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There’s a saying among recreational mariners that the word “boat” is actually an acronym for “bring out another thousand”, as it seems you can’t operate one for long without committing to expensive maintenance and repairs. But this axiom isn’t limited to just civilian pleasure craft, it also holds true for large and complex vessels — although the bill generally has a few more zeros at the end.
Consider the USS New Jersey (BB-62), an Iowa-class battleship that first served in the Second World War and is now operated as a museum ship. Its recent dry docking for routine repair work has been extensively documented on YouTube by curator [Ryan Szimanski], and in the latest video, he covers one of the most important tasks crews have to attend to while the ship is out of the water: inspecting and repairing the hundreds of patches that line the hull.
These patches aren’t to repair damage, but instead cover up the various water inlets and outlets required by onboard systems. When New Jersey was finally decommissioned in 1991, it was hauled out of the water and plates were welded over all of these access points to prevent any potential leaks. But as the Navy wanted to preserve the ship so it could potentially be reactivated if necessary, care was taken to make the process reversible.
Patches that project out from the surface are easier to remove.
Squatting underneath the 270 meter (887 feet) long battleship, [Ryan] points out one of these patches and explains how they were installed. Rather than welding a flat plate over the hole, the patch was boxed out from the surface so that it could be easily cut off without damaging the ship’s hull. A set of eyelets were also welded to the hull around the opening, as they would have been used to help hoist the heavy patch into position.
Once installed, a pressure gauge and an air hose would be attached to a opening built into the patch. Compressed air would be pumped in, and the pressure would be monitored to see if there were any leaks. Should the pressure drop, spraying soapy water on the weld seams would usually reveal where the air was dribbling out of.
According to [Ryan], only one of these patches is known to have developed a leak in the 32 years since the bottom of the ship was last inspected and serviced. But given the fact that the ship won’t be removed from the water again for the next several decades, the plan is to go around pressure testing the patches and repairing any welds that might not be up to standard.
The Battleship New Jersey YouTube channel is a phenomenal resource for anyone interested in the nuts-and-bolts of warships, with videos covering everything from the ship’s original WWII equipment to the modern electronic retrofits made to the ship in the 1980s and 90s.
This week’s brouhaha in Brussels saw the Foreign Ministers of NATO emerge from their holes in the ground looking for food now that things are finally warming up for Spring.And they had a message for us: more for them and less for us. They were ready to steal the food from our mouths, our children from our homes, to give Ukraine the aid it needs to beat Russia in a war only they seem to want.
They would strangle the political process at home to make this so. They would betray their basic roles as diplomats, speaking with forked tongues, to confound the conditions for dialogue with Russia and end the fighting.
In fact, with all the war mongering going on you would have thought this was a convocation of military commanders, not diplomats. But that’s where we are in this process.
The message of NATO’s foreign policy is simple, “War first. Talk later.” Facts on the ground don’t matter. Budget deficits don’t matter. Plunging public support for Ukraine doesn’t matter. All that matters is what these people want.
And they want war. But at the same time, they won’t admit that that is exactly what they are waging.
The doublespeak has gotten to the point where even Pinocchio is looking at outgoing General-Secretary Jens Stoltenberg going, “Dood. Your schnoze!”
Then again, Stoltenberg is a year past his ‘use-by’ date. He’s even more a lame duck than French President Emmanuel Macron at this point. The problem for those who actually run NATO, they can’t agree on who to replace him with… a British Neoconservative or a Dutch Neoliberal?
In the same week where the French and Russian Defense Ministers had a frank conversation about Ukraine, the attack in Moscow on civilians, and how quickly Russia will vaporize French troops sent into the fighting, we’re treated to the complete abandonment of all diplomatic pretense.
Mercouris, of course, has a lot more to say, but that’s the long and the short of it. It was all a pathetic game, transparently so. The Russians were forced into this war, but now that they’re in it they’re in it to win. Mercouris sums it up:
The Russians are not under any pressure to negotiate. They are winning the war and they know they’re winning the war. The West, if it wants to avoid a spectacular geopolitical disaster—which is what a defeat in Ukraine would be— in its own interests needs to talk to the Russians. But coming up with half baked proposals such as a return to Istanbul or a Frozen Conflict is going to get nowhere. It is only going to annoy the Russians even more. The logical and right thing to do is to ask the Russians what it is, exactly, in Ukraine that they want to achieve, and see whether it might be possible for the West to meet them halfway. I would have thought that is basic obvious diplomacy.
