In this wide-ranging conversation, Pastor Jack Hibbs interviews Dr. Erwin Lutzer about the growing appeal of socialism in America, the failures of Marxist ideology, and the urgent spiritual implications for the church. Drawing from his book We Will Not Be Silenced, Dr. Lutzer explains why socialism inevitably collapses—because it destroys initiative, fuels corruption, and depends on spending wealth created by capitalism. He shares firsthand observations from the Soviet Union and other communist countries, contrasting their misery and scarcity with the freedom and abundance produced by free markets.… Continue Reading

Remember when Democrats proposed in their multi-trillion spendathon that the IRS would track all transactions of $600 or more in personal bank accounts?

Well, they took a licking from the public, so they upped it to a still-absurd $10,000 in total yearly transactions.

This means they want the IRS prowling into bank accounts of everyone who has either deposits or withdrawals over an entire year totaling $10,000 or more, excluding wage income.… Continue Reading

Several years ago I was approached in the grocery store by a gentleman from our community that I knew through acquaintance. He had learned that I was the new government teacher at our local high school and wanted to see if I was willing to accept a guest speaker. I told him I was open to the idea but was curious who he had in mind.

We set up a meeting days later where he introduced me to Zamir, a man who as an adult had escaped the communist regime of Albania and made it to the United States.… Continue Reading

People seem shocked that recent polls show millennials are enamored of socialism — an economic system that reasonable and educated Americans have long known is disastrous. They shouldn’t be; this has been a long time coming.

The latest survey by Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation shows that 70 percent of millennials are likely to vote socialist. Adding insult to injury, only 57 percent believe the Declaration of Independence “better guarantees freedom and equality” over “The Communist Manifesto.”… Continue Reading

On Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2019, U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced a formal impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump for allegedly asking the Ukrainian president to investigate Joe Biden. U.S. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy responded: “Facts be damned. Democrats are insisting this is their moment to impeach President Trump. Speaker Pelosi’s decree changes nothing.”

And, thus, without even intending it, Mr. McCarthy just stumbled into what will be the campaign slogan for the Democratic Party from now until November 2020.… Continue Reading

I recently preached a sermon on the subject of stealing in our church’s series on the Ten Commandments. And one of the points I made is that socialism is a form of theft.

I mentioned the slogan going around during the 1960s — “property is theft.”

But the Bible says, “Thou shalt not steal.” Implied in that commandment is the sanctity of private property — I’m not allowed to simply take it because someone else owns it.… Continue Reading

Communism, socialism, democratic socialism – if asked, could you accurately define these terms? For many of us, Political Science 101 was a long time ago, so our answer would likely be “no.” However, definitions and distinctions are important, especially when we are engaging with fellow citizens who are enthusiastically, and often blindly, embracing a political philosophy they don’t fully understand and, if adopted, would be disastrous for our nation.

In his presentation at the 2019 Reagan Ranch June Conference, Dr.… Continue Reading

“Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it,” said Santayana. Many young people today claim to prefer socialism—and in some cases, even communism (which is socialism’s more violent form)—over capitalism.

Recently a candidate for city council in Denver declared that capitalism has failed and that socialism is the future. Candi Cdebaca said that we are in the “last phase” of capitalism—as if it is dying. In contrast, she said, “I believe in community ownership of land, labor, resources and distribution of those resources.”… Continue Reading

I published a piece recently on the reaction to President Trump’s condemnation of socialism in his State of the Union. He said something indisputably factual and indubitably obvious to most Americans: “Here, in the United States, we are alarmed by new calls to adopt socialism in our country. Tonight, we renew our resolve that America will never be a socialist country.”

It was a revealing moment not only for President Trump but also for the Democratic Party.… Continue Reading

Universal healthcare, also known as “Medicare for All,” is back in the news.  U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is joined in his advocacy of this entitlement program by most, if not all, Democratic presidential candidates, including U.S. Senators Kamala Harris (D-CA), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Cory Booker (D-NJ), U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) and former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julian Castro. According to an article in The Washington Post, all of the major Democratic presidential candidates support “Medicare for All” or something else to achieve universal healthcare coverage.… Continue Reading

[Recently], the New York Post had an editorial about how many millennials embrace “socialism,” while not really knowing what it means:  “Millennials — ignorant of socialism’s appalling economic and human-rights history — increasingly embrace socialism and its naively unrealistic prescriptions for ending all human want.”

I’m reminded of a college student who wrote his dad: “Dear Dad, No mon. No fun. Your son.”

His dad wrote back: “Too bad. So sad. Your Dad.”… Continue Reading

Thomas Sowell, a living legend in the field of economics, says he fears the U.S. may eventually succumb to the siren song of socialism.

The author of “Basic Economics,” “The Vision of the Anointed,” “The Quest for Cosmic Justice” and numerous other books said the U.S. may very well go down a path of financial ruin due to “wonderful-sounding” rhetoric.

