The Daily Signal - #508: Socialism 101

Episode Date: July 22, 2019

Young people across America are increasingly embracing socialism. A cloud of misinformation has led many Americans to think socialism is something it is not—a good system on government.The Daily Signal interviewed Chris Wright, founder and president of the Anticommunism Action Team, to debunk the myths about socialism. The full transcript is available at DailySignal.com.We also share Genevieve Wood’s commentary on the differences between progressivism and conservatism. Plus, we read your letters to the editor and discuss a good news story about a high school football coach who has captured the attention of the nation. The Daily Signal podcast is available on Ricochet, Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or your favorite podcast app. All of our podcasts can be found at DailySignal.com/podcasts. If you like what you hear, please leave a review. You can also leave us a message at 202-608-6205 or write us at [e-mail]. Enjoy the show! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Snap up Ancestry DNA's lowest price ever in our incredible cyber sale. With 50% off Ancestry DNA kits, it's the perfect time to help a loved one unwrap the past. And with their latest update, they'll discover their family origins like never before. With even more precise regions and new and exclusive features, their best gift, our lowest price. 50% off Ancestry DNA, only until December 2nd. Visit Ancestry.ca for more details. Terms apply. This is the Daily Signal podcast for Monday, July 22nd. I'm Robert Blewey.

And I'm Virginia Allen. Today we are talking with Chris Wright, founder and president of the anti-communism action team. Chris shares his insights on the rise of socialism in America. We also have Genevieve Woods commentary on the differences between progressivism and conservatism. Plus, we will read your letters to the editor, and Virginia has a good news story about a high school football coach who has captured the attention of. the nation. Before we get to today's show, Rob and I want to tell you about one of our favorite Heritage Foundation resources called The Agenda. That's right, Virginia. The agenda is a weekly email that breaks down the top issues that conservatives need to know about every week.

It comes out on Monday mornings and it gives you the conservative perspective along with our television interviews from Heritage Foundation experts and the issues and important events that are happening at the Heritage Foundation. You can sign up on heritage.org. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and look for subscribe to email updates. Just enter your email address and you'll be all set. That's it. And go ahead and sign up right now.

It's a quick read and it will keep you up to date on what conservatives are saying about the biggest issues in the news. Stay tuned for today's show. Coming up next. We are joined on the Daily Signal podcast today by Chris Wright, president and founder of the anti-communist action team. who's also a respected author and speaker on both the subjects of communism and socialism, which we'll discuss today. Chris, thanks for being here. Rob, thanks for having me back. Virginia, thank you.

My pleasure. It is great to have you back. You joined the podcast a few weeks ago, along with Jennifer Zung and Darien Diacek, and we discussed their personal stories about growing up under communist and socialist regimes and their own experiences that was truly captivating to hear their personal stories. But we wanted to have you back to talk more about the work that you're doing, specifically the anti-communist action team. Can you tell us about the organization, why you founded it, and what it is you do? Sure.

In 2013, my Alexandria Tea Party had a big program, and we had survivors of communism from various countries, along with Dr. Lee Edwards from the Heritage Foundation, had a couple hundred people in attendance. And from there, I went on to found the anti-communism action team in 2014 to formalize. the activity. In 2016, we added the Speakers Bureau, which Jennifer and Darien are part of. We have other speakers from Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, other countries, Vietnam. And this year, I've added a conference call. I've gathered together the best fighters against socialism in the country I could find. So I now have subject matter experts who are joining me in some of our presentations. That's wonderful to hear. So when you are doing this type of work, it must be truly transformational for not only the people who are hearing these stories, but the individuals who

have gone through these experiences. Can you share what it's like, whether it's through the Speakers Bureau or the conference call, what that experience is like, not only for you, but those who participate? Well, the speakers we have, I consider them the best weapon we have against socialism in this country. As you mentioned, it's their personal stories. It's irrefutable. And they have a very powerful message. Americans better wake up. We've been down the socialist road. We know it's at the end of it. So it's been transformational for me in the sense that I know a whole lot more about the subject than I did five years ago. I've been privileged to work with these very special people for these five years and I've learned a tremendous amount. In terms of you talk about transformational

experiences, I was invited to speak at a rally in Washington, D.C. last summer. It was observing the nationwide protests in Vietnam against the Internet. regulation that was new at the time. And after I gave my little two-minute talk, Vietnamese person comes up to me and he obviously didn't speak English, but he just grabbed my hands. And what was in his eyes was such hope that was just the most amazing touching moment for me in my entire experience in the anti-communism action team, that he had such hope that the activities I was undertaking would actually make a difference for him and his country. That's really encouraging to hear.

