Rasmussen poll on capitalism vs. socialism raises more questions than it answers

In a socialist economy, the lion's share of pork goes straight to the government.The headlines were shocking—in a Rasmussen telephone survey only 53 percent of Americans prefer capitalism over socialism. Of those polled, 20 percent prefer socialism, but the devil’s in the ‘not sure’ group totaling 27 percent. I imagine the decisive capitalists and socialists both have a pretty good idea what the terms mean. I imagine if the unsure 27 percent received a definition with examples, they’d opt for capitalism every time. The terms weren’t defined—the surveyors asked a simple question. ‘Which is a better system—capitalism or socialism?’

What if, instead, you’d asked, would you like people who aren’t in the political ruling class—just regular people—to live in identical housing and receive set wages for work performed, with the government deciding what sort of raises you get and who should get them according to standards set by the government?

What if, instead, you’d said, go down to your nearest low income apartment complex and you can see socialism at its finest?

What if you’d said the next leap forward after socialism is usually communism?

What if you’d said if you have a socialist government, you will never be well off unless you work as a bureaucrat in a government office, and to get that job you have to kiss a lot of government butt and climb your way up through politics rather than talent, skill or productivity? And you absolutely must not make waves.
 
Maybe you could give an example. If you live in a socialist country, say you want to get a cell phone. The government has budgeted for only so many cell phones, so the phones are awarded by lottery. Maybe you can buy a rabbit’s foot charm and be one of the lucky comrades.

Medicaid, welfare programs such as food stamps and food programs for women and children, section 8 housing—those are great examples of socialism. The Democratic Party has become a socialist party by degrees and at times, the Republican Party has not been far behind. Conservatives really hope the GOP has learned a lasting lesson on that point.

If you rely on the government for food, medicine and housing, you wait your turn, you fill out your forms and you take your place in line until you’re processed. The housing part usually takes awhile because there simply aren’t enough residences. Talk to any social worker and ask how strained the system is at present. The good thing is no one really gets fired. So if your government helper lets you down, screws up your form or forgets to file your housing voucher, well, there’s always tomorrow.

In a socialist society the only people who live well are those who run the government. It’s all kept low-key—socialist leaders do not tout their wealth. For example, media had a field day broadcasting the number of homes GOP senator John McCain has. Media will never tell you the top 5 wealthiest members of the US Senate in 2007 were Democrats. To be fair, 4 of the top 5 wealthiest members of the House of Representatives in 2007 were Republicans, but they are capitalists, so wealth is acceptable. What's interesting is that the Democratic Party projects itself as the party of the people but as indicated by the Senate top 5, they're some pretty well-heeled people and you and I would have a hard time keeping up with those Joneses.

There's a fun interactive tool at Open Secrets where you can learn all sorts of things about the net worth of our public servants in Washington.

The point of capitalism is to work hard and accrue comfort—you pick exactly how comfortable you want to be and you have the right and the opportunity to get there.

Most true conservatives, for instance, did not agree with bailing out financial institutions. They should have been allowed to fail because that’s what capitalism is all about—success and failure. The fact that a Republican president and a Democratic president both endorsed bailouts and stimulus money illustrates the tendency to transfer more wealth to the government. That is never a good thing. Talk to anyone who lived through the Great Depression or perhaps ask someone who came here from a socialist country.

One interesting aspect of the Rasmussen poll was an earlier survey where 70 percent of Americans said they prefer a free-market economy. Rasmussen said since most were positive about free markets, this suggested there was skepticism about whether capitalism in the U.S. today really relies on free markets. And that, in a nutshell, for most conservatives, is exactly the problem with government and bailouts. Capitalism works when market principles are adhered to. Socialism makes no one wealthy but the government and government lackeys.