VOTE AGAINST SOCIALISM. As the Mid-Terms Elections approach, I feel compelled to explain the urgency of the election. The Democratic Party of the 1980’s, and everything it stood for, no longer exists. It’s still bears the same name, but the Democratic Party has become the Party of Socialism.

What is Socialism, and why is it to be feared? Socialism is a form of capitalism in which there is no desire to regulate costs, and instead the government subsidizes almost everything for as many people as possible. It subsidizes medical, housing, education, food, and even a universal guaranteed income. Socialism does differ from Communism, in that Communism is the government OWNING everything, and there is no private sector. Socialism is a major step towards Communism, but it should be feared in it’s own right.

Socialism simply doesn’t work, and it will completely and utterly destroy the economy. One of the goals of socialism is to make everyone equal, and that actually will be accomplished, as we will all be equally poor. It’s not a question of simply objecting to higher taxes.

One can look at North and South Korea as a case study in whether capitalism or far left economics works best. Seoul was a basket case of a capital city in the 1950’s, having been largely destroyed in the Korean War. South Korea was a desperately poor Third-World country, on par with India at the time. By embracing capitalism, they have risen to become a top-tier country. Tiny little South Korea has a higher GPD than Russia. South Korea is not without problems, its chaebols blur the boundary between government and big business, and the country now has an aging economy facing the same struggles over globalization that we have in America. Policy makers are debating a growing social inequality. It seems that all the advanced industrial nations are facing the same set of issues.

Socialism is not the answer for South Korea, nor is it the answer for America. 30 years ago, we had a Democratic Party and we had a Republican Party. Those parties had competing visions for what works economically, and how much government regulations are needed. I would welcome this debate, and I would surely take some positions favorable to these old-school Democrats.

I fought for years in Newark for rent control of market rate housing. And while the landlords could and did cry “Socialism”, rent control is simply a regulation. It’s not Socialism because there is no government subsidy of the tenant’s rent (note: Section 8 is a different program that is a subsidy), and it operates fully within capitalism. Rent control of market rate housing actually reduces dependence on government and government subsidies because it allows families to survive economically without government assistance, and to have more money to spend to power the economy. Every real Republican should want as few people on government assistance as possible. In my opinion, the more that money is spent and flows in the local economy, the better the economy functions; and when everyone’s money is drained away (for instance, by banks, insurance, and landlords), the economy of the local community is like the human body with a major wound gushing blood. The body cannot live, and cannot function, unless the blood can flow within the body. It doesn’t help the economy of cities and towns in New Jersey if all the money flows to landlords in New York, and is re-spent there. The situation is a bit like colonialism.

Anything that is essential, like water or electricity, has to be regulated. Imagine, for instance, if America abolished all the Boards of Public Utilities, and allowed utilities to charge whatever they wanted for water and electricity. Surely, the stockholders would love that, and people would say “look how business is booming”. Each cost would rise to become one quarter of everyone’s income, and people would have no money to spend on anything else to power the consumer economy. And to complete the picture of insanity, imagine if the government decided to subsidize these costs (aka Socialism), and pay part of many consumers’ water and electricity bills instead of regulating those costs lower. That’s essentially the situation we have right now with housing. Housing costs are insanely high, and government is subsidizing many people’s housing (Section 8) instead of regulating the costs down, or providing real solutions for owner-occupancy. See our Housing page for a real solution for owner-occupied housing.

The debate on how the money should flow, and what is best for the economy, is something healthy that I encourage. It’s a debate on housing, insurance, credit card interest rates, healthcare, and other matters. A healthy debate on consumer protection is not a debate on Socialism.

This healthy debate can no longer happen in our current political environment.

One Party, the Democrats, wants to go full Socialist, and have everything subsidized. And ironically, Socialists have no intent to regulate the cost of things like health care or rents, because their answer is not to control the costs, but to have the government (taxpayers) subsidize the cost. Socialism is not about regulations to protect the consumer; it’s about subsidizing the consumer’s loss of blood with other taxpayers blood. Socialism is a very dangerous monster indeed, because it comes with an abandonment of consumer protection. And when I talk about “populism”, I am talking about protecting the consumer, and keeping money in her pocketbook. The day will come when this will be embraced in an enormous and “populist” fashion.

The percent of Milennials who advocate Socialism has risen to a terrifying level. And this is the same Party that has gone radically astray with anti-American sentiments, varies protest movements, and to how we view gender. These societal changes are also all very objectionable.

We essentially have two options, one is Socialism and these societal changes, and the other is big business. I’m not here to promote the Republican Party as it stands, and I’m certainly not an advocate of increasing power for big business. I see a need for serious economic reforms, and a need to return to spiritual principles and a healthy embrace of traditional American values. I have outlined all of this in a succinct manner on the home page of this website. I have defined populism.

What we absolutely cannot have in America is Socialism, and that is what is at stake on Election Day. It will destroy the economy and cause even greater social divisions than we currently suffer. We are divided enough. A vote for the Democrats is a vote for Socialism. The Republican Party, with all its flaws, is the only realistic option. Tuesday’s election is not a referendum on Donald Trump. I could blog on and on about both the positives and negatives of President Trump. That’s not what this election is about.

This nation is staring Socialism in the face, and we MUST face it down, or America as we know it will come to an end. And the beginning of the end is a political stalemate in Washington in which the President can get nothing done because obstructionists control the House of Representatives.

Tuesday is Election Day, and I encourage all voters to vote Republican for all State and Federal elections, especially the House of Representatives. For your local towns, the Party affiliation is not as important. I am voting for one Democrat for Municipal Council in the small town where I live. I encourage nobody to be a partisan bulldog. I do support Trump in a generic fashion, but I’ve never walked around wearing a MAGA hat.

The more the Democratic Party veers towards Socialism, the more seats it will lose in state and national elections. As the Republican Party rises to even greater dominance, the real battle is shaping up. And that is the battle to reform the Republican Party. The Party must return to traditional American values, with a spiritual focus. And that will enable discussion to commence on healthy economic reforms, without the fear of Socialism.

The attached link is an interesting read on capitalism in South Korea

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/app5.243