Mr. Sowell, a Marxist in his youth, made the remarks Tuesday while appearing with Fox Business Network’s David Asman.… Continue Reading

Paris is burning. That is because the new president of France has bought into the message of climate change alarmism—that man’s activities are wreaking all sorts of havoc on the earth. If we cut down on our consumption of fossil fuels and instead embrace so-called “green justice,” we have a fighting chance to curb the problem of climate change.

France is doing its part to fight against so-called climate change. They are imposing draconian taxes on the price of petrol.… Continue Reading

What exactly is a socialist?  You could spend all day studying encyclopedias and not settle anything. Using various definitions, you could probably prove that anybody is or isn’t a socialist.

So let’s talk to a socialist.  Ignore the verbiage and look inside his head.  When someone announces to the world, “I’m a socialist,” what is that person thinking?

With this focus, everything becomes simpler.  Socialists may not be able to claim experience, learning, smarts, or success.  … Continue Reading

Republicans have not only betrayed their promise to repeal Obamacare, they have made Obamacare popular. They have championed its three core elements while refusing to even make the case against all its vulnerabilities and are now running on preserving it. While we are all focused on the results of November 6, we must gird up for a longer battle that, if not waged and won, will ensure we never have health care freedom in America, because a consensus for government-run monopolies is close to fruition.… Continue Reading

Americans today are less likely to define socialism as government ownership of the means of  production and more likely to describe it in relation to equality or government benefits and social services, according to a new Gallup poll conducted in September.

Only seventeen percent of Americans in 2018 define socialism as government ownership of the means of production compared to twice that number in 1949 when Gallup first surveyed Americans on the term.… Continue Reading

I recently read a thought-provoking, though ultimately misguided, article by Daniel Jose Camacho from the faith-oriented left-wing commentary website Sojourners.  In it, Camacho argued against the preoccupation many American Christians have with capitalism, suggesting that,

“Capitalism is so deeply ingrained in our Christianity that it is the default.  Yet, this arrangement is neither natural nor inevitable.”

Such a perspective was anything but surprising coming from a Sojourners publication.  After all, the online magazine is the modern iteration of socialist Jim Wallis’s anti-capitalist magazine “The Post American.”  … Continue Reading

Democrats have a more positive view of socialism than they do of capitalism, a Gallup poll published Monday reveals.

Fifty-seven percent of Democrats view socialism favorably, while just 47 percent of Democrats have a positive view of capitalism, according to the poll. In contrast, 71 percent of Republicans have a positive view of capitalism, while just 16 percent viewed socialism favorably.

Monday’s poll was “the first time in Gallup’s measurement over the past decade that Democrats viewed socialism more favorably than capitalism,” the polling firm noted.… Continue Reading

Poverty is no mystery, and it’s easily avoidable.

The poverty line that the Census Bureau used in 2016 for a single person was an income of $12,486 that year. For a two-person household, it was $16,072, and for a four-person household, it was $24,755.

To beat those poverty thresholds is fairly simple. Here’s the road map: complete high school; get a job, any kind of a job; get married before having children; and be a law-abiding citizen.… Continue Reading

Several recent polls, plus the popularity of Sen. Bernie Sanders, demonstrate that young people prefer socialism to free market capitalism. That, I believe, is a result of their ignorance and indoctrination during their school years, from kindergarten through college. For the most part, neither they nor many of their teachers and professors know what free market capitalism is.

Free market capitalism, wherein there is peaceful voluntary exchange, is morally superior to any other economic system.… Continue Reading

In the United States, surveys show that many Millennials are not merely soft on socialism but openly support it. They think capitalism benefits only the “one percent” and no one else, despite America’s matchless record of upward mobility and prosperity.

Since the 1960s, the media, Hollywood and the education system have presented a warped view of America along with a sugarcoated version of socialism. So, we should not be surprised when we see so many young people fooled by the false promises of redistributive economics.… Continue Reading

May 5 marked the bicentennial of Karl Marx, who set the stage with his philosophy for the greatest ideological massacres in history. Or did he?

He did, but deniers still remain. “Only a fool could hold Marx responsible for the Gulag,” writes Francis Wheen in “Karl Marx: A Life” (1999). Stalin, Mao and Kim Il Sung, Mr. Wheen insists, created “bastard creeds,” “wrenched out of context” from Marx’s writings.… Continue Reading

This October-November 2017 marks the 100^th anniversary of the launch of the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia—the bloody communist state that would produce a political-ideological killing spree unlike any the world has ever seen.

And yet, communism continues to find supporters. Here are three personal anecdotes:

I did a conference this past week on the legacies of communism. One liberal professor complained that no pro-communist speakers were included. I wasn’t surprised.… Continue Reading

Things are looking up for the Democratic Socialists of America. With a membership of 25,000, it is now the largest socialist group in America since the Second World War. And last weekend in Chicago, it held its largest convention, by a considerable margin, in its history.

