400-600
In his lecture this week for the Oklahoma State University Free Enterprise Society, Benjamin Powell talks about the book he co-wrote with Robert Lawson. 'Socialism Sucks: Two Economists Drink Their Way Through the Unfree World' is a book the two men wrote on a trip to Cuba. The lecture had a strong focus on clarifying the real issues with socialism and the draw toward socialism in modern America. Powell starts by defining what socialism is - state-controlled property and factors of production. Socialism is NOT defined as welfare for citizens or income equality or any of the fantasy ideals that socialism has been marketed as by rising politicians.
Powell continues his lecture by showing images of the places he and Robert Lawson visited in Cuba. Showing marketplaces with no advertising or signs and empty shelves in convenience stores show the realities of socialist markets. There is a lack of freedom of choice and entrepreneurship in socialist countries that does not get much media coverage. It is amazing how state-owned factors of production can have a huge impact on the development of products from a productivity standpoint, but also from a creativity standpoint.
His anecdote about how the store workers do not want to serve customers is astounding. Restaurants, state-run and private, all have limited menu choices due to a lack of ingredients. The supply chain of resources is skewed by central planning done by the state.
I think it is sad to see that there are people who receive food rations when the earth is plentiful with many ingredients. This is all due to a fundamentally incorrect thought - the government making decisions for individuals does not work. In capitalism, individuals are free to make the decisions they feel will benefit them the most. This is why there are forty kinds of salsa at the grocery store or "seventeen types of deodorant". Individuals have different preferences.
Sure, it is important to note that America has a wealth disparity between the top 1% and the bottom 80%. However, when everyone's choices are made for them, with no freedom, the overall wealth disappears. There becomes a lack of choice, lack of product differentiation, and lack of economic development. Nobody has the tools, ingredients, or resources needed to innovate in a socialist economy. Competition breeds innovation and with no competition to have the best product that makes the most profit, a market just... exists. There is nothing exciting about socialism, nothing to look forward to or consume. There is no reason any rational American should want to have socialism.
