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Legendary economist on biggest socialism myth
Fox Business ^ | March 5,2019 | Julia Limitone

Posted on 03/05/2019 3:50:43 PM PST by Hojczyk

Thomas Sowell: Socialism is a wonderful sounding idea, it's only as a reality it is disastrous Economist Thomas Sowell on mounting concerns over the rising popularity of socialism. The surprising resurgence of socialism Opens a New Window. is putting America’s future at risk, according to legendary economist Opens a New Window. Thomas Sowell.

“I do have a great fear that in the long run we may not make it,” he told FOX Business’ David Asman on “Cavuto: Coast-to-Coast Opens a New Window. ” on Tuesday.

Sowell is putting the onus on the education system and the media for encouraging people to “test ideas against facts.”

“Socialism is a wonderful sounding idea,” he said. “It’s only as a reality that it’s disastrous.”

“Before I was a Marxist, I was an empiricist and I stayed an empiricist. And with the passing years simply as I looked into more and more things I saw the difference between reality and the rhetoric,” he said. “Unfortunately so many people today, including in the leading universities, don’t pay much attention to evidence.”

Sowell said that he hopes that the facts about socialism sink in before the policies are presented in the United States.

“When you see people starving in Venezuela and fleeing in the neighboring countries and realize that this a country that once had the world’s largest oil reserves, you realize that that’ve ruined a really good prospect with ideas that sounded good but didn’t turn out well,” he said.

When asked about freshman Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Opens a New Window. , who is a self-described Democratic socialist, and whether she will continue to rise in popularity, he replied: “It depends.”

“If they go by rhetoric, she’s a rising star,” he added.

(Excerpt) Read more at foxbusiness.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Crime/Corruption; Government
KEYWORDS:

1 posted on 03/05/2019 3:50:43 PM PST by Hojczyk
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To: Hojczyk

Oh, a real economist. At first the headline made me think “Alex?” aka “sandy o’casio” when she thought she was irish.


2 posted on 03/05/2019 3:52:55 PM PST by rktman ( #My2ndAmend! ----- Enlisted in the Navy in '67 to protect folks rights to strip my rights. WTH?)
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To: Hojczyk
The irony is that in practice, even after decades of total control, Marxism did not improve the lot of the average person, but usually made living conditions worse than before the revolution. It is not by chance that the world's greatest famines have happened within the Soviet Union (about 5 million dead from 1921-23 and 7 million from 1932-3, including 2 million outside Ukraine) and communist China (about 30 million dead from 1959-61).

Overall, in the last century almost 55 million people died in various Marxist famines and associated epidemics – a little over 10 million of them were intentionally starved to death, and the rest died as an unintended result of Marxist collectivization and agricultural policies.


- R.J. Rummel
3 posted on 03/05/2019 4:00:42 PM PST by \/\/ayne (I regret that I have but one subscription cancellation notice to give to my local newspaper.)
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To: Hojczyk

The first thing a socialist does when trying to promulgate socialism is lie. They say police and fire protection are socialism, and we can’t live without them. Those are actually called “infrastructure”, not socialism. They directly benefit the taxpayer. Same with roads and bridges. No private company is going to pay for them, so we hire the government to do it. It’s not socialism.


4 posted on 03/05/2019 4:03:47 PM PST by Telepathic Intruder
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To: Hojczyk

Socialism is probably the best cure for anthropomorphic climate change.

When millions die of starvation, plunder, or repression, that’s less of a drain on the planet.

/s


5 posted on 03/05/2019 4:03:49 PM PST by P.O.E. (Pray for America)
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To: Hojczyk

““Socialism is a wonderful sounding idea,” he said.”:

No it not a wonderful sounding idea. I cringe every time I hear someone utter such nonsense. This leads to the hope by some that if socialism sounds good then it IS good and just needs to be implemented properly.

Stealing money from successful people and giving to less successful people and destroying the incentive to become successful is not a wonderful sounding idea. It is not just the outcome of socialism that is bad. The very premise of socialism is flawed. Never accept their flawed premise.


