Democrats Finally Endorse Capitalism - MINDSETTER™ Travis Rowley

Wednesday, April 29, 2020

Travis Rowley, GoLocalProv Guest MINDSETTER™

 

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Travis Rowley

“If I should later be attacked for neglecting my constituents' interests, I shall reply that I was informed that their main interest is liberty. And in that cause, I am doing the very best I can.” – Barry Goldwater

Republicans shouldn’t let this crisis go to waste.

No, they shouldn’t consider the desperation of millions of Americans as “a tremendous opportunity to restructure things to fit our vision,” as Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC) so callously suggested to the House Democratic caucus the moment COVID-19 gripped the nation.

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Instead, continually point out what should finally be obvious to even Democratic voters right now:  Freedom is compassionate. Collectivism is cruel.

How else are we to interpret a bipartisan urge to “reopen the economy” as quickly as possible other than – at the very least – a tip of the hat to capitalism, and an acknowledgment that ongoing market interference and wealth redistribution would be a wholly insufficient exercise when it comes to the restoration of the American project?

As Democrats embrace plans that would allow businesses to function again, is that not a tribute to free markets – the capitalism that funds all their socialism?

What an opportunity this is for Republicans to point out that Democrats are currently participating in a full-blown admission that the profit motive – miraculously – benefits the average worker. And that wealth somehow, yes, “trickles down” from business owners to employees.

Obviously.

But it’s doubtful that Democrats will ever stop to consider what “reopening the economy” truly means at the most granular level – that is, freedom for millions of individuals to begin voluntarily exchanging goods and services again while the government simply slips away.

Being such strong advocates for these deregulatory conditions today, it’s a wonder Democrats remained so hostile to this very concept right up until the moment the government entirely shuttered the US economy.

Instead, neo-communist Bernie Sanders – hoisting the banner of “democratic socialism” – electrifies the Democratic ranks.

Instead, we see the Washington Examiner rightly observe that “Democrats [were] largely reluctant to identify with terms such as ‘capitalist,’ and [that] announcing support for the free market [was] not a good applause line” during the Democratic presidential debates.

And instead, progressives continue to assault their ideological rivals, even in the face of their unwitting admission that economic health hinges on economic liberty. One popular online commentary currently making the social media rounds mocks right-wingers for accepting stimulus checks from the feds, increasing their own chances of becoming “overly-dependent” “parasites” for accepting “government handouts” – actually equating one-off plague payments with systematic federal welfare.

As if conservatives were ever wrong to warn against a collectivist culture of government dependency, and a dwindling private sector that always accompanies it.

How much evidence do progressives require? And how many times must it be presented to them? “This is painful for a liberal to admit,” New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof wrote in 2012, “but conservatives have a point when they suggest that America’s safety net can sometimes entangle people in a soul-crushing dependency. Our poverty programs do rescue many people, but other times they backfire.”

Doesn’t matter. Leftists never learn. As I’m writing this, progressive Democrats are proposing radical coronavirus-related legislation that would tempt as many Americans as possible to begin relying on state benevolence.

Speaking of being proven correct, we now know that “four GOP senators were right about the harm from rich [unemployment insurance] benefits,” namely the $600 weekly payment that was included in the $2.2 trillion CARES Act. The “extra compensation … is encouraging those employees to stay home,” reports the Wall Street Journal. “Why would anyone take a pay cut to go back to work,” the Journal rhetorically asks as they are “hearing similar stories from around the country as small business owners look to reopen on a tentative or partial basis.”

The CARES Act passed on bipartisan footing, but at least Republicans were adult enough to ask that very same question. That is, until House Speaker Nancy Pelosi – buttressed by the mainstream press – called them “cruel” for proclaiming that “the idea that you would profit in going on unemployment is absolutely wrong … It’s going to be a nightmare if we don’t fix this.” (Sen. Lindsay Graham, R-SC)

Now National Public Radio is reporting that “the extra money can create some awkward situations” because “employees can make more money by staying home.” Kentucky coffee shop owner Sky Marietta actually “closed her coffee shop voluntarily so that her employees would qualify for expanded unemployment benefits.” Marietta explained, “The very people we hired have now asked us to be laid off … Not because they did not like their jobs or because they did not want to work, but because it would cost them literally hundreds of dollars per week to be employed."

Republicans should continuously point out the damage that is always wrought by such central planning, and also what the Democratic desire to “reopen the economy” truly is – their overdue acknowledgment that the freedom to pursue prosperity is the kindest government program.

 

Travis Rowley is a former Tea Party / Republican activist and GoLocalProv MINDSETTER™.

 

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