It’s been so long here in the US where we’ve had a Secretary of State who wasn’t hell bent on a war with Russia, Iran, or China (or all three consecutively and concurrently) we’ve forgotten what having diplomats looks like.
I mean think about it. Antony Blinken’s sad dog-eye technique makes you wistful for the days of Condoleeza Rice’s angry diversity hire routine.
The difference between then and now is Putin hadn’t quite told NATO to “piss off.”
Again, can anyone remember that as late as 2007 Vladimir Putin was invited to speak at the annual Munich Security Conference. Back then he was just as willing to tell the West what they needed to hear rather than wanted to hear as he is now, but at least we put up the pretense of listening to him.
Blinken is only competent in the role of anti-diplomat. And why he’s worse than Rice or even *shudder* Hillary Clinton, is that he’s not even consistent. One week looking for an off-ramp after the terror attack in Moscow. This week mouthing words about Ukraine joining NATO knowing that that’s the road to a US war with Russia.
But, Mercouris and Wauck both believe this is some kind of bluff by Blinken. I’d like to believe they are correct. Nat. Sec. Adviser Jake Sullivan cracking a rib canceling his trip to Saudi Arabia may speak to that. I mean, there’s a high probability of that when you “fall down the stairs” or whatever excuse he gave.
As is this morning’s rumor that the US has told Iran they won’t be upset if Iran hits Israel hard in retaliation over the attack on Iran’s embassy in Damascus earlier this week. Israeli citizens seem to believe this rumor, looking for the exits, stocking up on toilet paper, etc.
Today we can see what’s fundamentally wrong with NATO in this clearly over-produced shite with an extended steady cam shot that would make Stanley Kubrick green with envy… or just green.
With all respect to Macron’s right hook, who else is producing this level of propaganda? Who is always driving this bus towards the edge of the cliff? Who is going to put more pressure on Speaker Mike Johnson to pass a Ukraine aid bill that he’s held at bay from these vipers for nearly 6 months?
Exactly who you would expect if you still have three functional brain cells and a passing acquaintance with something known as ‘history.’
The only good thing I have to say about David Cameron’s political resurrection is that he’s no Winston Churchill.
I don’t know about you, but I get tired of writing and saying that NATO hasn’t been fit for purpose since the end of the Cold War. If that’s the case then why did they just get shiny new headquarters, new members, and every Western leader screaming for them to have more money?
We all know why. And that’s the fundamental problem.
NATO is the entangling alliance that the Founders warned us about back in the 18th century. And it’s high time we crafted a way out of the trap that membership in it represents. As a deterrent against future aggression NATO can be seen as a necessary thing. But, like all organizations facing the end of its lifespan, it had to find new ways to retain its relevance after we bled out the USSR with a deft combination of defense spending and $8 per barrel oil.
This is also why the Cold War never really ended. It just shed its skin and NATO along with it. The problem with most of the analysis about the current conflict is that we’re all stuck (including myself at times) within the nation-state framework.
The US needs this. The UK needs that. Russia needs something else.
But that framework is inadequate to describe the everything that’s going on unless you map the geographic unit to the dominant globalist faction within each region of the West. And they each have very different agendas and goals with respect to Ukraine and Russia.
Ukraine became the battleground physically for this. To the EU, the US and the UK, through their influence in Poland and the Baltics, were used to foment this war. Bankrupting them {and Russia} through war forces them back to being subjugated sources of raw materials while exporting EU laws and rules to those places which have the privilege (from their perspective) of doing business with them.
From all three players’ perspectives if Ukraine beat Russia, then they win. Putin is eventually deposed, Russia is humiliated, and the long-desired breakup of their land-based empire would commence. Europe gets their Great Reset. The UK gets to maintain control over the maritime empire, reclaiming NATO control over the Black Sea, and forcing the Arab oil producers back in line. The US gets to leverage a fallen Russia to weaken China and stop the further integration of the BRICS into a competitor.
In short, the world would go back to the 1990’s when guys like Bill Browder were running around buying up everything and the Russian oligarchs Putin beat would be restored to power. Fukuyama would finally be right.
