Nikki Haley: 2020 is the year socialism went mainstream
Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley argues the ‘dangerous ideology’ became normal in the year 2020; Fox News contributor Richard Fowler and National Review contributor Luke Thompson weigh in.
For the next two years, Democrats will control the presidency, the U.S. Senate, and the U.S. House of Representatives. But this is not the Democratic Party of old. This is the furthest left Democratic Party in history.
That’s a sobering reality that should concern every American. What does it mean for our country?
Much of today’s Democratic Party has an agenda that undermines America’s guiding principles — the same principles that have made America the freest, most equal and most just nation in human history. Most of the time, Democrats don’t try to hide it. Freedom and equal opportunity are out. Censorship and intolerance are in.
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President-elect Joe Biden’s administration is the vehicle to advance this vision. The goal is to impose more control over America’s culture and economy.
Start with the culture. It wasn’t that long ago when sincere liberal leaders stood for free speech, freedom of religion, freedom of thought and tolerance of different views. Those days are gone.
What started with "political correctness" has morphed into "cancel culture." From college classrooms to corporate boardrooms, to media green rooms, to holiday dining rooms, liberal elites want to silence anyone who does not toe the far-left line.
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Examples are everywhere. A Hispanic-owned company was boycotted for its CEO’s political views. Diners at a restaurant were intimidated by radical activists into raising their fists in a show of solidarity. Liberal professors were run off campus by the ultra-liberal fringe. The list doesn’t stop.
Members of the far-left are even comfortable using the full force of government to impose their views on the rest of us. They’ve tried to shut down a Catholic adoption agency, targeted conservative nonprofits because of their political views, and mandated teaching in classrooms that condemns the founding of our country.
What they really want is to massively expand government and use its immense power to remake American culture however they want.
The far-left vision for the economy is just as harmful. Only a few years ago, Americans of all political stripes believed in capitalism. Right, left, or center, we all knew economic freedom is essential to creating better lives and brighter futures for people of all beliefs and backgrounds.
Many Democrats have abandoned that truth. They have replaced it with socialism — the opposite of capitalism and economic freedom. Their economic agenda is based on the idea of control. It means more government power, more corporate bailouts, more bailouts for dysfunctional state governments, more lockdowns and less freedom. That is the essence of socialism.
Today’s Democrats think politicians can spend your money better than you can. That’s why they call for enormous tax hikes.
They think bureaucrats can run businesses better than the people who create them. That’s why they push for huge regulations.
They think the same government that has broken health care can somehow fix it, if only it had more control over patients and doctors.
Ultimately, liberal elites think they’re smarter than the rest of us — that they have the brains and the birthright to build a better economy for all.
But they don’t. And their socialist ideas have failed everywhere they’ve been tried.
When capitalism gives way to socialism, the result is always less opportunity, more poverty and more suffering. That’s what happens when people have less freedom.
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The single mom who wants to find a job can’t. The inner-city kid who wants to build a business can’t. The community college student who wants to turn his innovative idea into reality can’t. In every case, socialism pushes people down, while capitalism lifts us all up.
In the culture and the economy, the liberals’ way is wrong. But the overwhelming majority of Americans still believe in this country. We know America isn’t racist. We know free speech matters. We know capitalism can lift up the poor and unleash a new era of prosperity.
Most of all, we know America isn’t America without freedom. And we will stand up for preserving that freedom for ourselves and future generations. That is the job of the loyal opposition.
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Two years ago, I founded Stand for America, which has already mobilized more than 2 million Americans in defense of freedom. We need more courageous leaders to hold the line against one-party liberal rule in Washington. And we need more citizens who will vigorously engage to protect those principles.
America is worth it. So let’s resolve, right now, to stand for America — and keep the flame of freedom alive.
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