What do you think makes America (the USA), the most powerful and popular country in the world? The United States of America, a country for which millions are willing to walk thousands of miles in brutal summer heat to illegally enter. A quick answer is Freedom and opportunity. Although illegality brings deadly drugs, human trafficking among many other crimes. Our Progressive Left politics welcome illegals as diversity that is good for America. Many just want to offer their labor for a better life. Too many are looking for the free stuff. All do not have the knowledge required to adequately function as an American citizen. They overwhelm and exhaust the generosity of American communities.
Kings have "subjects", who have no vote; democracies and republics have "citizens". "Citizen" is a Greek word that means "co-ruler". The art of citizenship in our country is unique and demanding. We have too many natural born citizens that poorly perform as citizens. The last thing we need is more immigrants ignoring the knowledge and demands of good US citizenship just looking for a better life.
Why is America, the USA, So Attractive
Most immigrants have knowledge and experience making a living in either a Traditional Economy or a Mixed Economy that is more socialistic than the US. Most often economies are described as Communist, Socialist or Capitalist. Communism is 100% Government ownership of all property and means of production, i.e. a 100% Public Sector. No country practices pure Communism. Even North Korea has a black market, it's private "free market". No country is pure Capitalist either, the US is only 86.7% Capitalism. Assuming Communism is an extreme form of Socialism, we are left with all the world's economies being a mix of Socialism, public sector, and Capitalism, private sector. In any country it is possible for individuals to survive using a Traditional economy, which is often practiced by the poor. Furthermore, no country is pure Socialist or pure Capitalist. Therefore, all countries are a Mixed Economy. By looking at how much, a %, of a country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is Private Sector, Free Market, versus Public Sector, we can see how much of the economy is Socialistic and how much is Capitalistic. Keynesian economics advocates a mixed economy, predominantly Private Sector, but with a significant role of government and Public Sector. Thus the pressure from the Progressive Left in the US to increase the % GDP of the Public Sector. From Helpful Professor:
Country-Public Sector Size (% Socialism)
United Kingdom 21.5 %
Australia 24 %
France 28 %
Germany 15 %
Sweden 29.9 %
Norway 32.4 %
Greece 21.3 %
Japan 7.7 %
Canada 22.4 %
United States 13.3 %
China 28 %
India 5 %
Italy 18 %
Denmark 29.6 %
New Zealand 13 %
Russia 30 %
Mexico 27.9 %
Brazil 19.1. %
Capitalism is the greatest economic system because it has numerous benefits and creates multiple opportunities for individuals in society. Some of these benefits include producing wealth and innovation, improving the lives of individuals, and giving power to the people.
Every Economy in the World Depends More on Capitalism than Socialism
As a Libertarian, I feel very affirmed that even a country calling itself Communist sees the wisdom of using Capitalism as the major part of their economy. The decision is in, Capitalism is required to support Socialism. Clearly there is more to the United States of America being so popular to immigrants.
The Rest of the Story - Why ?
Giving power to the people, bottom up, is infinitely better than power to the state, top down. In the US of America the state works for the people who have all the power. The USA mixed economy is coupled to it's unique Constitution and Rule of Law which makes it's Capitalism much more productive and powerful than the rest of the world. The most important thought in the US Constitution is that the power of the government shall always remain limited.
It helps that the US was handed an advantage following World War II. While Europe and Japan were rebuilding, the US was untouched by the war and became by far the economic leader of the world. The worlds leading economy needed great energy resources. Fortunately the US of America was and is blessed with the resources to be energy independent.
Laissez-Faire
The US Constitution and Rule of Law was designed to minimize Government and maximize power to the people, the laissez-faire free market. What is laissez-faire ?
Laissez-faire is an economic theory from the 18th century that opposed any government intervention in business affairs. The driving principle behind laissez-faire, a French term that translates to "leave alone" (literally, "let you do"), is that the less the government is involved in the economy, the better off business will be, and by extension, society as a whole.-- Investopedia --
The Invisible Hand
Another benefit of a market free from Government control is "the invisible hand". What is the invisible hand?
