The Return of Capitalism
The United States already has socialism to a large extent. That's not to say that it couldn't get much worse. It could. And it just has. Let me explain.
Socialism is a system where the means of production is owned by the state. Fascism, on the other hand, is a system in which the state simply regulates the privately owned businesses to achieve the state's goals. Not much of a difference in the end, but fascism does allow some private enterprise to exist to satisfy non-governmental demands. That's what the United States had prior to the lock-downs. With the lock-downs, many businesses were put out of business and more government intervention became the norm. Bailouts, which make business dependent on government assistance, are also becoming the norm. When a business exists solely because of a government grant (or forgivable loan) it is effectively owned by the government. Thus, the more shutdowns a country has, and the more government bailouts it has, the more socialistic it becomes.
As we know from past experience in Great Britain, the U.S.S.R., and numerous other countries, socialism consumes capital until the country can no longer function. People become so frustrated and desperate that they see no alternative but to try freedom and free enterprise, limited government, and the respect of individual rights.
Unfortunately, it may take decades before enough capital is consumed by socialism for the people to wake up to the false promises of socialism and realize that it just makes everyone poorer.
It took Russia/U.S.S.R. from 1917 to 1989 to re-introduce some capitalistic characteristics into its system. It took China from 1949 until 1979 before it started to adopt some capitalistic traits into its country. Of course, both of these countries were relatively poor prior to adopting their socialistic/communistic ways, but their people just wanted change. So they got change, and it didn’t take long to consume their capital. In the United States, however, being the richest country in the world, it could take 100 years before the pendulum swings back toward capitalism. Most of the capital may have been consumed by then from government bailouts, health care for all, universal income, free education and housing, welfare, and wars, to mention but a few of the more popular wasteful spending projects.
For those of us with a longer-term perspective, the return of capitalism in the United States is something to look forward to.
Robert F. Sennholz