Written by Philip Mauriello Jr., a local attorney and host of the California Underground Podcast
I saw a meme the other day and I laughed because it was the first thing I thought when this whole pandemic really broke upon our shores. The meme simply says “How are you all enjoying your free 30 day trial of socialism?” and I chuckled, only because it was so eerily true.
In a presidential election where the word socialism continues to become more popular and out and open candidates like Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez run the Democratic Party, socialism has been claimed to be the cure for all the ills of our society. They stand up and say “See?! This is why we need a universal health care system!” when COVID-19 cases stress the capacities of our hospitals. Or when lambasting President Trump and his $2 trillion dollar relief package, they say “See?! When corporations and rich stock holders need help somehow we have the money, but not for climate change or single-payer healthcare!”
While every conservative I know was not crazy about our government passing something that costs $2 trillion, think of it as the medicine we need right now to get through this economic malaise. Doesn’t taste great going down, but it’s what’s needed to keep us from completely collapsing. Further, a lot of the “bailouts” for big companies are loans to be repaid, unlike the direct relief that is helping small businesses that will most likely not need to be repaid (and that’s good for Main Street America).
But if you or someone you know has been crowing about how socialism will solve everything, ask them how things have been the past few weeks. Ask them if they like the feeling of going into grocery stores with empty shelves, bare of the essentials that you need to provide for your family. Or even when the shelves are semi-stocked, ask how they like being told that you can only take one carton of eggs, one carton of milk, two bags of pasta, and so on. Is anyone a fan of the food rationing that is happening right now? I know I’m not.
Or ask them how they like being told by the government that they have no more civil liberties or freedom of movement. That the government can just shut down your business or your workplace with the stroke of a pen. People have worked for years to invest and grow their own business, only to lose it in a blink of an eye because the government didn’t deem your business “essential” enough to stay open. The government has the incredible power to strip you of your rights with nothing more than a proclamation, and that should scare the hell out of you.
Finally, the socialists screech about this being the reason we need single-payer healthcare. Ask European nations like Italy and Spain how they’re doing in the face of this pandemic with their single-payer healthcare systems. Not great. Those countries can’t contain the virus and, as a result, have tens of thousands dead between them. The reason America will fare better than single-payer countries is simple: we don’t rely on one entity to solve this problem. For all of the hate and criticism that is thrown at President Trump right now, imagine what leftists would think if he was in charge of our entire healthcare system? Is that what they want? Or do they want multiple entities to step up and assist with solving this crisis? If the choice was President Trump, I doubt they would want him to be in charge of the whole rescue operation.
Leftists also like to bemoan you for suggesting that maybe some places can lift restrictions and go back to some semblance of normal. To that they shout you down with phrases like “You will kill everyone! Our lock down is for the collective good!” Giving up everything for the “common good;” nothing screams socialism more than that sentiment. So forget if you have a job and need to provide for your family, your sacrifice is for the common good! Forget that you worked hard to open a business and see it grow during these booming economic years with President Trump at the helm, you losing your business is for the common good. Your sacrifice is much appreciated, comrade.
It’s an interesting time in America right now. For those on the left that play down how powerful government can be and how bad socialism really is, we are living it right now. We are seeing the immense power of the government we have put in place over decades. I hope people remember this time in our history—a time when we got to see what socialism was like in America. What a totalitarian police state looks like if we simply sit by and let it happen.
Remember this time come November and remember who you hand these incredible powers to. Because as we’ve learned, socialism really is just one crisis away.
