free public transit has been added to the list of “human rights.” Continue reading
