United Liberty

There has been a lot of reaction in the blogosphere about a new Rasmussen poll which shows that 53% of Americans believe capitalism is better than socialism:

Only 53% of American adults believe capitalism is better than socialism.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that 20% disagree and say socialism is better. Twenty-seven percent (27%) are not sure which is better.

Adults under 30 are essentially evenly divided: 37% prefer capitalism, 33% socialism, and 30% are undecided. Thirty-somethings are a bit more supportive of the free-enterprise approach with 49% for capitalism and 26% for socialism. Adults over 40 strongly favor capitalism, and just 13% of those older Americans believe socialism is better.

Where is a person of a classically liberal inclination to go in today’s political media jungle?

The last four years have been somewhat of a storm for people like us. The unpopularity of George W. Bush tainted conservatism for at best a couple years and at worst a generation. Ron Paul only got a fraction of the Republican primary vote in 2008, not enough to bite into the doomed-to-fail John McCain. William F. Buckley died, as did Milton Friedman.

Glenn Beck, a pseudo-libertarian-inclined talk radio and cable news personality who showed promise by giving airtime to libertarian activists and having constructive dialogues with disagreeable people like Rev. Al Sharpton, has gone completely bat-sh!+ crazy in exchange for good ratings.

While searching through the comic book section at a Barnes and Noble in Emeryville, California, I was unsurprised to see that there were about five shelves dedicated to manga (the term for Japanese comic books) compared to only three for American graphic novels.

On this old PBS interview, Milton Friedman shares how terms like “conservative” and “liberal” have been redefined and that well-intentioned government programs often do more harm than good to their intended recipients.

Milton Friedman discusses the Great Depression, FDR and the Social Security system.

There is a podcast which I believe readers of this blog would thoroughly enjoy. It’s called “Common Sense with Dan Carlin.” Dan Carlin refuses to label his political views along the familiar lines, but he would be best placed as a libertarian of the angrier variety. In his latest episode, “Intoxicated Priorities,” Carlin argues that together Russia and China both qualify as “authoritarian capitalism.”

The term struck me because it instantly made sense. In China, you can go to McDonald’s and get a Big Mac, buy a big screen TV and sell your used stuff on eBay. There are plenty of entrepreneurs in Moscow. The aggressive socialism of Stalin and Mao is gone. However, there isn’t personal freedom. Bloggers are jailed in China and journalists are murdered in Russia.