Round 1- Capitalism vs. Socialism. FIGHT!

In recent weeks there has been much talk about competing economic systems largely stemming from Joe the Plumber’s now famous question to Barack Obama and Obama’s telling and equally troubling response that we need to “spread the wealth”. Americans have reacted with angst and mistrust, and for good reason. Nations the world over have had little luck with socialist systems and even Europe, a place safer than most for socialism and those who support it, has largely come to see the system’s major failures and is beginning to move toward a freer, more capitalist system.

History has proven that free market systems properly administered with limited and proper regulation create more wealth for more people than highly regulated socialist systems where entrepreneurship and economic industrialism are tempered by removing rewards for hard work through suffocating taxation. Just look at the United States of America which has created far and away the largest and most successful economy on Earth and has done so through one of if not the freest market system amongst all nations. It is not mere coincidence that we both have the freest market system on Earth and are the most successful- our success is the result of our freedom.

Free market systems do better for their participants than socialist ones as unemployment rates remain lower and people are able to create more wealth for themselves by investing their own monies. It says much about the quality of our own system that we desperately fret about a possible 6% unemployment rate and call for the heads of leading politicians should it reach that point. We view 6% unemployment as a failure; many socialist European nations view it as a great success considering 8% plus unemployment is fairly average. The fact is our worst unemployment rate is usually much better than Europe’s best.

It is deeply troubling then that Democrats like Barack Obama and even many people amongst our own generation wish to backslide on a proven system with proven results. First they say they wish to reward hard work, but then when someone works hard and creates a good income for themselves, Democrats propose taxing them at a higher rate. What a great reward for hard work!

The argument in favor of socialist policies like Barack Obama’s is rarely if ever that it will create more wealth for more people. This argument is of course antithetical to the goal of socialism, which is equality, and not freedom. It aims at tearing down the successful until they are equal with the unsuccessful under some absurd proposal that being economically equal is more important than being economically free.

Instead, the argument in favor of socialism almost always rests upon an empathetic notion of altruism that socialists would have manifest itself through a crushing redistributionist taxation policy. It’s the Robin Hood theory of taxation- take from the rich and give to the poor. Why? Because the rich can afford it and the poor deserve it, as if affordability were reason enough for some tax collector to come steal the fruits of your labor.

Let it not be misconstrued though that I don’t believe there is a role for government in the economy and in the lives of our fellow citizens. Government must absolutely set rules that protect consumers against greed, corruption and other negativities of any economic system but that role should not grow larger than that. I also fully recognize that there are some people in our system that simply need help but such help should come in the form of a hand-up, and not a hand-out.

Welfare systems, despite seeming like innocent government programs that merely seek to help those who need it, are often very dangerous. They teach generations of people to rely on the government for their livelihood instead of upon themselves and in doing so make governments far too powerful as the result of citizens’ reliance. It brings to mind the old adage, “A government big enough to give you everything you want is big enough to take everything you have.”

Our founding fathers understood the concept, Barry Goldwater understood it when he re-annunciated it in his book Conscience of a Conservative and I pray Americans come to a better understanding of it before it’s too late.

Reflections on the 2008 election

If it seemed strange writing about the election last week and the week before with it so quickly approaching, it’s surely even stranger now with it behind us. My candidate obviously did not win, but let me take the moment to say congratulations to all of my friends and fellow politicos on campus who I know worked hard and desperately wanted this win.

You should take pride in the work you did and in the fact that your candidate won. I wish it had turned out quite differently, but such is our democratic system. If we all wish to live in a free society where we are neither ruled by irrational mobs nor by a singular tyrant, then we are forced to take the good with the bad and concede this election.

While Republicans must concede, it is interesting to look back and see if maybe we could have done something differently to alter the outcome. The old adage, “Those who do not study history are bound to repeat it” is most applicable to politics, and Republicans would do well to follow its advice, especially if they hope to make Congressional inroads in two years and take back the White House in 2012.

If there is one fact in this election it is this: John McCain ran a terrible campaign. It wasn’t until the very last debate with Barack Obama that he finally got a message. It is infuriating to think that if perhaps there had been just three or even two more weeks in the election that John McCain might very well have pulled it off. America really grabbed on to his message about Joe the Plumber (as annoying as it eventually became), opposition to higher taxes and Obama’s socialist views. Despite the economy, Americans remain a people who wish to keep the money they earn and don’t necessarily see government as the answer to their problems.

In the two or so weeks before the election, after he had finally found a message, McCain began to climb in the polls to the point where commentators were talking about a second McCain comeback (the first being his primary campaign). Americans became more and more weary of Obama’s policies (as ambiguous and unknown as they really are) and began to find comfort in John McCain who they know and largely trust. My advice to the next Republican Presidential candidate: have a message!

The second glaring issue with the McCain campaign is something that was completely and totally within John McCain’s control: Sarah Palin. I won’t criticize her nearly as much as many other Republicans will because I realize that while she may have hurt my Party with independents and other groups, she rallied our base and brought in much needed donations. I do not know of a way to quantify this, but it seems likely that Palin may have helped us rally our base as much as she did repel other groups and in doing so can not be called a great running mate nor a terrible one.

The problem with Sarah Palin is though that- and I don’t think there is any other way to state this- she simply said stupid things on the campaign trail. Why in the world wasn’t she able to answer Katie Couric as to what newspapers she reads? Why in the world would you say that foreign leaders flying over your state counts as foreign policy experience?

The list could go on, but the point is that Palin needed to be prepped much, much more than she was for her encounters with the press. She was great in her debate with Joe Biden. The McCain campaign should have ensured she performed that good all the time.

But as fascinating as the past is, the future is infinitely more so. It is interesting to note that starting on election night and continuing almost every day since, Obama and his cohorts have steadily been lowering the bar. “The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even one term…” said Obama on election night. “There will be setbacks and false starts.” So much for the optimism of just two weeks ago.

Whereas the Obama campaign was run on a slogan of “Yes we can!”, it seems the new slogan is “Well, maybe we can.” The optimism of campaigning has given way to the realism of actually having to be the President. The turn around in message was almost as quick as Obama first promising he would accept public financing for his campaign and then reversing himself and effectively destroying the public financing system in this country.

I won’t comment on what I believe will happen in an Obama presidency as I have essentially written about that since September, but suffice to say that if Obama’s actions in the White House are as muddled and contradictory as his words on the campaign trail, then America is in for four more years of Jimmy Carter. Here’s to change!