A Brief Book Summary from Books At a Glance
By Benjamin J. Montoya
Editor’s Note: Here we continue our series of “Bonus” summaries focusing on matters of cultural, societal, and political interest. We hope you enjoy!
About the Authors
U.S. Senator Rand Paul, M.D., is one of the nation’s leading advocates for liberty. Elected to the United States Senate in 2010, he has proven to be an outspoken champion for constitutional liberties and fiscal responsibility.
Kelley Ashby Paul serves as Kentucky co-chair of Helping A Hero, a wounded veterans charity that has built over 100 fully adapted homes for soldiers who have suffered severe injuries. Kelley also serves on the board for the Coalition for Public Safety, a bipartisan organization dedicated to criminal justice reform.
Rand and Kelley have been married since 1990 and are the parents of three sons.
Introduction
One of the major underlying political feuds of our day is the battle between capitalism and socialism. People hear of the supposed benefits of socialism with all of its freebies—free healthcare, free college education, and more. But there are plenty of people against socialism, including President Donald Trump. He is a firm supporter of capitalism. In this book Senator Rand Paul makes a compelling case against socialism.
Table of Contents
Part I Because Eating Your Pets Is Overrated—Socialism Creates Poverty
Chapter 1 Socialism Destroyed Venezuela’s Once Vibrant Economy
Chapter 2 Socialism Rewards Corruption
Chapter 3 Interfering with Free Market Causes Shortages
Chapter 4 Capitalism Is the More Moral System
Chapter 5 Capitalism Benefits the Middle Class
Chapter 6 Income Inequality Does Not Ruin the Economy or Corrupt Government
Chapter 7 Under Capitalism, the 1 Percent Is Always Changing
Chapter 8 The Poor Are Better Off Under Capitalism
Part II Capitalism Makes Scandinavia Great
Chapter 9 Bernie’s Socialism Also Includes Praise for Dictators
Chapter 10 Today’s American Socialists Don’t Know What Socialism Means
Chapter 11 Bernie Sanders Is Too Liberal to Get Elected in Denmark
Chapter 12 No, Bernie, Scandinavia Is Not Socialist
Chapter 13 Sweden’s Riches Actually Came from Capitalism
Chapter 14 The Nordic Model Is Welfarism, Not Socialism
Chapter 15 Sweden Is Shrinking Taxes and Welfare
Chapter 16 Welfarism Requires High Middle-Class Taxes
Chapter 17 American Scandinavians Have It Better Here Than in Scandinavia
Chapter 18 Swedish College Is Free, but It’s Not Cheap or Universal
Part III A Boot Stamping on the Human Face Forever—Socialism and Authoritarianism
Chapter 19 Socialism Becomes Authoritarianism
Chapter 20 Hitler Was a Socialist
Chapter 21 The Nazis Hated Capitalism
Chapter 22 The Nazis Didn’t Believe in Private Property
Chapter 23 Socialism Encourages Eugenics
Chapter 24 Your Degree of Enthusiasm for Socialism May Decide Whether You Live or Die
Part IV Socialism Doesn’t Create Equality
Chapter 25 Socialism Promises Equality and Leads to Tyranny
Chapter 26 All Aspects of Culture Eventually Become Targets for the Planners
Chapter 27 If No One Has to Work, No One Will
Chapter 28 The Cure for Failed Socialism Is Always More Socialism
Chapter 29 Poetry Can Be Dangerous Under Socialism
Chapter 30 It’s Not Socialism Without Purges
Part V Where Are These Angels? The Philosophy of Socialism
Chapter 31 Socialism Expects Selfless Rulers and Citizens
Chapter 32 Progress Comes from Rebels and Dreamers
Chapter 33 Freedom Is Not the Inevitable Outcome of History and Must Be Protected
Part VI: Never Let a Crisis Go to Waste: Socialism and Alarmism
Chapter 34 Socialism Leads to Cronyism
Chapter 35 If Socialists Can’t Find a Crisis, They Will Create One
Chapter 36 Socialism and Climate Change Alarmism Go Together
Chapter 37 Socialist Green New Deal Allows for No Dissent
Chapter 38 Fake News and Propaganda on the Rise in America
Chapter 39 Welcome to the Panopticon: FaceCrime, PreCrime, and the Surveillance State
Summary
Part I: Because Eating Your Pets Is Overrated—Socialism Creates Poverty
Chapter 1: Socialism Destroyed Venezuela’s Once Vibrant Economy
It is probably difficult to imagine this fact for many of our current readers, but Venezuela used to have a vibrant economy from the oil industry. But in comparison to today, things have changed drastically. What happened?
Socialism happened. Socialism is a poison that destroys everything and everyone it touches. When Chavez took over and made the oil industry part of the government, this socialistic approach ruined the country. The citizens of Venezuela realized this, protested even, but as always happens in socialist countries, they were persecuted, silenced, and killed.
Chapter 2: Socialism Rewards Corruption
Many politicians who argue for socialism do so on the basis of fairness—that resources will be more spread out among the people. Does that really happen? Historically, absolutely not. What actually occurs is that the people at the top, usually the dictator, get richer and richer while everyone else—even medical doctors—become poorer and poorer. The rulers will live like fat cats. They get whatever they want whenever. But the people starve because of it. Every single time that socialism has been applied—regardless of the country—the outcome remains the same. We would be fools if we thought a more recent application of socialism would be any different.
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