We could be in the infant stages of a socialist revolution in America, if past is prologue.
In many cases over the past two centuries, socialism has gained a toehold among people who feel the economic system is rigged.
Seven in 10 Americans, according to a recent study, believe that the system is rigged by powerful, wealthy people to their detriment. This is a diverse cohort that includes strong majorities of Democrats and Republicans across the income spectrum. Most notably, 81 percent of those aged 18 to 29 think the system is rigged.
Believing the system is rigged begets hopelessness, despair, and nihilism. These feelings are what lead people to eventually decide that socialism deserves a try.
When pondering what democratic socialism in America would be like, we can use the Democratic Socialists of America’s (DSA) 2026 midterm policy platform as a starting point.
The DSA’s Wokers Deserve More Program includes three main components: thriving communities, foreign policy, and governance.
To create thriving communities, the DSA supports “paid family leave for all workers,” “a 32 hour work week with full pay and benefits,” “a living minimum wage,” “free, quality public education from pre-K to college,” canceling “all student debt,” “universal healthcare at no cost to individuals,” “publicly-owned social housing,” “reparations,” “fully abolishing the police and prison system,” and the “Green New Deal.”
At a macro-economic level, the hundreds of trillions of dollars that this “free” stuff costs would unleash Weimar-like hyperinflation. Since the laws of supply and demand would no longer apply, economic growth would stagnate while shortages, rationing, and all other sorts of unintended consequences would manifest. Almost certainly, it would shepherd a central bank digital currency.
Less easy to measure, the DSA’s grievance/welfare state would suppress hard work, motivation, innovation, ingenuity, risk-taking, economic mobility, and all the other incentives that free enterprise incubates. Freedom would be replaced with “security.”
Nevertheless, the “free” stuff message is resonating with Americans, particularly regarding health care.
It is not breaking news that Americans are frustrated with the health care system, and a majority think it is time for a single-payer system. It sounds so simple.
But government-run health care, Medicare for All as the Democratic Socialists of America call it, is not a novel concept. Universal, single-payer health care has been tried and failed many times.
Consider the Soviet Union. In 1936, the Soviet Constitution granted “Citizens of the USSR …free, qualified medical care provided by state health institutions.” So, did all Soviets have access to “free” health care for all those decades? Not even close.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, CIA reports were unclassified, “highlighting underfunded healthcare, lacking qualified personnel, and prevalent shortages of supplies.”
Long wait times, nurse and doctor shortages, rationing, and underfunding also plague the United Kingdom’s National Health Service and Canada’s single-payer system.
Medicare for All would sever whatever free-market forces remain in the U.S. health care system and give the federal government control over health care decisions because the government is the single payer.
When framed with this historical context and obvious pitfall, perhaps Americans would not be so gung-ho in favor of “free” health care.
However, abstract arguments based on data, evidence, history, and the invisible hand of the free-market system are difficult to articulate.
It is much easier to shout slogans like health care is a human right!
In a perfect world, the public education system, fourth estate, and other cultural institutions would lend a helping hand to keep socialism at bay. Generally, that occurred in the United States during the Cold War.
But that is not the case today. Public schools are not teaching the truth about socialism. The media is not asking DSA candidates hard-hitting questions. Social media makes socialism seem cool.
Americans are falling for the oldest trick in the book: socialist “free” stuff, because they think the economy is rigged.
Ironically, government meddling in markets is why the economy is rigged. “Free” stuff will not solve that problem; it will make the economy more rigged than ever.
As the CIA noted about “free” health care in the Soviet Union, “for high ranking party members,” the system “offered better quality.”
Chris Talgo is the Editorial Director for The Heartland Institute and a fellow for Heartland’s Glenn C. Haskins Emerging Issues Center.
