Plutocratic Socialism and War on the Middle ClassThe future of the republic depends on the middle class virtues that property ownership helps to cultivate.
Mark T. Mitchell
Sep 9, 2022
It is becoming increasingly obvious something is amiss. One might be tempted to recall the words of a nineteenth-century revolutionary: “A specter is haunting Europe—the specter of Communism.” But the bloody history of the last century has demonstrated beyond question that Marx was no prophet.
However, a specter is, indeed, haunting not just Europe but the entire world, and ground zero for this strange new spirit is the United States, a land where communism never gained a foothold. This rising spirit has no widely recognized name at present, but it has certain definitive characteristics that coalesce into a singular, grotesque reality. Call it Plutocratic Socialism.
First, consider some facts. In a 2019 Gallup poll, 43 percent of Americans claimed that some form of socialism would be good for the country. When the same question was put to Americans in 1942, only 25 percent looked favorably on the socialist agenda. The same poll found that a majority of Democrats today have a positive view of socialism. The political agenda being pushed by Democrats in Congress and by the White House suggests, at the very least, a concerted effort to expand government programs, and in the process expand the lists of clients who find themselves increasingly dependent upon the largesse of the federal government.
Public intellectuals give voice to rising concerns that capitalism is the root cause of some of our most persistent and seemingly intractable problems. Race-guru Ibram X. Kendi puts the matter succinctly and with his characteristic antipathy to nuance: “Capitalism is essentially racist; racism is essentially capitalist.” Climate journalist Paul Mason writes that “to save the planet, we have to end capitalism,” and unless we act swiftly, we face “global catastrophe.” The implications are clear. To end two of the greatest scourges of our day—racism and climate change—we must eradicate capitalism. The apparent alternative? Socialism.
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Source:
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/plutocratic-socialism-and-war-on-the-middle-class/