The event was a fascinating view into an organization that is simultaneously struggling with sudden success and looking to capitalize on fertile conditions to grow even more.… Continue Reading

“Socialism,” said Richard John Neuhaus, “is the religion people get when they lose their religion.” While that might have been true in Neuhaus’s day, many young Christians are now attempting to have their faith and socialism too.

I never got the opportunity to meet Fr. Neuhaus. He died in January 2009, two months before I started working as the web editor at the magazine he founded, First Things. I suspect, though, that the staunch advocate of democratic capitalism would be surprised and dismayed to find his publication now has editors who identify as socialist and columnists who claim capitalism is inimical to Christianity.… Continue Reading

Are you aware that we are facing a political and cultural tragedy right now?  The Democratic Party, one of two great parties of the USA, has been co-opted by the communist ideologues, the power-mad neo-Marxists, in our political establishment.  They can call it liberalism or social justice or togetherness, but it is my considered judgment that, without exaggeration, we are facing an intent to subvert the electoral will of the American people.… Continue Reading

Last year, “socialism” was the most looked-up word at Merriam-Webster.com. That is hardly a surprise. It clearly reflects growing interest, especially with the remarkable surge of lifetime socialist Bernie Sanders, who won a pile of states in pursuing the Democratic Party presidential nomination. He earned over 13 million votes nationwide. Many of those voters have only a hazy idea what socialism entails, but most surely know that it gives the government more control over the so-called “means of production” as well as your wallet and your property, but not as much as outright Communists crave.… Continue Reading

Written by Robert Knight

Socialism is still in vogue, regardless of its sorry record all over the world for the last century.  The Free Stuff Army is on the march, especially in the United States.

There’s something about deploying the government as a mugger to obtain the fruits of someone else’s labor that appeals to the worst in us.  But it invariably leads to poverty, dishonesty and even tyranny.

Years ago, I visited Jamaica when it was under a socialist government. … Continue Reading

Written by Robert Knight

Socialism is still in vogue, regardless of its sorry record all over the world for the last century.  The Free Stuff Army is on the march, especially in the United States.

There’s something about deploying the government as a mugger to obtain the fruits of someone else’s labor that appeals to the worst in us.  But it invariably leads to poverty, dishonesty and even tyranny.

Years ago, I visited Jamaica when it was under a socialist government. … Continue Reading

Written by Thomas Sowell

The great promise of socialism is something for nothing. It is one of the signs of today’s dumbed-down education that so many young Bernie Sanders supporters seem to think that the cost of their college education should — and will — be paid by raising taxes on “the rich.”

Socialism sounds great. It has always sounded great. And it will probably always continue to sound great. It is only when you go beyond rhetoric, and start looking at hard facts, that socialism turns out to be a big disappointment, if not a disaster.… Continue Reading

Written by Zachary Jonathan Jacobson

Bernie Sanders’ lock on young people has been a constant throughout the Democratic presidential primaries. Exit polling shows he won 83% of voters under 30 in Pennsylvania last month, 74% in Indiana last week and 71% in West Virginia on Tuesday.

Why are Millennials so enamored of Sanders? Most hypotheses credit their enthusiasm for sweeping moral goals such as transparency, fairness and justice. Perhaps young voters prefer Sanders’ call for “revolution” over Hillary Clinton’s more pragmatic incrementalism. … Continue Reading

Written by Thomas Sowell

Many people of mature years are amazed at how many young people have voted for Senator Bernie Sanders, and are enthusiastic about the socialism he preaches.

Many of those older people have lived long enough to have seen socialism fail, time and again, in countries around the world. Venezuela, with all its rich oil resources, is currently on the verge of economic collapse, after its heady fling with socialism.

But, most of the young have missed all that, and their dumbed-down education is far more likely to present the inspiring rhetoric of socialism than to present its dismal track record.… Continue Reading

Written by Charles Battig

While political pundits ponder the reasons for presidential candidate Bernie Sanders’s success with his socialist message among younger voters, they might also consider the “power of myth” as evidenced by human behavior.

Historian Joseph Campbell’s reflections on the topic aired on PBS in the mid-1980s and were later published in 1988 under the title The Power of Myth.  Campbell documented and analyzed recurring basic themes embedded in the folklore and mythology of most every culture…good vs.… Continue Reading

Written by Robert Knight

According to the experts, much of the Millennial generation is besotted with the candidacy of Bernie Sanders. Note: Millennials are the largest voting bloc by age.

Born between 1981 and 2000, and mostly in their 20s and early 30s, many Millennials are showing up at rallies of the self-proclaimed “Democratic Socialist” U.S. senator from Vermont and cheering his diatribes against “the billionaire class.”

Like the Baby Boomers and Gen Xers before them, many Millennials are highly educated.… Continue Reading