Professor Benjamin Powell came to speak the Free Enterprise Society at Oklahoma State over his book “Socialism Sucks: Two Economists Drink Their Way Through the Unfree World. ” Throughout his speech he speaks about countries such as Sweden, Cuba, Russia, North Korea, and Venezuela. He uses each of these countries to help students get a better understanding of what Socialism is.
To review a few of his countries I saw Sweden, Cuba, and North Korea stand out the most. First, Powell uses Sweden as an example of Capitalism, rather than Socialism as many people claim it is. His statement is entirely true as the country does have a free-market economy. But like all systems, the country should experience it economically, socially, and politically. In the case of Sweden, their government is currently controlled by their socialist party which has implemented strong social programs and government regulation. Their strong regulations affect their economic system and creates the “Nordic Model” a term coined by the Nordic/ Scandinavian countries. So while the economic portion of the country is capitalist, its political and social branches are leaning much closer to Socialism. Cuba and North Korea are a much different story. To start both of these nations have authoritative governments and are highly isolated. Like Sweden. Cuba has its socialist party in power, however, the country follows a “One State-One Party” principle, meaning the country does not have a democracy. As Powell mentions, a countries economic system is merely across a scale, so while much of the countries production is government-run (seen in Communism) the country has begun to allow private businesses. However, the country is still not Socialist, when speaking in purely economic terms the country has a command economy. In Cuba, everything is controlled and regulated by the government. North Korea on the other hand has a Central Planned Economy (which is essentially a command economy). The country also has a dictatorship, but the citizens of the country own nothing much less the means of production or collective ownership. The point being is that of the countries listed by Powell, many of them are not socialist, as they miss the key point of collective ownership, rather many of them are command economies (common under Communism) and are dictatorships (including Venezuela and Russia).
While I am by no means a Socialist and believe that collective ownership would ever truly work, I also believe that capitalism as Powell views it works as well. He does not mention his specific views while speaking at Oklahoma State, however, his book does provide better insight. To start, in the synopsis of his book he writes from the perspective of a Socialist “What do we want? Socialism—the economic system that has impoverished people everywhere and resulted in the deaths of tens of millions! And when do we want it? Now!” I find this contradictory since this is also the same outcome as Capitalism. The United States is still attempting to recover from the economic downturn that occurred due to the ongoing pandemic. Millions of people are unable to afford healthcare, food, or an education. In the US roughly 745 billionaires hold 5 trillion dollars while 165 million people only hold 3 trillion. The point being is that while under socialism, everyone may fail, but do so together, while under the capitalism of the United States majority of people will fail, but a handful prosper. Powell also makes to points out in his book that Americans don't know what Socialism truly is. And while I do believe that his book is able to show some examples of Socialism it still is unable to show what it truly is. And this isn't Powell's fault because a country has not actually achieved Socialism. Also understanding various systems and how to correlate and respond to a country's other system, is extremely confusing. So Powell's goal to educate Americans is one that should be at the forefront of discussion but should be done from an empirical perspective.
[Image Source]Socialism Sucks
