By Peter Churchman
We are facing a new question in November. Do we want a citizen controlled government, or do we want to be government controlled citizens? I’d rather not be controlled by any person, let alone a bunch of corrupt politicians. I think politicians have too much control over my life right now, and I don’t want to give them any more power; I want to give them less power. The people that are elected are not some sort of elite ruling class that knows how to run our lives better than we do. Elected officials are not a smart and benevolent group that can be trusted. We should limit government and politicians at every opportunity, not expand government by giving it more control over our lives and over our hard-earned money.
I keep seeing politicians proposing a socialistic type of a bigger government welfare state. Elizabeth Warren has proposed the “Accountable Capitalism Act” that puts large companies under government control. Bernie Sanders has a “Jobs For All” socialist plan that would bankrupt the country. The new darling of progressivism, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, purports to love socialism, but has a hard time explaining any of her great plans to take money from everybody to give money to everybody. The crux of the problem with socialism in the future is a mirror image of the problem that socialism has had in the past; eventually you run out of someone else's money.
Capitalism beats Socialism every time. A modern day example can be found in Venezuela. Socialism has caused hyperinflation there, which has led to starvation in the country sitting on top of the world's largest oil reserves. It is a fresh example of what happens when the government is in control and not the people. Every time socialism has been tried, it has failed. I do not understand why so many people want to keep trying to reinvent that failed system of government.
Modern day socialists point to many Nordic countries to show an example of how socialism can work. There is a huge flaw in that reasoning. The Nordic countries are not socialist, they are welfare states. While the government does redistribute income and provide “free” things, they don’t try to control the market or labor. The governments do tax at a high rate to pay for all of the “free” things, with tax rates over 50%. When a bottle of water costs $7 however, you have to question how much of the “free” things you can afford, and how it will affect low income people.
This November we will decide at the polls the future of our country. I will vote only for people who will reduce government and give power back to the individual. I earnestly encourage everyone to do the same.
Peter Churchman is the Libertarian candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in Texas' 17th Congressional District. Peter can be reached at 512-644-5197, ChurchmanforTexas.com, facebook.com/ElectPeterChurchman or on Twitter @ChurchmanTX17
Peter Churchman