Editorial board dead wrong on delegation’s anti-socialism resolution | Opinion

I am grateful that the U.S. Congress overwhelmingly passed a resolution condemning the horrors of socialism. Bravo to U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson for championing our American founding principles, capitalism, private property and the free enterprise system that has resulted in nearly 250 years of our nation’s prosperity and freedoms.

I’ve enjoyed reading the Statesman for 35 years, but your editorial Nov. 22 was a failure. Simpson has nothing to be “ashamed of” for voting in favor.

The editorial ran with this line: “misleading claims equate socialism with tyranny” yet there’s no evidence. Many examples abound in history supporting the resolution’s claim that socialism necessitates a concentration of power which has manifested in brutal, tyrannical regimes, terrible poverty, mass starvation and a tremendous loss of life. We only need to look at the former USSR but could also cite other failed regimes.

Karl Marx’s theoretical vision of a classless communist society post-revolution will never be realized because his philosophy clashes with the reality of human nature. That’s why the resolution’s opening statement is so powerful and true – power concentrates and dictators always rise to the top in socialist and communist societies. Workers can’t become classless and live in utopia because there must always be someone to organize, manage, and lead the work or run the system.

We also need risk-takers willing to convert ideas into products or services. Therefore, we’ll always have classes, whether operating in a capitalist or socialist economic system.

The resolution is not a “red scare” dog whistle, as the editorial asserts. Rather, it appeals to the intelligence of Americans, including immigrants who fled socialism for freedom here.

With the election of a socialist as mayor of New York City whose political organization (Democratic Socialists of America) advocates the overthrow of capitalism, and with inroads by Marxists in other cities (Seattle), Americans need reminding that our system is superior. All we have worked so hard to accomplish — winning two world wars defeating true totalitarianism, lifting hundreds of millions out of poverty and ensuring freedoms for billions of people around the world — is at stake.

Here is what the DSA website says: “We believe that working people should run both the economy and society democratically to meet human needs, not to make profits for a few.” A decade ago, the DSA elected just a few dozen to public offices.

Today over 250 elected officials are DSA members, a 25% annual growth rate. By voting for members of the DSA, you’re voting for someone who believes in the overthrow of capitalism with socialism and elimination of private property such as owning your own home or business.

Let’s imagine there was a magic wand that could be waved over America to peacefully achieve this feat. The 163 million Americans who work represents just under half of all citizens. The DSA believes these fellow citizens are oppressed, exploited and are having their value in the form of profits to the business owners stolen from them.

A deeper understanding of our capitalistic economy reveals the deep flaws in the socialist’s vision. There are over 33 million businesses in our nation, 99% of those small businesses, who are all somehow “exploiting” America’s workers.

Socialists ignore that these business owners take the risk, not the worker. With our magic wand, we’ll nationalize Barb’s Hair Salon and Pete’s Plumbing. Our nation’s businesses generate $30 trillion in sales annually, with profit margins of 8-10% after costs and wages are paid. With our magic wand, we’ll now confiscate the profit. If the $3 trillion in annual profits was distributed evenly, after retained earnings and bureaucratic costs are deducted, each American worker would only potentially see a few thousand dollars in socialism dividends (likely even less due to corruption).

Is it worth waving the magic wand and throwing away the opportunities given to us with capitalism where we are free to own homes and land, change jobs or move up in our career and worth discarding our amazing free enterprise system where anyone can start a business and in its place implement the known horrors of socialism solely for the illusion of not being “exploited?” The answer is an emphatic no!

Bernie Sanders, AOC, and NYC’s mayor want us to believe socialism and Marxism is the answer, but it’s an old failure. Free enterprise is the present and exciting future. Any American who works hard can live the American Dream, regardless of their starting point.

Jim Greer is a 15-year former resident of Idaho who now lives in Ogden, Utah. He is an Air Force veteran and a serial entrepreneur.