6 posted on 03/05/2019 4:15:40 PM PST by plain talk
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To: Hojczyk
Sowell should be able to do something like this to Ocasio-Cortez.
7 posted on 03/05/2019 4:27:08 PM PST by OttawaFreeper ("The Gardens was founded by men-sportsmen-who fought for their country" Conn Smythe, 1966)
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To: \/\/ayne

bkmk


8 posted on 03/05/2019 4:41:29 PM PST by Sergio (An object at rest cannot be stopped! - The Evil Midnight Bomber What Bombs at Midnight)
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To: Hojczyk

Socialism in the U.K. means no pools, no swearing and citizens pulling their own teeth.

https://straightlinelogic.com/2019/03/04/socialism-in-the-uk-means-no-pools-no-swearing-and-citizens-pulling-their-own-teeth-by-simon-blacks/


9 posted on 03/05/2019 5:09:24 PM PST by CharlesMartelsGhost
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To: Hojczyk

I do have a great fear that in the long run we may not make it


Depends in what you mean by ‘make it.’
If you mean a capitalist meritocracy,
no, we won’t. It’s human nature that’s
the unconquerable culprit.

Whoever said self-government works until the voters realize they can vote money out of their neighbor’s pocket wasn’t a pessimist, just a fatalist.

In the long run, we’ll end up socialist. The only difference in the two parties is how soon we get there. The ratchet effect ensures it. Once you start giving something to someone, it is holy hell to stop.

With the ongoing Marxist indoctrination in academe, which results in an increasingly radicalized citizenry, it comes as a shock that people are surprised to hear that Millenials are socialist-friendly.

We are designing the future now.


10 posted on 03/05/2019 5:10:35 PM PST by sparklite2 (Don't mind me. I'm just a contrarian.)
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To: Hojczyk

There is only one good thing that would happen to America if socialism took hold......

That would be that, illegal immigration through the southern border would come to a complete stop.


11 posted on 03/05/2019 5:20:28 PM PST by adorno
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To: Hojczyk

I don’t think not making it is a long run proposition. I think it is at hand. 20 years. Tops if we make it that long.


12 posted on 03/05/2019 6:05:15 PM PST by Sequoyah101 (It feels like we have exchanged our dreams for survival. We just hava few days that don't suck.)
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To: Hojczyk

I just read this commentary by Ryan Cooper in “The Week” asking “If democratic socialism is so bad, why is Norway so great?” I would be interested in any comments about this piece because American socialists are trying to whitewash their version of socialism to resemble the more restrained version of Norway’s rather than of Venezuela. We of course know the Left’s motives: drain the productive sector’s capitol to support their government programs. It is overt giving the taxpayer’s money for the vote and cementing Leftist power forever.

https://theweek.com/articles/783700/democratic-socialism-bad-why-norway-great?fbclid=IwAR1MAIkuFycOVQsFrdh509cB5kJZPlhi62YAGkBWscYNJltrc8yINNBiPvg


13 posted on 03/05/2019 6:06:42 PM PST by jonrick46 (Cultural Marxism is the cult of the Left waiting for the Mothership.)
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To: jonrick46

First, though it has some socialist policies, it is not a socialist state.

Norway is tiny at about 5 million, with huge sales of oil lease rights. The pool of invested funds amount to about $200k per person. This is beyond the support to their businesses and social programs. Oil production is directly over 25% of the government revenue, with huge investments adding to that (hydro power is also over 95% of their power production).

Corporate tax rates are at 24%.

They also have two peoples which hashed things out centuries ago and largely assimilated/melded.


14 posted on 03/06/2019 12:07:50 AM PST by lepton ("It is useless to attempt to reason a man out of a thing he was never reasoned into"--Jonathan Swift)
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To: Hojczyk

We must accept responsibility as conservatives for what has happened to our young through our education system.
We LET this happen.

We surrendered the education system for our youth to these Socialistic animals, and now we are seeing the results.

Our being lazy, uncommitted, complacent has allowed the marxists to invade our education system.
-We SHOULD have dealt with it as we did the possibility of Soviet tanks rolling through west Europe or a Soviet nuclear first strike. And we have been dealing with the increasing resistance to our own physical defense from fellow Americans, and now our freedoms from those same Americans.

I forget the saying and I paraphrase, but those who teach the young create the future.

Yuri Bezminov warned us. We didn’t listen. As he warned, IF we can turn this around, it will take generations.


15 posted on 03/06/2019 4:50:00 AM PST by Wildbill22 ( They have us surrounded again, the poor bastards- Gen Creighton William Abrams)
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