Socialist Fever

Just leave it to Winston Churchill to encapsulate the essence of two competing political and economic philosophies as he did before the House of Commons in 1945: “The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings; the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries.”

While we’d previously taken a look at the so-called inherent vice of capitalism’s unequal shared blessings, what about the way capitalism has fostered individual liberty through the reward for hard work or the way it has stimulated competition and ingenuity to power America’s economic dynamism over the past couple of centuries?

Our next session, though, will focus on that Churchillian mirror image i.e. socialism’s inherent virtue as the equal sharing of its miseries. Miseries, says who? Not Kristin Ghodsee, author of our discussion piece What Socialism Got Right, as this historian of post-Communism, while acknowledging the enormous harms of the various twentieth-century regimes, enumerates the benefits by reverse engineering those that are now vanishing under capitalism. Those asserted lost benefits include a powerful sense of community, accessible and subsidized cultural life, improved workplace equality for women and planned neighborhoods with civic amenities. Point taken.

These are lessons, not political heresy, she argues, as we now try to make sense of the sudden breakout of socialist fever in cities like New York City and Seattle. But take note of NYC’s new mayor’s opening pledge when he vows to draw the city together by replacing “the frigidity of rugged individualism with the warmth of collectivism.”

Does this sentiment mark some new age of consciousness or reflect a willful ignorance of history (or both)? And this heralded “collectivist warmth” for whom? Let us take heed of the historical pattern featured in all collectivist experiments: honeymoon, underperformance, disenfranchisement, and collapse. Be prepared for the shakedown cruise of fiscal extraction as the city slouches towards central planning.

Cue the Nordic model. Even Sweden eventually undertook significant reforms to embrace a market economy after high taxes, and rigid labor markets eroded competitiveness. Will this time be different?

Mamdani in Bon Jovi drag: “Livin’ On A Prayer.”

Please note the following RSVP Policy for Member Monday: RSVP sign-up opens up at 11:00am on Fridays via the City Club weekly Newsletter. Seats are first-come, first-served: the first 14 secure a spot at the table, the last 3 on the couch. Cancellations must be made 24 hours in advance or the standard Social Lunch rate applies.