R.W. Reviews: ‘United States of Socialism’

D’Souza dives into how socialism came to our country, the prominent figures who advanced its principles, and why it will never work.

“The socialism proposed in this country is based on promising free stuff and getting someone else to pay, thus fostering social irresponsibility and dependency on the left for political gain” (D’Souza).

Dinesh D’Souza’s bestselling book “United States of Socialism” is a hard-hitting, compelling look at the socialist left’s corrupt agenda in America. D’Souza dives into how socialism came to our country, the prominent figures who advanced its principles, and why it will never work. He exposes leading Democrats in our nation, criticizes identity politics, and advocates for capitalism.

Identity politics, which is just the start of the socialist agenda, takes center stage in the first half of this book. To have a successful platform and be respected by the majority of the general public in America today, you must identify as part of a racial or gender minority, as a woman, or, better yet, as more than one of these. The socialist left “wants an America that integrates the groups seen as previously excluded while excluding the group that was previously included.” We’ve all seen this in action — university scholarships that require applicants to be of a certain race or minority to even apply; companies who hire a minority over, let’s say, a white male, even when that white male has much higher qualifications. D’Souza holds that whiteness, maleness, and heterosexuality can now be viewed as forms of oppression, and it’s hard to argue with him on that.

D’Souza places a heavy focus on the failed history of socialism, from the Soviet bloc to Germany to Vietnam to Zimbabwe. Twenty-five countries that once employed some form of socialist government are addressed. Not one of these resulted in anything beneficial. D’Souza writes, “In the real world, the political collapse of socialism was brought about by its economic failure.” How can anyone today acknowledge past accounts of socialism and ignore its obvious tendency to fail miserably?

D’Souza takes this idea further to point out two models of socialism — the one Americans lean on as the “ideal” government versus the one America will actually emulate if socialism is adopted. Sweden, as part of the Scandinavian countries, has a democracy the American left worships as faultless and foolproof. However, Sweden is neither diverse nor accepting of immigrants and refugees; they have no minimum wage laws; they “do not target the rich or the 1 percent,” but rather the entire society, meaning “high taxes across the board;” and social mobility is virtually nonexistent.

D’Souza writes, “So the irony is that while the American left wants to move toward Scandinavian socialism, the Scandinavians have been moving away from it.” Even our Democratic politicians realize this, so they seldom use Scandinavia anymore as a precedent for socialism, even though the American public still does.

In actuality, D’Souza argues, the corrupt country of Venezuela is where America is headed if socialism becomes our primary form of government. Democratic socialism once ruled in Venezuela, and now the country is in ruins, “with runaway inflation, a useless currency, no food in stores, shortages of medicine and water”— the list goes on. But no one who advocates for socialism today will admit that Venezuela offers the closest resemblance to a future socialist America.

D’Souza also tackles anti-capitalism, directly quoting Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and refuting common arguments against capitalism. Inequality, fair share, and selfishness are some of the qualities anti-capitalists attribute to the destructive nature of capitalism. The question of “who owns things in the first place?” is illustrated with an example of a flute. D’Souza writes that a person who makes a flute owns the flute, no matter if someone else can play the instrument more beautifully or if a third person has never owned a flute. However, some left-wingers like economist Amartya Sen would not agree with this. Sen could make multiple arguments for ownership of the flute by the other two people involved, based on a “social choice.” This section of the book emphasizes the not only logical but easily justifiable nature of capitalism, especially when contrasting it with socialism.

The book ends with D’Souza’s presentation of the media’s power over the American public. He presents a “battle plan” to combat socialism in our society. D’Souza seeks, in this section, to expose the Clintons, Obamas, and Bidens with news the media completely ignores. He succeeds by sharing interviews and stories that highlight the corruption in these political families; despite their proclamations of justice for all and sharing the wealth, they own several multimillion-dollar homes and have only “used their political name and office to enrich themselves.”

The “socialist agenda,” FDR and the New Deal, the Green New Deal, universal basic income, and the so-called “neutrality” of the Deep State are just a few more topics analyzed in this book in relation to socialism. D’Souza makes clear the idea that socialism will never work in America, just as it’s never worked for any nation in the history of the world.

“United States of Socialism” is an excellent refutation of the beliefs of Democratic politicians in our nation. D’Souza presents his ideas and research in a clear, concise manner that leaves no room for doubt on the socialist sentiment. If America becomes a socialist country, as so many left-leaning politicians believe should and will happen, our nation is undoubtedly headed for economic deterioration and total corruption.

If you have ideas for book or movie reviews I should write, email me at ebfr@nycunarjfza.pbz or message me on Twitter @rosewilliams_rw.

 

Rose Williams

Rose Williams is an assistant editor for Alpha News.