SEN TOM COTTON: Democrats say socialism will help. History says it will hurt

Americans are worried about the cost of living — and rightly so. The price of groceries, housing, and many everyday necessities rose by roughly 30 percent under President Biden. While price increases have slowed under Republican leadership, the devastating effects of that inflation remain. Democrats' self-described "socialist" solution — a dramatic expansion of government welfare, regulation, and taxation — would make life even more expensive for American families.

History has already run this big government socialist experiment again and again. From Venezuela to Cuba to the Soviet Union, countries that embraced socialism have produced the same results: shortages, inflation, declining investment, fewer opportunities, and higher prices for their citizens.

First, look at Venezuela, which has some of the world's largest oil reserves. Venezuela should have been among the wealthiest nations in the Western Hemisphere, but decades of socialist policies — such as nationalizing industry, reckless government spending, and sweeping price controls — have devastated its economy, destroyed the currency, and skyrocketed inflation.

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For years, Venezuelans have paid the price for these failed socialist policies as grocery shelves emptied, basic medicines disappeared, and hours-long lines formed for staples like flour and rice. Toilet paper became so scarce that it became an international symbol of Venezuela's collapse. And because of inflation, a loaf of bread that once cost only a few bolívars eventually cost millions.

Also consider Cuba, where state ownership and central planning have similarly failed to generate prosperity and provide food for its people, despite having fertile agricultural lands. More than six decades after the communist revolution, Cuba imports as much as 80 percent of its food, yet Cubans still endure chronic shortages. Ration books remain part of daily life. Buildings crumble. Young people leave whenever they can. Even basic household necessities often require standing in long lines or having personal connections to obtain.

And in the Soviet Union, citizens living behind the Iron Curtain grew accustomed to empty shelves, endless waiting lists, and chronic shortages of everything, including butter, meat, shoes, coffee, household appliances, and automobiles. Sure, the government-controlled Soviet economy could build shoddy tanks and missiles, but it struggled to provide decent housing, quality consumer goods, and reliable food supplies. Bureaucrats simply could not replace the countless daily decisions made by millions of producers, workers, entrepreneurs, and consumers operating in competitive markets. The problem wasn't bad management. It was the centralized, top-down system itself.

The lesson is clear: socialism doesn't eliminate scarcity. It creates it. While supporters of socialism often blame sanctions or embargoes for these struggles, in reality, these consequences are the result of socialist policies that never work and always fail.

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Some also point to Scandinavia as proof the socialist model can succeed. But Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Finland aren’t purely socialist. After all, these nations rely on private enterprise, secure property rights, competitive markets, and successful global private companies. Yes, their governments operate larger welfare programs, but those programs are financed by high taxes on ordinary workers — not simply by "taxing billionaires."

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For example, Denmark, Sweden, and Norway’s tax-to-GDP ratios top 40 percent, and all three countries impose a 25 percent value-added tax on most purchases, increasing costs on pretty much every consumer purchase. Add this to the housing prices, which in cities such as Stockholm, Oslo, and Copenhagen rank among the most expensive in Europe, and the Nordic model offers no evidence that an expansive welfare state makes life more affordable for average citizens.

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In America, socialist ideas championed by the likes of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson, Senator Bernie Sanders, and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are no longer confined to college seminars or political fringes. Self-described democratic socialists — many of whom have never experienced socialism firsthand — have won major primaries, secured seats in Congress, and influenced the Democratic Party's agenda. Proposals once considered politically impossible — such as government-owned grocery stores, universal rent control, and greater government management of the economy — are now mainstream.

History offers a warning that should not be ignored. America's strength has always rested on the hard work and ingenuity of its people, not the commands of socialist bureaucracies. Wherever socialism has expanded government control over the economy, ordinary citizens have paid the price through higher costs, fewer choices, and declining prosperity.

Americans shouldn't be forced to learn that lesson the hard way. They should remember it before casting their next vote.

Because socialism doesn't make life cheaper. It makes life more expensive.