But, as I said, the real goal of this war wasn’t just getting Russia, they had to maneuver the US into a terminal state as well, through the costs of fighting a war we weren’t capable of sustaining. And that was the bridge too far for US interests not beholden to the ghost of Trotsky and the tears of Bill Kristol.
NATO cannot and should not survive these stresses if its intended victims, Russia/China/Iran, fight even remotely competently.
And they are. They all understand that this is a race against a political and economic clock in the West that is quickly counting down to zero. All Russia has to do is keep grinding out territorial gains in Ukraine, Iran to not over-react to Israel’s provocations, and China to ignore the yapping over tariffs and Taiwan.
And all the Americans who are tired of this have to do is keep the money spigot to NATO and Ukraine closed off as much as is politically possible.
So, this is why we’re seeing the full court press from both the UK and EU to get the US re-focused on the task at hand in Ukraine. It’s why everyone on Capitol Hill hates Speaker Mike Johnson and why the knives are out from all sides, including his own party.
Yeah, I’m lookin’ at you Marjorie Taylor Greene….
Because the US is clearly looking for a way to extricate itself from this mess, even if all the puff adders on K Street want to do is pivot towards China.
The cost/benefit analysis for the US, especially in an election year, just doesn’t add up. And there is zero real leverage Europe can apply to the US other than through their bought and paid-for politicos in D.C. for more money.
The heart simply isn’t willing anymore. Why? For all the reasons I’ve been talking about for six years here, the memories of WWII are fading. The generations of Americans imprinted with the post-WWII Pax Americana lie are dying off (Boomers) or no longer care, if they ever did (Gen X).
The Millennials and ‘Zoomers’ aren’t invested in this mythology. They know they’re the heads are on the chopping block.
They can see that none of this is in their best interests. The US, as a nation at war with itself, will try one last time this fall to vote its way out of Europe before it gets ugly here. Listen again to Cameron’s harangue carefully. There is an implicit threat not just in the language but the staging of it.
Make no mistake, folks. These people are the enemy of all that’s good and decent in the world. We have plenty of snakes here in the US doing their bidding, selling us the old lies repackaged as new ones, and acting outside the bounds of the law. There’s plenty of blame to spread around here.
But what’s becoming obvious is that the era of extra-curricular US warfare is over. A lot of people refuse to look at the cover of the TPS report for fear of ‘getting the memo.’
Sadly, most of them work at NATO, and we’re not skimming fractions of pennies here.
Beneath the cloak of night, under the watchful eyes of our ancestors etched upon the canvas of stars, I recount a tale not of valor, but of a shadow that crept upon our lands. In the era when the earth was untouched by the iron hands of the future, our tribe lived in harmony with the spirit of the land. Helgate Canyon, the sacred throat of the earth, whispered the ancient songs through the winds. It was there, in the heart of our world, that darkness descended like a shroud.
The others, our brothers under the same sky yet divided by the unseen forces of destiny, came upon us not with open hands but with clenched fists. The canyon, our sanctuary, transformed into a gaping maw of despair. Their ambush was swift, a serpent’s strike, and it left our warriors fallen, the soil thirsting for the blood of the betrayed. The cries of the vanquished mingled with the night, a chorus of sorrow for the moon to bear witness.
This tale, woven into the very fabric of our being, serves not as a call to arms but a solemn remembrance of the fleeting nature of peace. The “Gates of Hell” — a name whispered in the aftermath, capturing the essence of the chasm that swallowed the souls of the brave. As the keeper of this dark chronicle, I engrave our story onto the bones of the earth, a testament to the resilience of our spirit and the shadows that dance at the edges of our light.”, the figure slumped forward, one last breath, then lying still.
The saga of the canyon didn’t just stop there, though. No, it turned into a hotspot for all sorts of adventurers—trekkers, pioneers, moguls with big ideas. When Lewis and Clark meandered through Helgate Canyon, they couldn’t stop marveling at its wild charm, totally clueless about the somber tales the ground could tell if it had a mouth.
Then came the Milwaukee Railroad, slicing through the canyon like a knife through butter—a feat of engineering that had everyone talking. For a bit, the place was alive with the buzz of electric trains, drowning out the wind’s whispers that used to share secrets of those long gone. But, like all great things, this too passed, leaving the tracks to play hide and seek with Mother Nature.
Fast forward to nowadays, and we’ve got the Kim Williams Trail, snaking through the canyon. Named for a hometown hero of the green movement, it’s a nod to the power of preserving what we love. But let’s not forget the original guardians of these lands—the indigenous folks who held it sacred.
