Extended families have long functioned to provide alternatives to the state in terms of risk sharing and mutual aid. Other economic benefits include the refinement of human capital and economies of scale.
People must still compete for resources in a socialist economy. In fact, the competition is intense. On the other hand, thanks to markets, basic necessities—and even basic luxuries—are now more more accessible than ever.
The empirical evidence shows that neither minimum wages or welfare reduce poverty. In fact, minimum wages tend to increase the cost of living while poverty rates have gone nowhere since the Great Society was introduced.
“Poverty in society is overcome by productivity, and in no other way. There is no political alchemy which can transmute diminished production into increased consumption.”
To offer a semblance of solidarity with the working class, wealthy leftists have substituted identity politics for class conflict, and attempted to recast economic problems as problems of racism or bigotry.
Lockdowns have already pummeled the US labor market, and efforts to increase regulations in the name of "protecting workers" will only make things worse.
The World Economic Forum and its related institutions in combination with a handful of governments and a few high-tech companies want to lead the world into a new era without property or privacy.
As Thanksgiving approaches, we should be thankful to society’s economic benefactors rather than condemning them because of the wrongheaded ideology of egalitarianism.
The film Black Panther offered an attractive view of an African nation untouched by slavery or colonialism. Unfortunately, the film offers a rather dubious counterfactual.
