Young people need better history lessons , that’s the best way to combat socialism.

Well said, we must not forget the principles that this great country was founded on.

Excellent thought sharing on a response to the prevalent cry for a socialist solution. Young people need to get much more conversant with history… Real history, not the revised versions!! The best incentive for prosperity is entrepreurship based on capitalism…but it does mean you have to WORK!! Thanks, Larry.

“There are exactly zero examples of socialist countries in history who have prosperous societies.”

This statement is false. You fail to recognize Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Belgium, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, and the Netherlands as countries who are CURRENTLY prospering under socialist ideologies, namely democratic socialism. There are many forms of socialism, and you are simply spouting off about one of the worst current examples of dictatorship in Venezuela, which is overtaken by a man tricking his country into thinking his form of communist socialism will save them. Obviously, those forms of socialism do not work (Marxist, Stalinism etc.). For the record, Bernie Sanders does not support nor advocate these forms of socialism. Equating his platform as such is not correct and shows a clear lack of understanding of his position and political background.

Please don’t just dismiss all the good socialist ideologies do for other counties around the world to this very day. Like with everything in life, it’s about balance. Neglecting to even mention the other side to your argument or even acknowledging that there are many different forms of socialism is largely a lie of omission. Something Chavez is very familiar with.

Before you claim “property rights, limited government, and free market capitalism” is the one true path, remember: Not everyone’s happiness is based on power and wealth. Some find success in helping others less fortunate achieve their goals and aspirations. Some find hope in community and making sure everyone is treated with the same respect. We are a far cry away from that in America, but clearly other countries know the value in this phrase “a chain is only as strong as its weakest link.”

The myth that Sweden is a utopian paradise where all the social problems have been solved and that you can have high growth with high taxes has been touted by Bernie Sanders as well as the many Millennials that follow him.

The glory days for Sweden economically took place prior to the 1960s, when they had a free economy, low regulation and lots of wealth. Between 1870 and 1950, Sweden had the highest per capita income growth in the world and became one of the richest countries, behind only Switzerland, the U.S., and Denmark.

In the 1960s, Sweden started to redistribute wealth, which brought wealth creation to a halt. By the mid 1990s, the country had growing economic problems because it continued to redistribute wealth it wasn’t creating. It was at this juncture that many of the wealthy (ABBA band members included) and entrepreneurs were leaving Sweden. In 1994, Sweden began implementing the following measures designed to reverse this trend:

Reduce Regulation
Reduce Government Spending
Reformed their Welfare Programs
Shrank their Government
Sweden has continued on this path for the last 24 years, which has brought them a modest rate of growth, but not nearly as robust as pre-60s levels due to government taxation remaining high.

Many view Sweden as socialist. However, the country is in fact very pro capitalism, but does it with redistribution through taxes. Personal income is taxed at a rate of 61.85 percent, plus a 7 percent social security tax rate for employees. On top of these taxes, Sweden also has a 25 percent consumption tax. For these sacrifices of financial freedom, this is what Sweden offers their citizens in benefits:

Pension
Healthcare
Unemployment Insurance
Education through PhD Level
Child Day Care
Very generous leaves of absence from work with benefits including: education up to 6 months, starting your own company up to 6 months off, parental leave up to 16 months with 80 percent of your pay during time off
16 public holidays (10 of these holidays are Christian-based, even though just five percent of the population are regular church attenders).
Naturally, nearly everyone takes full advantage of these benefits. Johan Norberg, an author and historian, states that while Sweden is one of the healthiest countries, it also has one of the highest rates of sick leave in Europe, no doubt in large part because Swedes receive 80 percent of their salary while they stay home.

Where do the healthcare technologies and medicines come from? Nearly all of it is invented and implemented in America in a competitive health care market.

Norberg offers caution, however, to those who would implement of “free” healthcare system similar to Sweden’s single-payer program.

In Sweden, the government tries to price healthcare at near zero, so demand is unlimited. However, resources are limited, resulting in rationed healthcare. Long waiting lines are the norm. Stories abound of people with an illness such as brain cancer being told they will need to wait for treatment until they have equipment and doctors ready for them.

Like Canadians, many will go to other countries to get timely treatment. Economist Andreas Bergh explains that Swedes are healthy not because of the healthcare system but because they eat healthy foods and are physically active.

One aspect to taxes in Sweden that is not well known is that while taxes are high on labor, they are relatively low for corporations (22 percent) and capital. Keeping taxes low keeps corporations and capital from going to other countries. The 1994 changes in government deregulated everything from taxi, air service, railroads, electricity, telecom and school choice.

The open-competition school choice model in Sweden would trigger U.S. teacher unions into a froth. Parents and pupils decide what school they want to attend and they are all paid for by taxes. Corporations, towns, charities, religions, most anyone and anything can start a school, but it’s up to parents and pupils if they want to attend. The more people that choose a particular school determines if that school will get more government funding.

The fiscal side of Sweden has become increasingly pro free market, ranking 15th globally while the US ranks 18th. These capitalist features have helped sustain Sweden’s standard of living, but dark clouds are on the horizon. The nation has an ageing workforce coupled with a slowing birthrate (1.67 per female, well below the 2.1 needed for a population to maintain its population). Decades without significant construction in cities has resulted in skyrocketing housing prices, while high wages leave many unskilled workers, both Swedish and foreign-born, on the fringes of the labor market.

These fiscal challenges have been exacerbated by immigration.

Sweden, which has a population similar to that of Michigan, brought over 163,000 asylum seekers in 2015 and 28,939 in 2016—more per capita than any other nation.

Nearly one-fifth of its population (10.1 million) is comprised of foreign born residents (1.7 million), many of whom qualify for free housing and monthly cash benefits. The primary issue with this new crop of immigrants is few have marketable skills or connections to enter Sweden’s rigid labor market.