I know I have COVID but I just needed to get out on my bike and what better place than the Kim Williams Trail. I soon found myself passed out.
And now, as I lie here, battling the ravages of a pandemic, I hear a whisper on the wind. A lone figure emerges from the shadows, the eyes of my ancestors reflected in his gaze. He approaches me, and I know that I must heed his call to share this story, for in doing so, I shall not perish. I will carry on, my voice adding to the chorus that echoes through the canyon, a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and the enduring power of our connection to the land. “The stories we share are the threads that bind us all.”
I wrote about Botswana yesterday, but focused on the narrow issue of how some of that nation’s leaders dunked on virtue-signalling politicians in Germany and the United Kingdom.
But I did share a chart about how Botswana has out-performed other African nations thanks to more economic liberty.
How much more economic liberty? As you can see from the map, Botswana is one of only three nations is sub-Saharan Africa to be in the second quartile (green) for economic liberty according the Fraser Institute’s Economic Freedom of the World.
Being in the second quartile normally is nothing to brag about. Indeed, I criticize countries such as Greece, Italy, and France for being in that group.
But almost every other African country does worse. A few are in the third quartile (orange) and most are in the fourth and last quartile (red).
Does Botswana reap any benefits as a result of having the highest level of economic freedom in Africa (other than a couple of small island nations)?
Let’s update the chart I shared yesterday. Here are the new numbers, which include about 10 more years of economic data. As you can see, Botswana is still the continent’s big success story.
Let’s look at some analysis about Botswana’s economic policy.
We’ll start with some excerpts from a column that Marian Tupy wrote for CapX back in 2020.
Another success story that speaks to the universal applicability and adaptability of classical liberal principles is Botswana. While by no means perfect, Botswana has outperformed the rest of Africa economically… In 1966, when the Bechuanaland Protectorate gained independence from Britain, GDP per capita was just amounted to $518 a year. By 2018, it stood at $8,031 – an increase of 1,450%. Over the same period, the global average rose 136%, from $4,625 to $10,894. Put differently, Botswana’s economy grew 10 times faster than the rest of the world. The country’s economy is even more impressive compared to its immediate neighbors. Between 1966 and 2018, South Africa’s GDP per capita rose 32%, from $5,631 to $7,434, and Zimbabwe’s just 35%, from $981 to a meagre $1,322. …for much of its independence Botswana was, according to the Economic Freedom of the World report, one of Africa’s most economically free countries. While many other nations embraced some form of socialism, Botswana was, broadly speaking, capitalist.
And here are some excerpts from an article published by the Foundation for Economic Education in 2018.
Authored by Luis Pablo de la Horra, it reaches similar conclusions.
Whereas Asia has experienced tremendous economic growth, Africa is the continent that has benefited the least from global capitalism. …Despite Africa’s general economic underdevelopment, some countries have attained relatively-high levels of economic growth and prosperity. …Botswana gained independence from Britain in 1966. At the time, Botswana was an extremely poor country. …Today, Botswana has the highest income per capita (adjusted for purchasing power) of the region, comparable to countries like Costa Rica or Mexico. Economic growth in Botswana has been inclusive: the share of people living in poverty (i.e., with less than $1.90 a day) has declined dramatically, moving from 34.8 percent of the population in 1993 to 18.2 percent in 2009. Poverty levels are expected to fall even further, declining to 10.6 percent in 2019. …How did Botswana manage to get out of the poverty trap? Or put in another way, what differentiates Botswana from its less developed neighbors like Zimbabwe or Zambia? …Botswana is the second freest economy in Africa (only surpassed by Mauritius). It has a sensible regulatory environment and a reasonable rule of law. …In addition, trade barriers are relatively low while successive governments have managed to keep public finances under control.
Yesterday’s column was entitled “Great Moments in Botswana Government,” but ranking in the second quartile for economic liberty means today’s column is merely labeled as “Good Moments in Botswana Government.”
P.S. That being said, good is better than bad. To learn more about Botswana’s relative success, people should watch this video I shared in 2018.
P.P.S. International bureaucracies such as the OECD and IMFare givingterrible adviceto African nations.
The Nashua Area Radio Society will be holding an online Ham Bootcamp on Saturday, May 11th from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm Eastern Time.
