Socialism trumps capitalism on college campuses

The twentieth century was the best and worst of times. On the dark side, it is estimated that as many as 270 million citizens have been killed by governments that describe themselves as socialist – on the left and right. On the bright side of the 20th century was the success of free market capitalism, which helped lift more than a billion people out of poverty.

So why do so many scholars condemn capitalism and lean towards socialism? Even the brilliant free market economist Tom Sowell started out as a Marxist. So, what changed his mind?

“The facts. Before I became a Marxist, I was an empiricist, and I remain an empiricist. And over the years, as I looked into more and more things, I saw the difference between reality and rhetoric. Unfortunately, a lot of people today, including at leading universities, don’t pay much attention to the evidence,” Sowell told FOX Business in 2019.

A recent study showed that a large number of college students prefer socialism over capitalism, with nearly half of them praising repressive countries like Cuba over the United States.

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Brian Breinberg, co-host of our Big Money Show, has seen it firsthand as an economics professor. I asked him why socialism still attracts so many college students.

Families and prospective college students visit the University of Mary Washington to tour the campus. (Istock)

“College is one of the only places where bad ideas can continue to live because they are never tested against reality. So, the professors teach these things, and they love the ideas of what socialism promises. They never have to do it in real life. They spend their academic lives filling kids’ heads with these ideas. Kids who have to get out into the real world,” Breinberg said.

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URBANA, Ill., April 17, 2016 – Students out on the quad lawn of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus. (Istock)

Six years ago, I asked Tom Sowell whether we had to suffer from socialist policies before we rejected them.

“I have a great fear that we may not succeed in the long term.”

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Now, I love Swell. He’s one of the smartest men I’ve ever met, but at the same time, I hope he’s completely wrong on this point.