Wading into a hot topic is always dangerous. Even touching politics can get me burned. Talking about a candidate is playing with fire. So here I go.
“We must recognize that in the 21st century, in the wealthiest country in the history of the world, economic rights are human rights,” Bernie Sanders said. “This is what I mean by democratic socialism.” (source: CNN)
Now, regardless of one’s political party, that is a dangerous statement. “Economic rights” equates money with “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
I disagree vehemently. No one has the right to a job. Everyone has the right to pursue a job but not necessarily to have a job. In so far as Socialism guarantees jobs, it guarantees that some people will not work at a job, knowing it cannot be taken away. It breeds laziness. Why work hard if you get paid anyway and can’t be fired?
In the Socialist USSR, alcoholism was rampant, product quality was poor, availability of products was scarce. This is seen again and again throughout history and is still seen today. Socialism changes who is in power, but it doesn’t change the fact that the powerful get rich and the poor suffer.
I have worked with economics and budgets most of my life. I saw the incredible waste in government year after year as departments spent more than they had on things they didn’t need so that they could ask for more the next year. This wasn’t just occasional, it was EVERY year!
I saw the VP of Business at a major division I university lie about a project he wanted in order to get it approved. As his Assistant, I told him it would lose $1 million a year. He forced it through. It lost $1 million a year.
I saw a department in a city of half a million people lie about spending money on 50 computers by claiming the funds were spent on maintenance. Thus they got a bigger maintenance budget the next year and had their new computers, too.
Socialism gives even more power to the government and will create enormous waste. The budget deficit is criminal and has been abused badly by Bush II, Obama, and now Trump. Get a Bernie Sanders in there and you can kiss our US butt goodbye.
We have spun ourselves into an economic quagmire over the past 4 decades. We need to do something to fix it. The solution will be painful. But a Socialism solution is putting a gun to our own heads.