So, Chris, what do you think, though, has really changed in America, that now socialism has become a coveted model of government by an increasing number of people, especially by young people? Well, when young people say they like socialism and that you always see polls to this effect, but you also see polls that free market polls higher than socialism among young people. And that just says to me, and part of what I'm here to talk about today, is there's such confusion about this term that they just don't know what they're talking about. So socialism sounds great. They'll sign up for it, but free market sounds great. So they like that even better. Well, Chris, I have to thank you because I had the opportunity to sit through one of your Socialism 101 presentations. And I learned a lot.

And I frankly am exposed to a lot of these arguments day to day here at the Heritage Foundation. I'm wondering if you can help walk us through what it is that you are community. when you do these presentations and when you go about dispelling some of the myths about socialism? I put together this module. It's a 10-minute module, and I do it in a presentation form, and it gives the definitions of some terms, communism, Marxism, Democratic socialism, and explains the confusion that has arisen around these terms. And the reason I did that is because I began to run into in our presentations. I'll never forget, we went to this senior center, and that it was a Republican group. and after we did our thing, and I had a couple of speakers there, and we did our thing, and this man stands up, he's a Republican, he's all mad, he says, I like socialism. I want my socialism, don't mess with my socialism. And what he meant was his social security. So people throw these terms around in all sorts of ways, and it's just very confusing. For example, when you had Jennifer and Darien, you did the podcast. I read through the first 98 comments that appeared within the first couple of days of that, and the confusion was,

evident all through the comments. One person said, fascism is the communism of the right. Well, that's a new one on me. I'd never heard that one before. Another one person said, there's no such thing as a capitalist country or a socialist country. Everybody has a mixed economy. Well, that's true, but it's useless. That makes it sounds like there's no difference between Venezuela and the United States, but I'll tell you one very clear difference. When you go to Venezuela, the grocery stores, the shelves are empty. Here, you go to the grocery store and there's more items on the shelf then you can count. So there's clearly a difference between capitalism and socialism. Chris, let's talk about some of those definitions because you have talked about Marxist theory and how he goes

from feudalism to capitalism to socialism to communism. Can you walk us through that just so our listeners understand how they are connected? Sure. He laid out this theory that was based on iron laws, supposed iron laws of history, economic determinism. And these phases, one would follow one to the other and it all was involved, the dominant class that was replaced by the next dominant class. So the aristocracy was replaced by the bourgeoisie of capitalism. And then you get to socialism, which is the textbook definition is the common ownership of the means of production. Well, what do I mean by that? I mean farms and factories and land.

It's all held by their government are held in common, however you prefer to put it. And then the last phase is communism where there's no more dominant class. He co-wrote the Communist Manifesto. 1848 with Friedrich Engels advocating the abolition of private property and the the thereby ushering in a classless society okay no more dominant class so the state is just a superstructure riding on top of economics if you don't have a dominant economic class anymore then what you've got is a situation where you don't need the state at all and so the state withers away well I first heard this when I was 16 I thought it was a bunch of malarkey then I still fear it is almost 50 years later

It's still malarkey. It's never happened anywhere. It's a fantasy. It's a bedtime story. It's not ever going to happen. Well, Chris, you know, one of the most common arguments for socialism is that, you know, the Scandinavian countries are essentially socialist and things seem to be going pretty well for them. So why wouldn't it work for us? What's your response to that argument? The response is that the Scandinavian countries are not democratic socialist countries. The proper term for what they've got is social democracy. It may sound like just work. salad, but there's a very key difference. In the Scandinavian countries, they have society leveling, levels of taxation, high taxation, and then cradle to grave redistribution. And the term for that is social democracy. And if you don't believe me, you might believe the Danish prime minister who in 2015 said something very close to, this is a very close paraphrase. I want to make one thing absolutely clear. Denmark is not a socialist country. It's not a socialist plan

economy. It's a market economy. So there you have it. And that's what they've got in Scandinavia. They've got social democracies and they're happy. This is what this part's interesting. When they did the University of Michigan professor who did the first survey and about the happiest countries on earth and ranked Denmark at the top or near the top and forgetting because it's been some years now. But he said, and this is the part that people forget. They think, okay, well, it's socialist. So that's why they're all so happy there. They get cradle to grave redistribution. He said, no, no, no, no. In his first work on this, he said, the people in Denmark are happy because they're free.

Ah, what a difference. I'm glad you mentioned that word freedom because I think that comes into a play when we're talking about socialism. And one of the things that we do at the Heritage Foundation is published the Index of Economic Freedom each year. In fact, Denmark falls two spaces behind the United States. The United States economic freedom is 76.8. and Denmark's is 76.7. So in many respects, that argument just fades away. As you said, Denmark's own people have debunked some of the things that we hear from American politicians.

