Hayward: Why is Socialism popular again?

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Wednesday, February 27. 2019

Hayward: Why is Socialism popular again?

I think it's about the dream for free stuff.

Posted by The Barrister at 13:13 | Comments (12) | Trackbacks (0)

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Hit the guy over the head and take his stuff is a traditional economic system.

A lot is spent on defense and not much on capital formation.

#1 rhhardin (Link) on 2019-02-27 13:24 (Reply)

When has socialism not been popular in the last 100 years??

#2 feeblemind on 2019-02-27 13:31 (Reply)

Very simple

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real_wages#/media/File:United_States_real_wages_(red,_in_constant_2017_dollars).png

#3 citizen49a on 2019-02-27 13:31 (Reply)

Because for the last 200 years the ostensible right did pretty much nothing to ensconce and ingrain original structure.

#4 Meh on 2019-02-27 13:56 (Reply)

Wide communication and knowledge of what other people have may be an underrated driver. Think of TV shows and movies where the "typical middle-class families" had houses and cars that were more upper-middle. Well I don't have that, and I'm a regular person. Something must be wrong.We believe that America or the world is what the film tells us, and our neighborhoods don't look that good. I and my people must be getting a raw deal. It looks attractive when other people seem to be prospering in ways that you do not understand, don't seem fair, or don't seem valuable. The free market operates at all times, but it is easily disguised or hampered so that its power may not be obvious in the short term. It can be gamed in the short term, so that its results look even more infuriating (or unreal, depending on your point of view). People want to either feed off it or destroy it to make the world seem more "fair" in their eyes.

#5 Assistant Village Idiot on 2019-02-27 14:20 (Reply)

Something for nothing: As Admiral Akbar said, "It's a TRAP!"

#6 Sam L. on 2019-02-27 14:26 (Reply)

It's really about removing risk from life. Socialists promise you won't have to worry about your job, house, health insurance or education. For many people it is just as attractive as opium! The consequences that risk free stuff is very expensive so each person gets less in terms of salary, homes, and medical care is hidden carefully.

My younger engineers with big student loan debt are really receptive to promises to forgive that debt. When I point out that others who paid these off already and those that didn't go to college would go nuts, I get this "gee, I never thought of that" look.

#7 dirtyjobsguy on 2019-02-27 14:54 (Reply)

On top of that add a layer of everybody gets a trophy day and you get a generation conditioned to believe that it's not fair that the kid who majored in petroleum engineering get's a bigger cake than the kid who majored in undecided studies and managed to rack up the same level of student debt.

#8 Another Guy named Dan on 2019-02-27 15:29 (Reply)

Also, it's most popular with Millennials, who have been cradled and babied thoughout their lives by abundant helicoptering parental units.

And, face it, the family is the Perfected Socialism: You get what you need (and probably more) without question if the need lies within the family's ability to provide it.

That's normal up to some age. But by the time a kid is in middle school if not sooner, he/she needs to start learning that the world does not provide as the family does — and never can.

That lesson never gets learned, and so these Newbs come out of universities, massively indoctrinated and with completely unrealistic expectations of the world.

Of course, they want socialism — that's all they know.

#9 PubliusII on 2019-02-27 15:32 (Reply)

Present it as "free" and people will usually perk up immediately.
Present as a cost and they'll pay less attention.
Tell them it's free to some, but will be paid for by the most productive among them, and they'll stop being productive.
Raise a generation of people who are generally unable to associate their actions with consequences - and you have a willing audience.

The methods of adoption and desire are the same, regardless of generation.

Every time I mention health care, people say "free care in other nations works." No it doesn't. What you SEE SEEMS to work. What you don't see...well, that's entirely different.

Basiat is an imperative here.
http://bastiat.org/en/twisatwins.html

At the end of the day, Ivanka was correct. People don't want things handed to them. Certainly not things which are associated with developing self-esteem (jobs, education, homes - anything you need to develop a sense of pride and responsibility for). People WILL TAKE things, if they are offered (Trevor Noah is right, the SWAG bags in Hollywood are a free-for-all, but that says more about the entitled nature of Hollywood nitwits than it does about the average person.)

But once you start handing things to people...the cat's out of the bag, incentives are lost, there starts to be a misalignment between expectations and desires.

#10 Bulldog on 2019-02-27 17:16 (Reply)

Socialism is belief in the fantasy that we can all live well at the expense of everybody else.

#11 Ray on 2019-02-28 10:11 (Reply)

do you think the forty year colonization of the united states by the political left could have anything to do with the rise of socialism? why do you think the political left have been colonizing the united states, to bring people here that believe in capitalism?

#12 tommy mc donnell on 2019-02-28 11:00 (Reply)

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Wednesday, February 27. 2019

Hayward: Why is Socialism popular again?