A Rogue’s Gallery of Misfits, Users, and Bums

Businessman and Media personality Patrick Bet-David recently appeared on Jubilee to defend Capitalism against 20 socialists. What followed was masterclass on the topic of why socialism fails.

As someone who regularly hosts debates, I am admittedly jealous of what the program “Jubilee: Surrounded” has been able to accomplish. In debate after debate, it has shown—for all the world to see—the limitations of leftist thought and personalities. Patrick Bet-David’s (PBD) recent takedown of socialists and communists is just the latest example. His exposing of the socialist hivemind did such a public good that Jubilee should apply for non-profit status. For PBD’s actions involved “charity” work in the truest sense of that word.

The Nature of the Debate- It’s No Longer Just “The Economy Stupid”

In some ways, we have moved past the “Capitalism v. Socialism” debate. In light of the failure of economic Marxism, cultural Marxism has taken center stage in recent years. BLM, LGBT, and abortion debates have dominated protests and statehouse legislation for over a decade. The last real kerfuffle that actually addressed the economic issues in any meaningful way was the Occupy Wall Street protests that took place in Zuccotti Park back in 2011. Since then, the cultural divide has been at the center of the fight, much more than issues of redistribution, taxation, etc.

However, in terms of the economic front, a lot has changed since 2011. On the capitalist side, for example, many of us have moved to support the Trumpian populist position. MAGA is open to higher taxes on the rich and is not acting as a default friend to corporations or the military industrial complex. The Left, meanwhile, remains pro-war, and has come to embrace non-stop unlimited immigration.

The basic divide still exists: the Right generally thinks that free enterprise is a better option than state-run economies, and it rejects the cultural rot that inherently accompanies socialism/communism.

High and Low-lights of the Debate

Actual arguments aside, the Jubilee debate offered “normies” a glimpse into what socialism and its mythical cousin communism really looks like. And I mean that in the most literal sense. The advocates of Socialism seen during the debate were nothing less than a rogue’s gallery of misfits, users, and bums. The optics alone were worth more than whatever words were said. Interestingly, these non-conformists seemed perplexed as to why they were not “making it” in life. “What could possibly be the cause?!” Meanwhile, any sane, employed, and responsible person watching was probably saying to themselves, “Yeah, I wouldn’t hire them either.”

In terms of the arguments, consider these highlights, or perhaps lowlights:

- Hiding behind altruistic motives, one debater claimed that he “served humanity” as a substitute teacher and tutor. Then he wondered why he wasn’t worth more in the market, even as he presented himself as a homeless guy wearing a dress.

- Another debater admitted to his disability and mental illness, although he blamed it squarely on capitalism, and then refused the offer of psychiatric help on PBD’s dime.

- Multiple speakers trotted out the age-old “true socialism has never been tried” argument, refusing real-world example after example of failed socialist states such as China, Cuba, North Korea, and the Soviet Union.

- Multiple debaters accused PBD of being an elitist who doesn’t understand the plight of the poor and/or is currently guilty of running a pyramid scheme. But the truth is he came from abject poverty, didn’t get rich due to white privilege, and manages a legitimate network marketing business that is currently worth millions. The well-worn ad hominem attacks all failed to hit the mark.

- The socialists constantly equated “working” with “providing value,” not understanding the simple truism that some work is inherently more valuable than other work, and that the basic and fundamental laws of economics cannot be changed.

The opposition did have some valid points, and their best arguments against PBD mainly addressed the debilitating costs of health care. But that did not help their case, since of all the economic sectors that are run by capitalistic engines, healthcare is the least free. The government now heavily regulates every aspect of our healthcare, and almost everyone agrees the system still needs additional reform. The problem for the post-Obamacare socialist, though, is in realizing that the reforms which are needed are more market-based, and do not involve centralized command and control.

Unfortunately, healthcare debates are now distant from American capitalism vs. Marxist utopianism, which is where the debate should have stayed. But in the end, what was obvious to any rational observer was that the socialists did not want to learn. They often come across as sad sacks that either don’t want to, or simply cannot, compete in the marketplace, and resent those who can (and did) compete and eventually benefited as a result of their risk-taking efforts.

What I witnessed were a dozen malcontents who refused to conform and then blamed everyone else for their debilitating (but self-imposed) poverty. As PBD was at pains to point out, this not a group of folks who are interested in self-improvement. They resist it, actually, because to admit that they need to improve at anything would be to admit that there are standards to which they should conform. They believe they are somehow above traditional expectations, dress codes, drug tests, and the general rules of decorum.

They are, in their own way, snobs and elitists who believe that they are too special to be required to play by society’s rules. Far from being ruled by intense humility and love for their fellow man, they are failures by choice, but who reside in a country that still offers tremendous opportunities to those who work hard and play by the rules. Consequently, socialism ends up looking less like a reasonable intellectual option, and more like an excuse to fail at life.

It makes me wonder: have all proponents of communism/socialism always been social misfits and bums who hide behind arguments to avoid having to, you know, work? Are they really just social pariahs who refuse to cut their hair and work the 12-16 hour days that it takes to build a business or become proficient at a craft? Are they just bitter and unhappy people? Is it really that simple? Is the debate merely just a cover for the warped psychological states of those wanting to receive some form of a bailout?

Yeah, it seems so. As it happens, life is hard. It requires work to survive. PBD reminding these close-minded socialists/communists of that salient fact, and making them look like fools in the process, is nothing short of a public service. To PBD and Jubilee, I tip my cap. We owe you one.

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