But I want to ask you a question about this because we have a situation where college campuses, even maybe younger children, are learning from professors and others who clearly embrace the principles of socialism and are talking to them about what they view as the benefit. of this system. If you're a parent and you're listening to this podcast, what is it that you would tell them if their son or daughter were to come back home from college and say all of a sudden that they embrace socialism? And that's the approach that they'd like to see in America. I'd probably say, why am I paying for this? One of our speakers put together a presentation called How Not to Raise Communists. And it begins with basic concepts like individual responsibility versus group rights and that sort of thing. So another thing I would say, say to as a parent, to advise parents is sign up for our presentation on how not to raise

communists. That's great advice. That is, encourage our listeners to do that. You know, one of the things that we heard from Jennifer and Darien on the Daily Signal podcast when they joined us with some of the totalitarian abuses that these countries experienced, particularly the communist countries that they've witnessed firsthand China in particular for Jennifer and told such a moving story. Can you talk about that aspect of it and how we tend to not only lose our freedom, but we tend to see these human rights abuses more prolific in communist or socialist-leaning countries?

We have one speaker. He's a lecturer at Liberty University. He says, forget all this ideology stuff. Socialism isn't about ideology. Communism, Marxism, it's not about ideas. It's all about thuggery and gangsterism. And that's the essence of it. And that's the way we should frame it.

And so what these systems do is the worst thugs rise to the top. These are inherently corrupting systems, as Darien laid out a couple weeks ago on the podcast. People have to make their quotas in the production system, and they'll do it any way they can, even if it's under the table. These are inherently corrupting systems. Another one of our speakers is from Czechoslovakia, and I'll never forget this. This is why I've been so enriched by meeting and working with these people for the last five or six years. that person says, if you're not in communist checklists of Avaquia, if you're not stealing from the state, you are robbing from your own family. That's how inherently corrupting a socialist system is.

Wow. And for those listening who would like to get involved with the anti-communism action team and follow your work, how can they do that? Sure. We have a website. It's called spider and the fly.com with dashes between the words, spider dash, etc. We have a mailing address, mail at spider and the fly.com, again with dashes between the words. We have a weekly news roundup. This will give you a fresh ammunition every week with which to fight socialism.

That's where I learned about social credit two years before anybody else I know was talking about it, the social credit monitoring system in China. It's also where I learned how Nepal, which is under an elected communist government, is going the way of all communism in terms of shutting down free press, concentrating power in the office of the leader of the country weaponizing the intelligence agencies. And so we have that. We have the Speakers Bureau and hoping that people will support us by finding us more speakers, more survivors of communism.

We would welcome those. We would also welcome more venues to present our message. We've been in front of classrooms and groups. We've been on four college campuses so far this year. And we've been here at the Heritage Foundation presenting to your interns. Do you want to tell our listeners about the meaning of the spider and the fly? Sure. That's a poem from about 100 years ago.

And the spider is trying to catch the fly. But it has to seduce the fly and trick the fly. So the spider, every refrain ends come closer, the spider said to the fly. And finally, the spider snatches the fly. and this to me is the essence of communism. It's so sweet sounding. It talks about social justice and equality and all these wonderful things.

But in essence, like the lecturer at Liberty University says, the essence of it is gangsterism, and it snatches people, and it takes their hopes and their dreams and their lives away, as we're witnessing now in Venezuela, where the store shelves are empty. And people, this is, again, the value of following the news, people go to the zoo and try to take the zoo animals so they have something to eat.

Now, once the last time you heard of that happening in the United States? Yeah, it is truly frightening. Chris, thank you so much for the work that you're doing. We encourage our listeners to check out your work and the anti-communism action team. It is great to have you back on the Daily Signal podcast. We hope you'll keep in touch. Wonderful. Thank you, Rob.

Thank you, Virginia. Thank you. The Heritage Foundation's Genevieve Wood tackles a topic that we've heard a lot about lately. the key differences between conservatives and progressives. Take a listen. We hope you find it as helpful as we did to navigate today's political landscape. What's the difference between a conservative and a progressive? Here are three examples.

Number one, conservatives and progressives have different views about individuals and communities. Conservatives ask, what can I do for myself, my family, my community, and my fellow citizens? Progressives ask, what is unfair? What am I owed? What has offended me today? And what must my country do for me? The traditional American ethic of achievement gives way to the progressive ethic of aggrievement. As opposed to a variety of individuals making up one American community, progressives seek to place individuals in a variety of competing communities. The first creates unity. The second, identity. politics. Number two, conservatives and progressives have different views about diversity and choice. For progressives, different ethnicities and gender identities are welcomed, but a variety of opinions

and ideas are not. Just look at two areas of public life dominated by the left. On college campuses, free speech is under attack. If you're a conservative working at a social media company or using one of their platforms to share your views, you may find your job eliminated or your account deleted. And when it comes to choice, progressives love the word, but they don't want it to apply to our decisions on education, health care, and even how and where we live out our religious faith. Conservatives take a different approach. Parents, not the zip code they live in, should choose a school that is best for their child. We all need health care,

but we don't all need the same kind or same amount. And while people should be free to live as they choose, no one should be forced to endorse or celebrate those choices if it violates their religious beliefs. Conservatives say people should have choices. Progressives say one political solution fits all. Number three, conservatives and progressives, have a different view of we the people.

