Prager U: Democratic Socialism is Still Socialism

Looks like a duck, quacks like a duck

10.31.2016

Leftists often try to wiggle their way out of the much maligned "socialist" label by referring to themselves as "democratic socialists" in the same way that communist countries would label themselves "people's republics."

In a new video from Prager U, the always energetic and hilarious Steven Crowder comes on hand to say that if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, then it's certainly not a chicken, no matter what amplifier you precede with.

Essentially, leftists think that by somehow putting socialism up to a democratic vote, it somehow diminishes its destructiveness. As noted in the video, Venezuela's Hugo Chavez came to power via democratic vote and the country now finds itself on the brink of total collapse, with bare essential items like toilet paper now overpriced or out of stock, despite Venezuela's resource-rich nation.

Okay, forget Venezuela. After all, leftists don't point to developing countries in South America as models for the U.S. to follow; they point to two relatively homogenous Western European countries barely one-sixtieth the size of our own: Denmark and Sweden. Here's where we get louder with Crowder:

Denmark? Ok, here’s the time where you point to an entirely homogenous population about one sixtieth the size of America’s, and you point to that as the blueprint? Ok – let’s go there. This is a place where the middle class can’t even afford a car because of the 180% new-car tax. And the Prime Minister was so fed up with Americans pointing to it as a beacon for socialist success that he felt compelled to clarify, 'I would like to make one thing clear: Denmark is far from a socialist planned economy; Denmark is a market economy.'

Sweden? I love Sweden! Ok, great bikini team, and thanks to that country my armoire now doubles as a bookcase. Speaking of which, the founder of IKEA – let’s be honest, the only real cool export from Sweden aside from a few good hockey players – left Sweden because of the stifling high tax rate. So, Sweden – good place, not bad people – but a successful model for a viable economy in today’s global market? Incorrect.

Socialism appeals to so many millennials because it appears more compassionate and altruistic than capitalism. Crowder skewers that notion by pointing out how Socialism ultimately creates more greed and selfishness through a mentality of entitlement and more violence through its enforcement by way of the gun. Every regulation and tax enacted on the populace needs enforcement, and if people don't meet the standards set by the government, then the government will eventually be showing up on people's doorsteps with a gun and handcuffs.

That's not democratic anything. That's tyranny.