Absent Economic Sense,   
Moral Passion Fails   

Part 2 of democratic socialism discussion. 

   Jay Richards, of Discovery Institute, says democratic socialists aren't following 20th century socialism. Their ideal is Scandinavian welfare policies.

   The Economist: "Those countries are not socialist. They are free-market economies with high rates of taxation that finance generous public services. 
The socialist part would be unaffordable without the dynamic capitalist part.   

   There was some sentiment for socialism in the early 20th century. But that support faded with the example of communist tyrants in the Soviet Union, Red China and other countries. 

   Among younger people with no memories of those decades, socialism again sounds reasonable. Democratic socialists say they would bring change through voters, democratically. But they overlook that Venezuelan voters elected Hugo Chavez and promises of social aid. Once the beasts are in, there are no more free elections. 

   In the U.S., Richards says young Christians have been attracted to socialist ideas. They have a valid, moral concern for the dignity of every person. 

   "But if you attach a very strong moral passion to a very faulty view of economic reality, you can end up doing a lot of damage," he writes. 

   He adds, while democratic socialists don't endorse pure socialism, at least some voters and candidates are on a trajectory to that end. 

   "That's what I think democratic socialism is. It's a movement in which a population gets more and more accustomed to dependency. Rather than focus on how we create value and wealth for ourselves and others, we focus on how we confiscate the wealth of other people," Richards says. 

   "The more the population is in that confiscatory mode, the more dangerous it gets." 

WORLD magazine