Ham Bootcamp is a program to help new, inactive, and prospective hams gain the skills and information that they need to Get On The Air. It is open to any interested Ham or Prospective Ham in the US and Canada and there is no charge to attendees.
The morning session is geared toward operating on the VHF/UHF bands:
Putting together a Station for Repeaters – How to pick an HT or Mobile Radio and an Antenna
Radio Programming Tutorial
Making Contacts and Joining a Repeater Net
Getting Started with Amateur Radio Satellites
Getting Started with Fox Hunting
Abby Speaks About Fox Hunting in Fall 2020 Ham Bootcamp
The afternoon session is geared toward operating on the HF Bands:
Putting together an HF Station for SSB, CW, and Digital
Picking and putting up an HF Antenna, Feedlines, and Grounds
Operating on the HF bands using SSB Voice
Getting started with WSJT-X and FT8 Digital
We will also have a breakout session where attendees can choose one of the following sessions:
Learning CW
Intro to EmComm
Finding DX, Logging and QSLing
Portable Operating
… and more!
Registration is now open for the May 11th session.
You can get more information about Ham Bootcamp, including a link to register at n1fd.org/bootcamp
You must register to receive the link to join the web conference.
Books for You, Your Children, and Grandchildren Under $20 - LewRockwell: LewRockwell.com readers are supporting LRC and shopping at the same time. It’s easy and does not cost you a penny more than it would if you didn’t go through the LRC link. Just click on the Amazon link on LewRockwell.com’s homepage and add your items to your cart. It’s that easy! If you can’t live without your daily dose of LewRockwell.com in 2024, please remember to DONATE TODAY! Miller’s Review of Critical Vaccine Studies The Indoctrinated Brain The Ultimate Survival Medicine Guide SAS Urban Survival Handbook A Year Without the Grocery Store The Prepper’s Medical Handbook Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving The Prepper’s Water Survival Guide The Worst-Case Scenario … Continue reading →
“Strategic ambiguity requires strategic capabilities. Otherwise, it’s just make-believe.” — Lee Slusher on “X”
If your situational awareness is well-tuned, you can put together a political weather report from the swirl of events that otherwise seem to confound the degenerate simps who pretend to report the news. Events are tending in the direction of self-reinforcing, ramifying chaos, and the people running the show are obviously insane as they do everything possible to hurry chaos along.
Case in point: Antony Blinken, our Secretary of State, who announced yesterday that Ukraine will get rushed into NATO ASAP. Do you understand that would mean a direct, automatic, peremptory declaration of war against Russia, requiring all of NATO — that is, their combined militaries — to go kinetic inside Ukraine and theoretically inside Russia, too, (a move that has not worked out well for anyone in all of history), because Article Five of the NATO charter states that an armed attack against one is an attack against all, and must be answered with counter-attack? Thus, you see, Mr. Blinken just announced World War Three.
You might also consider that NATO does not have the capacity to fight that war. The European members don’t have sufficient troops and equipment, or financial reserves for that matter. And there is, of course, America’s under-recruited DEI army of transsexuals and video-gamers, with equipment that has already proven inadequate on-the-ground in Ukraine, and a logistical route for delivery of all that which runs 5,000 miles across an ocean and then another continent. . . whereas our opponent (Russia) is right next door to the battlefield and churning out munitions like there is no tomorrow (which there might well not be for all concerned). Even Adolf Hitler, the last fool to attempt a conquest of Russia, wouldn’t like those odds.
And why would Russia desist from firing hypersonic missiles at Berlin, Paris, London, New York and. . . ? You get the idea. In which case the USA, backstopping NATO, would lob swarms of our nuclear missiles into Russia. . . and the whole shootin’ match ends up twenty minutes later a smoldering, civilization-ending mess. Smooth move, Tony Blinken. In political weather terms, this is like an arctic shear cutting across the northern hemisphere.
At the same time, you might notice a financial la Nina forming out over the salty sea. Gold chugged up above $2,300-an-ounce the past ten days, a record. That’s a coded message from Reality Central. My de-coder ring says it means the bond market is about to fall on its ass, taking the dollar down with it, which would swiftly domino into the way-overpriced equity markets, and Gawd knows what kind of maelstrom all the derivatives flotsam would get sucked into. Notice, too that Bitcoin goes up $3,000 one day and down $2,000 the next. Kind of sketchy. But that’s just my take. If you have one, I’d like to hear it. In any case, it looks like stormy financial weather which, if nothing else, is not exactly an advantageous accompaniment to a world war. In fact, it could beat a path quickly to something like empty supermarket shelves — and you know what they say about a population being a few missed meals away from anarchy.