Whether it's the Second Amendment, immigration, or putting limits on abortion, if we the people don't pass laws, progressives approve, they turn to judges, executive orders, and government bureaucrats behind closed doors to overturn the will of voters. Whatever one may think about the wisdom

of hiking the minimum wage, banning plastic straws, or removing controversial historical monuments, conservatives believe voters closest to the issues should be the ones making such decisions for their communities, not lawmakers in Washington or a panel of judges five states away. To sum it up, conservatives believe in individual rights, not special rights. Conservatives believe in allowing Texas to be Texas and Vermont to be Vermont. And conservatives believe we the people can vote with our feet about where we want to be Texas.

to live and under what laws we want to live under. Thanks for sending us your letters to the editor. Each Monday, we feature our favorites on this show and in the Morning Bell email newsletter. Virginia, who's up first? Adam writes in in response to our recent interview with Catherine Inglebrecht of True the Vote. The story was called this conservative group fought IRS for years. Now a court's given it a victory. Here's what Adam writes.

I worked as an election monitor for six years, and I personally stopped voter fraud multiple times. A big part is simply saying to the potential fraudster that they can't do what they're attempting to do. When they push back, I simply told them the law. I literally stopped people from entering the voting booth with their elderly parents. I said you can tell them who to vote for outside the booth, but you can't enter the booth with them. know the law and tell them the law. Election monitors do have the power to prevent voter fraud. Well, thank you, Adam, for your service and volunteer work in that regard.

And in response to Fred Lucas's article, Trump puts limit on asylum claims at border, Barb writes, I feel for the border patrol, the stress of dealing with all of the illegal immigrants plus the biased media reports. It amazes me that there are some people who are okay with letting anyone into our beloved country. Congress should start doing its job and fix this. I hope this new limit on asylum claims works. Your letter could be featured on next week's show. Send an email to Letters at DailySignal.com or leave a voicemail message at 202-608-6205.

We enjoy bringing you a good news story to start your week. Virginia, over to you. Well, my colleague Lauren Evans and co-host of The Wonderful Podcast, problematic women shared this story with me and I thought it was just too good to not share with our listeners. Rob Mendez is the junior varsity football coach at Prospect High School near San Jose, California. But Mendez coaching style is unique and innovative. It has to be because he coaches his team from a wheelchair, having been born without arms or legs. He draws plays out with a pen in his mouth, plays that led his team to go eight and two last season.

ESPN recently recognized Mendez at the Excellence in Sports Performance Awards, the Espies. He was presented with a perseverance award in front of thousands of other professional athletes and coaches. It's honestly been hard for me to fathom receiving this award to be recognized alongside heroes of mine like Coach Valvano, Stuart Scott, Jim Kelly, and so many others. But the reality is I am here. And if there's any message I want to give you guys tonight, it's to look at me and see how much passion I put into coaching.

And how far it's gotten me. When you dedicate yourself to something and open your mind to different possibilities and focus on what you can do instead of what you can't do, you really can go places in this world. Mendez's mantra has become, who says I can't, no one. And, you know, watching him receive this award, there was hardly a dry eye in the audience. And as I was reading about Mendez and all he has had to overcome,

I was sitting at my desk and I myself was trying not to cry. Because, you know, it's so incredibly powerful to see his journey because we all know that we can do incredible things with hard work and determination. But I think the most powerful part of this story is that Mendez's life, a life spent without arms, or legs is being celebrated for its incredible value and purpose. And that is truly powerful. It certainly is Virginia. Wow, what a powerful story this week. Thanks for sharing that. Yeah, thank you, Rob. Well, we're going to leave it there for today. The Daily Signal podcast

comes to you from the Robert H. Bruce Radio studio at the Heritage Foundation. You can find it on the Rurcache Audio Network, along with our other podcasts. All our shows can be found at DailySignal.com slash podcast. You can also subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or your favorite podcast app. And be sure to listen every weekday by adding the Daily Signal podcast as part of your Alexa Flash briefing. If you like what you hear, please leave us a review or give us feedback. It means a lot to us and helps us spread the word to others.

Be sure to follow us on Twitter at DailySignal and Facebook.com slash the DailySignal News. Have a great week. The Daily Signal podcast is a great. Executive produced by Rob Blewey and Virginia Allen. Sound design by Lauren Evans and Thalia Ramperside. For more information, visit DailySignal.com.