Free Republic

Last week, 28-year-old Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez — a self-described socialist — defeated incumbent Rep. Joe Crowley in a Democratic House primary in New York City. Her win, a dramatic upset in the primary elections, was an early indicator of America’s recent turn toward socialism. Recent polls show that 36 percent of Americans between the age of 18 and 29 favor socialism over capitalism. Socialism’s stigma seems to be fading as fewer Americans remember the spectacular failure of the Soviet Union — the largest socialism experiment in history — and most are seemingly unaware of the current economic disaster in socialist Venezuela....

"Are you on the take?" When I tried to get Edgewater, New Jersey, politicians to answer that question, the mayor wouldn't discuss it, ultimately telling me, "You may sit down." The town of Edgewater is right across the Hudson River from Manhattan. Anyone fortunate enough to live there gets a spectacular view of New York City's skyline. But the Edgewater city government wants to seize a choice piece of waterfront land for itself. The spot in question is owned by a developer, the Maxal Group. Maxal bought the property for about $26 million and then spent millions more to clean...

When millennials are polled, we see how badly history is taught. We write frequently about the carnage and chaos wrought by communism and socialism because somebody has to. "The University of Chicago’s GenForward Survey of Americans ages 18 to 34 finds that 62 percent think 'we need a strong government to handle today’s complex economic problems,' with just 35 percent saying 'the free market can handle these problems without government being involved,'" Steve Chapman writes in Reason magazine. "Overall, 49 percent in this group hold a favorable opinion of capitalism—and 45 percent have a positive view of socialism." "Socialism gets...

Several recent polls, plus the popularity of Sen. Bernie Sanders, demonstrate that young people prefer socialism to free market capitalism. That, I believe, is a result of their ignorance and indoctrination during their school years, from kindergarten through college. For the most part, neither they nor many of their teachers and professors know what free market capitalism is. Free market capitalism, wherein there is peaceful voluntary exchange, is morally superior to any other economic system. Why? Let's start with my initial premise. All of us own ourselves. I am my private property, and you are yours. Murder, rape, theft and...

Labour’s Shadow Chancellor and right-hand man to party leader Jeremy Corbyn has said it is his “job” to “overthrow capitalism” and “radically” transform society, whilst praising the former leader of socialist Venezuela. John McDonnell repeatedly and emphatically backed bringing down the UK’s system of free enterprise and trade in an interview with the BBC, as well as calling for private firms to hand over their profits to the state. The man who Labour would put in charge of the Treasury, tasked with running Britain’s economy, said he aimed to transform society “in a way that radically changes the system”....

What it is, how it works, and who is for and against it. Capitalism is defined as an economic system in which a country’s trade, industry, and profits are controlled by private companies, instead of by the people whose time and labor powers those companies. The United States and many other nations around the world are capitalist countries, but capitalism is not the only economic system available; throughout history, other countries have embraced other systems, like socialism or communism, so it’s important to explore what capitalism actually is. CNN recently reported that 66% of people between the ages of 21...

U.S. private-sector workers received the biggest pay raise in 11 years in the first three months of the year, a sign that the tight job market is slowly lifting wages. The Labor Department says wages and salaries in the private sector rose 1 percent in the January-March quarter, compared with the previous quarter. That's the biggest gain since the first quarter of 2007, before the Great Recession began. The gain was boosted partly by healthy year-end commissions that are typically paid to sales workers at the beginning of the year. In the past year, wages for private sector workers rose...

Nothing is so contagious as example; and we never do any great good or evil which does not produce its like. — Francois de la Rochefoucauld (1613-1680). Heroes for liberty are not particular to any region of the world or to a particular time period or to one sex. They hail from all nationalities, races, faiths, and creeds. They inspire others to a noble and universal cause—that all people should be free to live their lives in peace so long as they do no harm to the equal rights of others. They are passionate not solely for their own liberty,...

President Trump promised to reverse the Obama era’s progressive economic policies and free American capitalism to do what it does best: increase prosperity for all. And, sure enough, that’s exactly what happened. Buoyed with optimism as taxes were cut and anti-business regulations eliminated, businesses invested, GDP growth climbed to a 3.1 percent average for Trump’s first three full quarters in office and the unemployment rate declined to a low last seen during President Clinton’s final year in office. To avoid slipping back into the economic doldrums we experienced under President Obama –- which, incidentally, offer a look at the alternate...

Fifty years separate us, now, from 1968 and the two momentous legacies of the then soon to ending failed presidency of Lyndon Johnson: The declaring of war on America’s supposed domestic ills in the form of the “Great Society” programs, and the aggressive military intervention in a real war in Vietnam. Both of these “wars” reflected the arrogance and hubris of the social engineer who believes that he has the power and ability to remake and direct society in his own preferred image. The Vietnam War still leaves a searing memory of a military conflict ten thousand miles away from...