Then there’s the immense cluster of twisters moving ominously across the planet in the form of the Covid vaccination dysregulated immunity fiasco I wrote about in last Friday’s blog (This Is Not an April Fool’s Gag), as predicted by virologist Dr. Vanden Bossche. Translation: a lot of people getting sick and dying because their mRNA shots and boosters have so screwed-up their immune systems that they are sitting ducks for an emergent variant of Covid gestating in the vaxxed population. By the way, there is apparently a gross breakdown in medical services world-wide now, especially a shortage of doctors and nurses. Now you’re starting to see some serious stormy weather: a war, a financial train wreck, and a global public health disaster all at once.
While all that is churning things up, the next round of Trump trials are set to kick off in Alvin Bragg’s New York and Fani Willis’s Fulton County (Atlanta), GA. Both cases have publicly wrecked themselves. In the New York case, you have the daughter of Judge Juan Merchan, Loren Merchan, 37, a Democratic Party consultant who has multi-million-dollar contracts with Rep. Adam Schiff, the nation’s leading RussiaGate hoaxer, and working partner of former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen, a chief witness in the matter of a hush-money payment made to porn-star Stormy Daniels (hush money, you might note, not being illegal). Any political motivation to see in that cast of characters? And that is apart from the sheer bullshit nature of the case, as packaged for Mr. Bragg by US Attorney Matthew Colangelo, who was swapped out of the Main DOJ HQ in Blobville to the office of Soros-connected DA Bragg in Manhattan specifically to engineer a political prosecution.
The Fani Willis case down south, another political prosecution by a loudmouth “Get Trump” DA, now goes forward with a compromised government attorney who has demonstrably committed enough offenses against the law to merit disbarment. Her lover and, until recently, “special prosecutor,” Nathan Wade, on top of probably perjuring himself about his financial entanglements with DA Willis, was just cited for contempt in his own divorce case (failure to pay child support). Note, too, that the idiotic substance of the case — a racketeering charge for conspiring to voice opinions about the veracity of the 2020 election — was likewise constructed by Lawfare ninjas in Washington DC (my guess, by Mary McCord, Lisa Monaco, and Norm Eisen), and mentored to Willis & Wade in a series of meetings held in the White House office of Veep Kamala Harris (with Lawfare ninjas improperly not logged-in — also my guess).
If the blob’s desired outcome, a conviction, comes to pass, and Mr. Trump is hauled off to Riker’s Island, say, to mingle with X-hundred homicidal mutts, and, say, for some reason he does not come out of there alive. . . well, say hello to an extra-especially bad set-up for civil disorder in the home of the brave — while we do World War Three, financial pandemonium, and Vaccine death. It’s a lot to take in, I know. But it’s all really right out there, and it’s all vectoring right at us. Just so you know.
Socialism at a Glance: A Resource for Anyone Interested in Learning the Truth Behind Socialist Ideology
A growing number of people throughout the world, especially younger generations, now believe that socialism is a viable political, economic, and social model. This is particularly true in the United States, where there has been an ongoing societal debate concerning whether or not the country should replace free-market capitalism with socialism.
Those arguing in favor of socialism believe that a collectivist model is superior to individual liberty, economic freedom, and limited government, are either ignorant of or willfully disregarding socialism’s track record of misery, death, and utter failure. A prime reason behind this highly concerning trend is that today’s educational institutions have been derelict in their duty to properly educate their students about one of the most destructive ideologies to ever plague humankind.
Socialism at a Glance attempts to fill that educational deficiency, providing a succinct summary of socialism’s origins and rise in modern history while also giving detailed case studies of some of the most infamous socialist regimes that rose to power in the 20th century, including some that still exist to this day. Far from another dry history book, Socialism at a Glance provides historical anecdotes, hard data, and personal accounts of life under a selection of ruthless socialist governments.