The invisible hand is a metaphor for the unseen forces that move the free market economy . Through individual self-interest and freedom of production and consumption, the best interest of society, as a whole, are fulfilled. The constant interplay of individual pressures on market supply and demand causes the natural movement of prices and the flow of trade.-- Investopedia --
The Tipping Point That Leads to Economic Failure
We have shown that the vast majority of all the worlds successful countries heavily depend on an economy based on mostly Capitalism. However, there is a tipping point where too little Capitalism can trend an economy into a downward death spiral. Government direction of too much of the economy does not work. This tipping point is not exact but varies with the health of the world's mixed economy and the type of government practiced in the country. So far the US Constitution and Rule of Law has proven to be the best.
Here are some of the most telling failures of socialism.
One, socialism has never succeeded anywhere, including the Marxism-Leninism of the Soviet Union, the National Socialism of Nazi Germany, the Maoism of Communist China, the Chavez-Maduro socialism of Venezuela. It has never come close anywhere to Marx’s ideal of a classless society.Two, Karl Marx has been wrong about nearly everything he predicted. The nation-state has not withered away. Capitalism didn’t break down as a result of the Industrial Revolution. Workers haven’t become revolutionaries but capitalists. The middle class hasn’t disappeared; indeed, it has expanded exponentially around the world (see the above about the sharp decline in global poverty). Marx’s attempt to use Hegel to create a “scientific socialism” has been an abject failure.-- Heritage.org --
So we can easily see why the Private Sector, the Free Market, in the US plus it's limited government control is the best designed bottom up, power to the people, economy in the world. This coupled with the WWII advantage has propelled US to be the most popular destination for immigrants looking for a better, easier, free and fairer way of life.
The Dark Clouds on the Horizon, but the Good News is -
We have moved and continue trending towards a larger, more expensive more in control of economy government, Top Down, leaving less power to the people and the invisible hand in a not so laissez-faire free market. This together with any economic advantage accruing to our American Economy and our new green policies aimed at fossil fuel means we are trending away from a special country leading the world to being more like the rest of the world. However, the Socialism we are trending towards is a path to failure. However, there is good news and hope is available from The Heritage Foundation:
Some conservatives may be discouraged by the latest surveys confirming that nearly one-half of millennials are receptive to living under socialism and regard capitalism as a captive of greed. In fact, they present us with a golden opportunity to educate all Americans about the manifold failures of socialism and the miraculous advances the world has made under free enterprise.For example, the Canadian psychologist Jordan Peterson revealed at a Heritage Foundation event that between 2000 and 2012, “the rate of absolute poverty in the world fell by 50 percent.” That is, “the poor in the world are getting rich at a rate that is absolutely unparalleled in all of human history.” Heritage’s 2019 Index of Economic Freedom reported that the greatest advances came in African and Asian countries (such as Botswana and Taiwan) that limited rather than expanded the role of government. More than 100 countries, many of them with less developed or emerging economies, showed marked advances in economic growth and individual prosperity. Such good news is seldom reported by the mainstream media, Dr. Peterson said, because of the technological revolution that’s occurring in every form of media. All the broadcast networks, leading newspapers and magazines exist in a shrinking market with dwindling margins of profit. To attract attention they are turning to an old journalism axiom: “If it bleeds, it leads.”
Conclusion We do not see the trend changing. In a modern world where competition coupled with 24X7 business communication all economies are forced to optimize. From time to time a particular economy may have an advantage similar to the post WWII advantage that the US enjoyed. However, every competitive economy in the world has be a mixed economy to be competitive.
A mixed economy is not the only competitive advantage. The degree of bottom up free market, maintenance of low debt, efficiency, productivity and innovation a country can achieve will win. A country that can produce and support free market success like the US, as leader of the free world, has done in the past, will lead the Free World of the future.
An interesting question is will it be China (30% Socialism - 70% Capitalism) or the US(13.3% Socialism - 86.7% Capitalism) that leads the world???
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