2016 June 1^st

Thomas Sowell received a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Chicago, and should, therefore, be well qualified to instruct us about socialism. Sowell’s column today is titled “Taking a look at socialism for the uninformed.” This characterization is accurate because if you were informed about socialism you would recognize much of his column as right wing propaganda. Back on May 5^th Cal Thomas also took a shot at denigrating socialism; indeed the two columns are so much alike that if these gentleman were not pillars of righteousness and rectitude one might become suspicious of plagiarism.

About a month earlier I watched a portion of “The O’Reilly Factor” just to get an idea of the misinformation O’Reilly was pushing to the public. He and his guest were chortling over the absurdity of socialism, and, just as with Sowell and Thomas, Venezuela was the poster child for this system’s failures. My blog the next day took issue with O’Reilly’s position and, consequently also now with that of Sowell and Thomas. Here it is:

Last night I watched a few minutes of “The O’Reilly Factor.”  Bill O’Reilly, co-writer of several semi-fictional histories, provides a platform for discussion of issues favorable to the political right. During the few minutes I watched, O’Reilly and his grinning guest, were both chortling over the pathetic failures of socialist countries in their attempts to govern. They mentioned Cuba and Venezuela specifically. This was, of course, directed at Senator Bernie Sanders, a self-described Democratic Socialist.

Neither O’Reilly nor his guest seemed to know the difference between socialism and communism. There is no doubt that Castro’s Cuba choked off dissent, murdered its opponents, and was one of the least democratic governments on earth, but was that because it was an ironfisted dictator ship, because it was communistic, or maybe some of each? The question arises: Was the failure of Cuba’s economy caused entirely by communism’s failure, or was it pushed by the unremitting hostility of the United States and its 50-year embargo? That is far too subtle for O’Reilly to consider.

Venezuela is always included in communism’s list of failures. But was it communism or the collapse in the price of oil that has savaged the economy there. Gasoline in Venezuela in 2012 was .18 a gallon, now it’s the same price as gasoline here. Has the country done anything to find a substitute? They are sitting on one of the largest oil reserves in the world but that isn’t helping their economy if no one wants it. This is the fault of communism?

O’Reilly’s guest delightedly tells the audience that gasoline is $8.70 a gallon in socialist Sweden. That’s terrible; and it is false! It was that price four years ago but, as in Venezuela, that was then and this is now, and now Swedish gasoline is $6.20  a gallon.  Here are a few other facts about socialist Sweden that weren’t mentioned by O’Reilly because they wouldn’t have been conservatively correct: college and university education is free in Sweden; all medical care is free in Sweden; paid parental leave for new parents is free in Sweden. Keep in mind that Sweden is not communistic; there is still private property there, and you can participate in their economy by buying stock in Volvo, the car and truck company. (Free college is also available in other countries as well, Iceland, Norway, Denmark, Germany and many others, but not here because we can’t afford it.)

This country also has many socialist enterprises; one of the foremost was instituted by that Republican icon, President Dwight D. Eisenhower. This President began the construction of our massive interstate highway system. This highway system is owned by us and is available for use by anyone who wishes to use it. There is not a shred of capitalist free enterprise about it. The highway system crisscrosses the country and is available to all. This is pure socialism, as is Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security; there are other great socialist programs here much to the absolute despair of Bill O’Reilly, his buddies and the Heritage Foundation.

The highway system now has a problem: This jewel is decaying because the Tea Party types and other wing nuts simply refuse to pay for its upkeep. Paying for that might require an increase in taxes and no increase in taxes will they tolerate. Perhaps this Republican Congress will consent to borrow the money from the Chinese. That’s OK, if Trump is elected he’ll sell Eisenhower’s highways to the Chinese; Chinese laborers will then fix the roads just as they built our railroads a century and a half ago; only now once repaired, the Chinese will be charging us for their use.