I regularly hear from my right-leaning friends about the evils of socialism. One recently quoted Ezra Taft Benson who called socialism “compulsory benevolence” and said that it has nothing to do with charity. Those on the right decry all forms of socialism as government attempting to redistribute wealth. The term socialism is an evil and bad thing.
You know, they are right (no pun intended). Socialism as a political or economic system where the state owns and controls the means of production has been tried and failed. It IS a bad thing. Where the right is wrong is when they collectively brand all manners of addressing societal needs as “socialism.” They seem to forget that capitalism does not function in a vacuum. They equate Democrats as proponents of socialism. In that, they are mistaken. I have never heard a democratic leader advocating for the government takeover of the means of production.
Democrats are guilty of bad marketing. Calling it “democratic socialism” is like calling it tasty excrement; it still contains the word socialism. What if Democrats called it democratic capitalism? That certainly sounds better and more accurately describes its roots in capitalism. The Democratic Party is, by no stretch of the truth, a socialist party; its mainstream platform is committed to the capitalist economic model that includes a strong social safety net.
That safety net includes such things as universal healthcare, affordable housing, and tuition free college. Further blurring the lines between capitalism and this strong social safety net are things like highways and infrastructure as they are essential to economic growth but are not a profit center for private enterprise.
The term “democratic capitalism” better reflects the goals of both Republicans and Democrats, maybe not the hardcore MAGA crowd, but old-guard Republicans and modern thinking conservatives. Certainly, anyone with an understanding of the need for an educated workforce, an interstate highway system, and clean drinking water sees this. Not everything in a capitalist society can be left to profit-centric ventures.
The first word in our new term, “democratic”, refers to the system of government where the people hold the power, typically through elected representatives. This form of government only fails when the people don’t hold their representatives accountable. When that happens, we see the less educated falling for the allure of authoritarianism. A strong-man government seems to be the quick fix for all that is wrong. Such lazy thinking saw the rise of Castro, Erdoğan, and Orbán. It also brought to power Hitler, Stalin, and Mussolini. It now embraces Trump.
Where capitalism is founded on a pure profit motive, it rebels against anything that would cut into profits. Funding education, while providing a better pool of skilled employees, is seen as a good thing but something that should be magically funded by “other people.” Trump has been cutting educational funding while expanding our reliance on foreign-educated workers through H1-B visas.
While commerce could not function without a highway system, navigable waterways, and properly managed rail and aviation systems, there is little to no profit to be seen there. No, capitalism needs a functioning government to provide for the common good.
Another hard to swallow pill for capitalists is healthcare and a social safety net. Sure, a contented, healthy, and happy workforce is desirable but nobody wants to pay for it. Such things cut into profits. The incentive here is to shift this burden back on their underpaid employees. That’s why we need “democratic capitalism” to provide a national conscience. While conservatives decry the welfare state as moochers seeking “compulsory benevolence” it is they who also don’t want a level playing field.
The answer to all of this is not trusting a sociopathic billionaire to level this playing field to share the tax burden as it should be. He is not so motivated. As a wealthy authoritarian he looks out for number one. His tariffs are a shift of the tax burden to the lower classes. Unregulated capitalism is not tolerated under democratic capitalism. Without regulation, the playing field will never be level and will always be tilted in favor of those with profit motive blinders.
Under democratic capitalism, the goal would be zero national debt and a system in which the wealthy pay their fair share. If we close the BBD* loopholes available to only the wealthy where they avoid paying taxes on their income, the social safety net could be a funded reality. Who in their right mind could be against a single-payer health insurance program that would lower costs? Who would be against the whole of American society being afforded a decent education that included college and trade schools?
*BBD refers to Buy, Borrow, Die as a tax dodge. Take compensation (i.e. income) in the form of Buying corporate stock, Borrow against that stock, and pass its value to your family when you Die. This shifts your “income” away from normal income taxes and toward much lower taxing rates.
Footnote: I coined the term “democratic capitalism” while riding my bike this morning while thinking about recent FB posts attacking all Democrats as “socialists.” After writing the above, I decided I would do a quick search for the term. Not only did an AI response come back with a definition that closely aligns with what I just wrote, Wikipedia has a full page devoted to its explanation. Perhaps I should have started there. Maybe I should have just been enjoying my “High Energy Uplifting Rock” playlist with artists like Van Halen, Heart, Aerosmith, Steppenwolf, The Rolling Stones, ZZ Top, Led Zeppelin, The Doors, Queen, AC/DC, Deep Purple, The Animals, and CCR.
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