China and the U.S. present a study in contrasts. The U.S. approach to foreign policy at present could best be characterized as shambolic, to put it mildly. In addition to record personnel turnover, the Trump administration appears internally conflicted over whether and how to: leave Syria, tear up the Iran deal, exit NAFTA, confront Russia, disarm North Korea, contain China, and support democracy abroad. Meanwhile China cautiously, but continually, expands its influence. President Xi Jinping took center stage Monday at the annual Boao forum, China's answer to Davos. He and other Chinese leaders spoke optimistically about opening China and playing...

Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) is a huge part of the Millennial psyche. But while that extends to everything that goes down on social media, this generation doesn’t seem to be worried about missing out on retirement funds. Millennials—or Generation Y—are today’s late teens and twenty-somethings born in the 80s and 90s, and they number some 80 million people in the United States. And because FOMO is the Millennial common denominator, the financial detours are numerous. Thanks to the meteoric rise of social media advertising, Millennials have endless options for spending money, and they account for an estimated $1.3 trillion...

...since the beginning of the 21st century the U.S. government has struggled to create and maintain a viable launch industry...Even as the federal government struggled with this problem, a fledgling crop of new American private launch companies have emerged in the past decade, funded initially by the vast profits produced by the newly born internet industry. These new companies have not been motivated by national prestige, military strength, or any of the traditional national political goals of the federal government. Instead, these private entities have been driven by profit, competition, and in some cases the ideas of the visionary individuals...

Two years after taking office, President Raul Castro widened the niche for private enterprise in Cuba's state-dominated economy. Capitalism came pouring in. Slowly at first, then gaining speed, spare rooms for rent became rental homes, which became boutique hotels. Backyard cafes became elegant restaurants and bustling nightclubs, backed with millions in capital from the prosperous Cuban diaspora in Miami, Latin America and Spain. English tutors started citywide private after-school programs. And the booming private economy reached into the Communist-led bureaucracy - paying off inspectors, buying stolen state goods and recruiting talented employees with salaries dwarfing those in the public sector....

Young America’s Foundation has published a catalog of the most outrageous college courses nationwide and the results may indicate why millennials are so far left leaning. Trends include the blurring of gender lines, the demonization of whiteness, and the evils of capitalism. YAF notes that “intersectionality” or as Webster’s Dictionary describes it, “the complex, cumulative way in which the effects of multiple forms of discrimination (such as racism, sexism, and classism) combine, overlap, or intersect especially in the experiences of marginalized individuals or groups” has permeated most curriculums and aids professors and administrators in teaching identity politics and victim mentality...

Newsflash: The War on Christmas is over. Those who rightfully believe that Christ needs to be a part of Christmas and those rebelling against the politically correct tyranny looking to strip all spirituality from the holiday have lost. You have lost. We…have lost. According to the latest results from the Pew Research Center – and already being gleefully shouted from the rooftops of certain left-leaning media sites orchestrating the campaign against faith-based Christmas – while 90 percent of Americans still celebrate Christmas in one way or another, a majority find that the religious elements of Christmas are emphasized less and...

All main stock benchmarks closed at records on Friday with the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average extending their weekly winning streak to four as Republicans prepared to outline their final version of the tax bill. Stocks have been sensitive to developments from Capitol Hill on the tax bill and any news that is viewed as a step closer to enacting tax cuts tend to buoy market sentiment. The Dow rose 140 points, or 0.6%, to close at 24,648. The S&P 500 climbed 23 points, or 0.9%, to end at 2,675 while the Nasdaq Composite Index gained 80...

This time of the year, whether in good economic times or bad, is when Americans gather with their families and friends and enjoy a Thanksgiving meal together. It marks a remembrance of those early Pilgrim Fathers who crossed the uncharted ocean from Europe to make a new start in Plymouth, Massachusetts. What is less appreciated is that Thanksgiving also is a celebration of the birth of free enterprise in America.

Looking for something to be thankful for? Try this. You have it better than billionaire John Rockefeller (1839-1937) ever did. Rockefeller founded the Standard Oil Co. and became one of the richest men in American history. When he died, he had a fortune worth around $1.4 billion, or $25 billion in today’s dollars. He had more money. You have better stuff. How many lights did you turn on today? Thomas Edison didn’t patent the incandescent light bulb until Rockefeller was in his 40s. There wasn’t an electrical grid, so small generators powered the first light bulbs. Today, electricity is an...

At Kent State University in Ohio, two left-wing student clubs—the Young Democratic Socialists of America (YDSA) and the Socialist Collective (SC)–rejected a challenge from Young Americans for Liberty (YAL) and Turning Point USA (TPUSA) to see which organization could gather the most food for poor people in a campus-wide canned food drive. YDSA chapter co-chair, Ethan Comeriato, explained “While in the short run the food drive would benefit the public our participation would detract from our long-term goal of helping the poor through socialism. The flaw in all charitable giving is that the giver has the option to refuse. In...