The joke is funny.
If socialists really wanted to help people they’d be capitalists
The point is serious.I heard a joke last week that starkly reflected the reality of socialism. It was unique. I can’t recall any other time that I found the reality of socialism amusing. As my first foray into rehearsed comedy, on Tuesday March 5, I repeated it on Trish Regan’s show. For those who missed it (and missing Trish’s show is a mistake) the joke goes: “How did socialists light their homes before candles?” The punch line: “Electricity.”
Three days later, on the following Friday, Venezuela experienced an unprecedented power blackout. Venezuelans were actually lighting their homes with candles. Socialist dictator Nicholas Maduro blamed an “electricity war declared and directed by the imperialist United States.” Seriously.
If AOC knew her Marx she would know he argued socialism builds on the success of capitalism. Capitalism would begin to fail when socialism would step in and put capital in the hands of workers. The idea was this would salvage capitalsim...and everyone would live happily ever after.This socialist reality is something I hope Congresswoman Alexandria Orcasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., (AOC) and her ilk will take to heart. But, I’m skeptical. Last week, AOC stated that under capitalism “we prioritize profit and the accumulation of money above all else” but under her desired version of “Democratic Socialism” we put “democracy and society first, instead of capital first.” In an Alice in Wonderland moment, she concluded that “it doesn’t mean that the actual concept of capitalistic society should be abolished.”
As AOC notes, the motive in a capitalist economy is profit. But, here’s what she seems to be missing. Capitalist societies create abundance and prosperity by taking our natural desire to improve our lives - to profit - and directing it outward to satisfying the needs of others. This much-berated profit motive is precisely what incentivizes us to meet the needs of others because - wait for it - that’s how you profit.