While Socialism at a Glance is geared towards educating students who have not been exposed to accurate portrayals of socialism, it would behoove all Americans to know the unvarnished truth about this dangerous ideology, including its insidious rise in modern America and how it could ultimately doom the American experiment. Whether used a classroom resource or as a standalone book, Socialism at a Glance delivers a fact-based assessment of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels’ utopian vision that will provide readers with a clear understanding of why socialism has resulted in mass poverty, death, and destruction in each and every instance it has been implemented on a grand scale.
Introduction
Over the past few years, there has been an ongoing societal debate in the United States concerning whether or not the country should replace our free-market capitalist system with socialism.
Some on the left, such as Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, argue that income inequality, systemic racism, and the widening wealth gap point to the need for socialist economic policies to level the playing field. They also argue that because the United States is the wealthiest country in the world, it can afford to redistribute much of that wealth from the rich to the poor.
On the other hand, many on the right side of the political aisle argue that the United States is the wealthiest nation in world history due to the fact that it has historically had a thriving free-market economy. They contend that free-market capitalism is the fairest economic system because it aligns with human nature, rewards hard work, fuels innovation, and prioritizes freedom.
Over the past decade in particular, the debate between these two ideologies has become increasingly polarized, with both sides digging in their heels.
Supporters of socialism claim that they are fighting for the “little guy,” and the government should provide for the basic needs of the people. They also argue that socialism is morally superior to free-market capitalism because socialism rejects what they call the excessive and exploitative nature of free-market capitalism.
Supporters of capitalism claim that a free-market economy presents opportunities for all to prosper. They cite the countless “rags to riches” stories that have come true throughout the history of the United States. They also argue that free-market capitalism is indeed morally superior to socialism because free-market capitalism protects private property rights, individual freedom, and limited government.
In truth, both sides of the debate attempt to paint the other as misguided at best and evil at worst.
This book is solely dedicated to examining the facts regarding the merits of this increasingly important and timely debate, while avoiding unsubstantiated attacks and tired political talking points.
As such, we will take a fact-based, unbiased approach as we examine the origins of socialism, analyze the theory of socialism as propagated by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, review several socialist regimes in modern history, investigate the relationship between socialism and human nature, and assess democratic socialism.
What is Socialism?
Socialism is an economic-political system in which the “good” of the collective is more important than the “good” of the individual. Socialists argue that this is the best way to organize society because it ensures that everyone’s basic needs are met while reducing the gap between rich and poor.
In socialist societies, the government centrally plans and manages the economy. This means a handful of government officials determine who receives what because the government controls most “property,” including the means of production. This also means that, under socialism, private businesses do not exist because the government either directly or indirectly manages all economic activity. Because there is no motive to make a profit and individuals are not rewarded if they work harder than others, everyone generally receives whatever government officials determine they need.
Socialism rejects the American ideals of self-government, individualism, personal liberty, private property rights, and limited government. The American Experiment protects individual freedom, rewards merit and risk-taking, and allows individuals to pursue their own dreams. On the other hand, socialist governments are all-powerful, manage the economy through top-down command-and-control central planning, and micromanage the lives of citizens—down to what job one has, where one is allowed to live, what one can eat, and what information one is able to receive.
Because socialism places such emphasis on implementing total governmental control over the economy and society as a whole, individual rights are few and far between. For example, most socialist countries are one-party states without free and fair elections, and do not protect freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, or most of the other personal freedoms enjoyed by citizens of the free world. Inevitably, this leads to economic stagnation, lack of innovation, widespread corruption, rampant censorship, and a general fear and distrust of those in positions of power.
Moreover, as will be discussed in depth later, socialist governments have a long track record of imprisoning, torturing, or murdering anyone who dares to speak against the regime. In socialist governments, dissidents–those who question or oppose the government–are treated like enemies of the state.
Socialism has been tried many times in many different countries, and nearly always results in widespread poverty, mass murder, starvation, genocide, and a total lack of individual freedom.
From the Soviet Union, to Nazi Germany, to Cuba, to modern-day China, socialism has taken many forms. However, regardless of which form socialism takes, it has consistently resulted in the murder of tens of millions of people, horrific wars, and economic devastation.
Yet, despite its track record of destruction, death, and general societal misery, socialism remains a powerful ideology that many people believe to be better than free-market capitalism.
As we enter the 21st century, the world is still divided between free nations and socialist nations. Today, Communist China is trying to replace the United States as the world’s dominant superpower. And, even though socialism has a long history of utter failure, a growing number of Americans seek to replace free-market capitalism and our constitutional republic with a socialist government.