Yaron Brooks of the Cato Institute remarks that debating the social benefits Sweden offers versus the social welfare and entitlement programs in the U.S. are moot because both models are unsustainable and headed for Ponzi-scheme-like outcomes unless there is significant government spending intervention. Like the U.S., Sweden is experiencing mediocre mixed economies of low economic growth and little progress compared to pre-1960s levels.

For Bernie Sanders and his Millennial followers, a question to be asked is, “Do you want to mature and have personal responsibility to manage your own life or give up financial freedoms and be taken care of as was depicted in Obama’s ‘Life of Julia’?” The narrative was a slide show that followed Julia, a single mother cartoon character from age 3 to age 67 that explained how Obama’s policies, from Head Start to Obamacare to mandated contraception coverage to Medicare reform, would provide Julia with a better life.

American values have historically been about self- reliance, personal responsibility, and liberty. But society is changing, and the nuclear family structure that once allowed individuals to rise and thrive is giving way.

If this trend continues, Americans may soon find themselves in a system like Julia’s, one in which the government take care of them—from birth to grave.

–

Ella Rhymes, all you need to do is to come and look at the destruction of South Africa, a world force 25 years ago. Every aspect of civilized society has now collapsed. And the thugs at the top just become richer, with their cronies.
You only have to acknowledge that when socialism and communism fail, as it will, the capitalists are who they turn to to bail them out.

Enjoy your post everyday! That said, I have to disagree with you on this one. I find that I type so much faster than I can right that words flow better from brain to keyboard. 🙂

Hey Larry,
I love reading Think Daily but I will have to say that this particular post somehow did something to me. The right word spoken in the right place at the right time that I could receive. See, I have always been somewhat on the tech side of things and found myself to be mostly in the digital camp. As an example, I use Evernote to keep a daily journal for personal and professional things. Yet somehow, there has always been something lacking. Something is lost when just typing a thought. What about the stroke of the pen or the color we use? The space in between the words or how we position the pen to paper? I would always use the excuse of “well, my hand cramps up too easily and I can type so much faster!!”…so I just resigned to being a digital-only kind of guy, until today. I am by no means jumping ship from digital but your words shifted something in me. I have heard Ricko and Mike talk about journaling, not to mention, countless other great, successful people. I have been asking myself lately, am I missing something here? Then your post came and I tried for the first time in years, actually writing (in my CNLIVE journal that was given to me)! My hand didn’t cramp up and I was able to capture every nuance in my thinking. You are right! It does activate a different part of the brain. Then for all you digital camp people out there, it is so easy to capture these analog pages into something like Evernote. You have the power to categorize and index. You can even search the hand-written text and of course you have the power of the cloud to pull your notes up on any device. Then you can also incorporate video, pictures, annotations and dictation. The list goes on. It’s like a whole new world for me now and 2019 just got brighter. I’ve tried the other way as well where I would start digital and then print out to analog and put sheets in a book but still something lacking there. Starting analog and going to digital gives the benefits of both worlds and possibly activating more areas of the brain than just what writing alone could do. I suppose the possibilities are endless. To wrap up here, I come from somewhat of a recording background and a lot of old school recording artists swear by capturing everything on analog tape with analog gear first, then mastering down to digital for media consumption. It captures all the nuances of the live performance while maintaining the spirit of creativity. Analog provides infinite sampling and resolution, where digital is always going to be limited by zeros and ones. Our minds are not made up of zeros and ones but of limitless creativity! So thank you for your post. I can honestly say now that I don’t have to choose writing or typing. I can have both. We can have both 🙂

I need to Say MORE NO, Sometimes I think I”m to Generous

I really enjoy your blog Larry. I say yes way too much to work requirements, volunteer activities, family needs etc. Reading your blog helps me focus on the important aspects of Life. ?

I say yes much at work and more in my life!
I do not like the word no.
To me, it means no sale,
Or I am a limited thinker or dreamer !Or I just don’t have enough info.
If No meant no, I would not be married or have 1/2 the things I have.
Larry , you are a terrific thinker who likes new idea’s . They mostly come from Yes!
Kurtis

I say yes more often than not. Though, I am learning the art of saying no. No, is how you free up time in busy life.

I just heard the term “FOMO” — Fear Of Missing Out. I prefer to look at what a blessing it is to live in an age where we have so many wonderful opportunities to choose from! Life is like a sculpture, sometimes it’s what we carve away and remove that exposes the beauty within.

A liitle too much yes at work and a little too much no at home.

Don

It is actually the other way around for me, I rather not like to be like everyone else

In my experience, the people I know are so active in retirement that they often wonder how they had any time to work. I saw this with my father, who after retirement, continued helping people in various ways and more often now that he had more time. After 32 years of teaching, I decided to take early retirement so that I could be with our first granddaughter three days a week. It was really difficult at first to make the decision to leave teaching, but when I became truly grateful for the many years I had in this field, I was ready to let go and move onto my new adventure as a “retired” person. Now, like my father, I find that I can better take care of myself, help others, and spend more time doing the things I like. The creative projects I did when teaching simply changed forms and I am still finding ways to be creative, active, and productive. Yes, the income is considerably less, but we’ve always been content with the reality that “less” can be more of what’s most important. Now, every moment I spend with my two granddaughters is so precious and when I think I could have still been working and missing out on all of this, for me, I know I retired at the right time.

I agree with that statement. I know too many people who have passed away not long after retirement. I think maybe it’s because some people fall out of the regular routine of getting up and going to work, and it throws some kind of imbalance into their functioning. I agree that the best thing to do would to continue to remain active and stick to a regular schedule.

Great advice. The sooner you start the better off you will be. The miracle of compound returns.