Recently the prominent political commentator and activist Ben Shapiro had a public debate with Ana Kasparian, of The Young Turks fame, talking about, among other things, socialism vs. capitalism.
At one point Shapiro asks Kasparian to give even one example of a socialist country that has been successful and prosperous, and she answers with "countries in Europe".
The most annoying thing about this was that Shapiro didn't object to the claim that there are socialist countries in Europe.
There is not a single socialist country in Europe!
There might have been back in the times of the Soviet Union, but that has not been so for quite a long time now.
Kasparian is, like so many other people, confusing "social services" with "socialism", just because the word "social" appears in both. That's the same kind of mistake as thinking that a "community" is the same thing as "communism", just because those words are similar.
Free universal healthcare is not socialism. Free primary and secondary education is not socialism. A social safety net for those of low or no income is not socialism. In general, free government-provided tax-paid services are not socialism.
The economic model used in most European countries is welfare capitalism, not socialism. These are not the same thing!
How to distinguish between socialism and welfare capitalism? By answering these questions:
- Are private companies and corporations legally allowed to exist and be headquartered in the country, and to own private property, which belongs exclusively to the company?
- Are private citizens allowed to own private property and to create and run private businesses and their own private companies, and freely engage in commercial activity with little to no control nor intervention from the government (except when such an activity directly breaks the law)?
- Are these private companies allowed to produce capital, goods and services, which the company privately owns (up to the point of selling it to someone else)?
- Are these private companies allowed to engage in commerce and business deals among themselves with no government intervention (except in cases where such activity directly breaks the law)?
- Is there a stock exchange market in the country?
If the answer to those questions is "yes", then it's not a socialist country. It's a capitalist country. That's the very definition of capitalism.
The "welfare" part in "welfare capitalism" comes from how much the government taxes citizens and corporations, and how much of this tax money is used to provide free services to citizens. This has nothing to do with socialism.
The fact that Shapiro didn't object to Kasparian's claim is absolutely irritating.
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