This article first appeared on my Newsmax Column on July 19, 2019
The future of the Democratic Party looks bleak for those Americans who still believe in individual liberty, natural rights, and the benefits of a market-based economy.
The party has shifted so far to the left that presidential candidates prefer to be referred to as Democratic-Socialists and House members pull the race card on members of their own party when they are criticized for their socialist agenda.
In fact, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) recently implied that Nancy Pelosi's critique of the "Squad" of four was solely based on the fact that they were woman of color. The leftists can’t defend their policy ideas so instead of having reasonable debates about the merits of a particular piece of legislation they simply just call anyone with a different idea a racist.
Their ideas can be summed up with the slogan “ask not what you can do for your country but what your country can do for you.”
The left continually poisons the mind of younger Americans with the idea that they are all victims, which only breeds hatred and resentment.
As someone who has a rare form of Arthritis which causes chronic pain, nervous system problems, and many other health complications, I fully understand what it means to have an obstacle in life that sometimes feels overwhelming. However, if I sat around and viewed myself as a “victim” I would never be motivated to find a way to make the most out of my life. That is why the message AOC and her squad are pushing is so dangerous because it fails to encourage people to find a way to overcome adversity.
On a rational level, it is difficult to figure out exactly what Progressive Democrats are even advocating for.
Despite record low unemployment, a continuing economic recovery, and a declining poverty rate, their talking points make it seem as if America is in the midst of the Great Depression. Rather than find ways of creating better jobs for Americans and continuing current economic growth, their policies increase job killing regulation and taxes.
They offer “free” healthcare and “free” tuition without addressing how astronomically high taxes would have to be to fund such programs. They support paying reparations even though the overwhelming majority of Americans are opposed to it, including Hillary Clinton and Obama. They claim to have the solution to every environmental problem, but their Green New Deal would bankrupt the foundation of the American economy. In fact even if America stopped producing carbon tomorrow, the earth's temperature would only be reduced by 0.14 degrees Celsius by 2100, according to the UN report which the left so frequently cites.
Instead of presenting carefully crafted policies to solve problems faced by every American, they offer free stuff to attract votes and gain power.
However, it is not just radical policy proposals that threaten our system of government. The radical socialist ideals that have slipped their way into the Democratic platform are fundamentally inconsistent with the ideals that this nation was founded on.
The American founders created a democratic republic with a government limited by the God-given rights of the people. The Bill of Rights outlined ten ways in which the government could not infringe upon an individual’s liberty, not because that liberty was to be protected by the government, but because it is a natural right inherent in every human being.
However, the ideals that drive Democratic-Socialists’ radical policies state that rights come from the government, not from the individual. Therefore, you are entitled to free healthcare because the government says you have a right to healthcare. You are entitled to free tuition because the government says you have a right to a college education. You are not entitled to your hard-earned money because the government says someone else has a right to your money.
It is interesting that these policies have quickly gained such popular appeal. As recently as 2016, the Democratic Party was reluctant to adopt any socialist agenda in its party platform. Therefore, it is important to recognize the factors that have led to such a dramatic change in the past four years.
Most Americans, especially millennials and younger people, have never lived during a time that American capitalism was not successful. Even throughout the Great Recession, Americans were drastically better off than their grandparents and great-grandparents had been. This narrow lens through which many Americans view the world is often susceptible to ideas that today’s problems can be solved through collectivist and socialist policies.
If Americans wish to continue our system of republican governance that has protected individual liberty, promoted innovation, and improved the quality of life of its citizens for over 250 years, they should completely reject Democratic Socialism in 2020.
Trump may have his flaws and I have been critical of him when he deserved it. But there is no arguing that President Trump's policies have led to the best economic growth we have seen as country in nearly a century.
His judicial appointments have also ensured that religious liberty and individual freedom will be protected for a generation and it was the Trump administration which defeated ISIS in a manner no one thought possible a few years ago. I hope in 2020 that Americans vote against socialism and for capitalism because the future of our nation depends on it.