Shortly before the Soviet Union collapsed, a young Steven Efremov was standing in line waiting for bread. Now he teaches economics at ETSU, carrying his story with him.
“I was born in the Soviet Union about four years before the collapse,” Efremov said. “Some of my earliest memories was something like standing in a bread line.”
Efremov’s family, who have more personal experiences with the Soviet economy, “talked about some of the problems of there being like two products on the shelf, or meat was very hard to find,” Efremov said. There just “were not many products available.”
The Soviet Union was a failure, though Bernie Sanders praised its economy in 1988, even as it tottered on the verge of collapse.
There was a 2018 debate over capitalism and socialism that raised the issue of socialism’s failure to produce results.
“We’ve had now 101 years since socialism was first introduced in government … In which country in that century has there been successful democratic socialism?” asked Mary Ann Sieghart to socialist Leo Panitch. “It’s been tried all over the world, so where has it worked?”
Panitch gave no answer to the question.
On the other hand, let’s ask where capitalism has worked. Look no further than the USA. We have the strongest economy in the world – one that has attracted immigrants for centuries. Our flourishing economy is not the product of a socialist plan, but the power of the people’s enterprise. Our success has been built on the backbone of capitalism, unlike the unilateral poverty socialism tends to produce.
In the words of history and philosophy major Patrick Cole, “Under capitalism, people are unequally rich, but under socialism, people are equally poor.”
An example of a “paradise” socialists raise might be France or the Nordic countries, such as Sweden or Denmark. But are these really socialist countries? Look at Sweden, for example. At its core, Sweden has a free market economy – one major aspect in which it differs from classic Marxism. Not only that, but the poor bear the brunt of the tax burden. Thus, far from the socialist dream of taxing the rich to provide for the poor, Sweden’s system sucks the wealth out of the poor far more than so-called greedy capitalist bosses would.
But these economies, according to professor Efremov, “are basically market economies in their fundamental core but just have a strong welfare state layered onto that.”
While some aspects of socialism may exist in these nations, we need to recognize they exist in an otherwise capitalistic economy.
“In many fields, we have more private ownership compared to other European countries and to America,” Swedish journalist Olle Wästberg said. “About 80% of all new schools are privately run, as are the railroads and the subway system.”
A modern-day example of true socialism would be Venezuela, which has degenerated from being the richest country in South America to being an emblem of pity to the watching world. A popular story illustrating the desperation is that of people killing a horse used in veterinary school for its meat.
According to CBS, “The horse’s skin and dismembered bones” lay “hidden among trees in the corner pasture of the sprawling campus in the central Venezuelan city of Maracay. Thieves overnight had hopped the fence, slaughtered the horse and made off with her meat – either to sell or to feed their hungry families.”
It’s ironic that we while live in the most prosperous economy in the history of the world, some Americans would rather have socialism. It’s a foolish position to demand what has systemically hurt people while we reap the benefits of American capitalism.
As I wrap up this series, I want to caution people considering socialism to watch out for what they’re asking for. Because if they’re not careful, they just might get it.
