Calling out scary creep of socialism in America

There is a well-known quote often attributed to American Socialist, Norman Thomas. It goes like this:

“The American people will never knowingly adopt Socialism. But, under the name of ‘liberalism,’ they will adopt every fragment of the Socialist program, until one day America will be a Socialist nation without knowing how it happened.”

In Delaware County, and across the country, there is a visible and well-publicized creep toward socialist ideology that’s alarming.

Liberals, like Daily Times’ columnist Jodine Mayberry, often accuse Republicans of fear-mongering when they express concern and distrust of far-left candidates who raise a Socialist flag and extol its virtues.

The reaction was similar from liberals to the post World War II socialist policies directed by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.) in Eastern European countries.

Republicans do believe that Socialists have very bad ideas. Whether the Socialists’ ideas scare you is a decision you can make for yourself.

Here in Delaware County there is a candidate on the Democratic ballot for state representative this fall who is a founding member of the local Socialist Party.

Kristin Seale wants to abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the federal agency that protects our communities from foreign threats and illegal criminal elements.

She wants to provide free health care coverage to illegal immigrants, fight every policy that criminalizes illegal immigrants, and eliminate prisons altogether.

Seale’s beliefs also include eliminating the charitable, taxexempt status of churches, synagogues, and other religious organizations.

In a recent message to her supporters, Seale neatly captured her campaign platform: “Only direct action and revolution can bring the capitalist system to its knees.”

We believe these are very bad ideas, too. Even scary ideas.

Also, review the views of liberal and Socialist congressional candidate, Alexandra OcasioCortez. In a recent interview, she clarified one of the Socialist Party goals: Overthrow capitalism.

The Socialist plan includes democratizing private businesses, forcing owners to give workers control to the greatest extent possible.

If Socialist politicians – and apologists like Jodine Mayberry – want to try to persuade Americans to vanquish capitalism and adopt an absolute redistributionist economy, that is their prerogative.

We believe that it’s a very bad idea. Even scary.

Socialists and liberals in America frequently point to Scandinavian countries like Norway, Finland, Denmark, and Sweden to illustrate economic success stories through Socialist ideology. They’re just plain wrong. American economist, Jeffrey Dorfman, debunked this myth for Forbes earlier this year:

“To the extent that the left wants to point to an example of successful socialism, not just generous welfare states, the Nordic countries are actually a poor case to cite. Regardless of the perception, the Nordic countries practice mostly free market economics paired with high taxes exchanged for generous government entitlement programs.”

In fact, Scandinavian countries are nearly on par with the United States in terms of economic freedom, according to the Fraser Institute. The Socialist system that politicians like Bernie Sanders, Ocasio-Cortez, and Kristin Seale support would control the free market, nationalize private industry, and subsidize preferred industries. The Nordic countries they present as a beacon of Socialist pride do none of this.

The United States is a democratic republic. If Sanders, Ocasio-Cortez, Seale, Mayberry, and every single Socialist in America want to use our democratic process to try to turn hardworking Americans into Socialists, that is their choice.

But you can bet that those of us who know better will double down our efforts to expose hardworking Americans to Socialism’s dangers, its foolishness, and its failures.

The facts just might scare you.

Andrew Reilly is chairman of the Delaware County Republican Party.