Economic democracy: The DSA’s plan to punish the productive and reward the lazy

When I was younger, I began a search to find my political beliefs. I read philosophy, history, and economics, and out of everything I read, one book — Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged — stood out to me. The daring decisions of the characters to disregard public opinion and government overreach and instead boldly protest the shackles forced upon them because of their own success captivated me.

Today, conservatives find themselves coerced into conforming to a self-indulgent society. But many conservatives are beginning to rebel against the perverse liberal culture that teaches us to hate our own abilities. Still, the plague of self-hatred continues to bear down on our culture, and an advocate is the Democratic Socialists of America. A tenet of theirs is the destruction of the best economic system: capitalism.

Just the word capitalism brings horrors to the mind of a socialist, and the idea of a job is worse. The DSA’s only response to capitalism is renaming the crime of theft to the label of “Economic Democracy”. They describe this economic theory as “Establish public ownership of the largest corporations and essential industries to ensure democratic control and accountability to the people. Enact aggressive wealth taxes on the richest individuals and corporations to spend on public goods and infrastructure.” This, bluntly put, is theft.

The DSA is candid; they have no plan to masquerade their theft. In pursuing their crime, they plan on destroying capitalism, the very system they are stealing from. Their website says, “It’s been said that it’s easier to imagine the end of the world than it is to imagine the end of capitalism. But just because it isn’t easy to imagine now doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try to make it happen.” It is truly astonishing that the DSA loudly cheers for the destruction of the economic system that has brought billions out of poverty and is gladly hastening a return to an archaic, impoverished anti-capitalist society.

The DSA has converted thievery from a crime to an idol. In worshipping theft, they have become mesmerized by the idea that ownership is a sin. In pursuing their ultimate goal of solving the supposed sin of ownership, they have lost sight of what “good” actually is. In Atlas Shrugged, this same thought process is rejected by Hank Rearden at his trial. He rejects the state’s definition of good and does not kowtow to the demand to surrender the corporation he created:

“…no man has the right to seek his good through the violation of the rights of another. If it is now believed that my fellow men may sacrifice me in any manner they please for the sake of whatever they deem to be their own good, if they believe that they may seize my property simply because they need it — well, so does any burglar.”

The DSA’s economic fix-all, “Economic Democracy,” is no more than a coy mirage to conceal their actual intentions: punish the productive and reward the idle. Their economic democratization would immediately force every hardworking, disciplined businessman, engineer, and doctor to be on par with every art-school barista and failed social media influencer. This forced equalization would, in effect, be the largest heist in history, taking only from the most productive in society and giving to the laziest. This is an objectively detestable offence.

Despite the DSA’s adoration for failed philosopher Karl Marx and its exultation of class warfare and command economies, its philosophy has never succeeded. A socialist’s only goal is to destroy private property.

The DSA claims that they must destroy private property to “ensure democratic control and accountability to the people,” but what does accountability to the people actually mean? Is accountability to the people having your corporation seized and thrown to the shifting whims of the barking orders of a subjective society? Or is this accountability just the transfer of industry to whatever insufferable, bloated, inefficient, corrupt socialist government of their dreams?

The genuine good of accountability is not what you are forced into but what you do with your free will. Stealing and manipulating the most productive in our society and giving to the laziest is not accountability, and it is evident that the Democratic Socialist of America does not understand accountability. Readen continues his defense with:

THE DSA’S ‘DAY WITHOUT CAPITALISM’ HIDES THE BILL — AND THE WRECKAGE

“Nobody’s good can be achieved at the price of human sacrifices — that when you violate the rights of one man, you have violated the rights of all, and a public of rightless creatures is doomed to destruction. I could say to you that you will and can achieve nothing but universal devastation — as any looter must, when he runs out of victims.”

Our society historically understood the objective good of ownership and productivity, but the never-ending march of liberalism no longer appreciates what came before it. The instrumental philosopher, John Locke, declared that we have a natural right to life, liberty, and property. These instrumental values are being assaulted by socialist thought that is leaking into our society. We must stand our ground and maintain the autonomy of all. Preserving the capitalist system that has brought mankind into the modern age is necessary for the future.

Grayson Ryland is a Regional Field Manager at the Leadership Institute.

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[ H/T Washington Examiner ]