The Problem with Socialism Hardcover – July 18, 2016

It is hard to find a book that in so few pages gives you a complete account of what socialism is today. Thomas J. DiLorenzo did it by synthesizing the ideas, the facts and the omnipresence of this malevolent doctrine, which is not an easy task. Socialism works as a maze that is always on progress so you cannot completely encompass it. When you believe that you found the layout, another corridor appears.

Just sixteen chapters were necessary to cover the topic in its most recurring manifestations. The chapters are brief and the total time of reading is about three hours, but here and there you feel the temptation of underlining some sentence or quote, delaying the final. This is the case, for instance, of the public interest theory of regulation, which far from one believes "is usually the result of lobbying by industry (and sometimes unions) to stifle or eliminate competition."

Although the book dedicates part of chapter five to talk about the victims of communism, the core of the work is not that topic but the presence of the doctrine today in most of democratic states. Socialism has pervaded not only governments, it is present in any single manifestation of human culture, from art, to music, to literature, to theater, to movies. It is impossible to surpass it, to rid of it, and this is in part because socialism appeals rather to emotions than reasons. This book gives you reasons, it doesn't make you cry or laugh, but it also gives you stimulating examples of entrepreneurs like John D. Rockefeller or Cornelius Vanderbilt, who based on knowledge and imagination jumped over the limitations imposed by the factors of land, capital and labor.

As I said, socialism is living with us, is not a museum artifact. Is right here under the disguise of a democratic state, and it shows its claws whenever a regulation, a minimum wage, a health system, appear: "In the foreword to the 1976 edition of his famous book, The road to Serfdom, Nobel laureate economist Friedrich Hayek wrote that the definition of 'socialism' evolved in the twentieth century to mean income redistribution in pursuit of 'equality,' not through government ownership of the means of production but through the institutions of the welfare state and the 'progressive' income tax. [So, the author says, t]he means may have changed, but the ostensible end--equality--remained the same."

Well, "The problem with socialism" helps you see through the veil. In fact, and despite that the examples are centered almost exclusively in the U.S. history, as a Chilean reader I can say that nowadays we are suffering from first class socialism, and in every case ("onerous taxes, regulations, the welfare state, inflation," you name it) we have a version of this monster in charge. So in times, the book is also talking about us.

Far from being dead, socialism has only changed in the surface. That's why, I guess, DiLorenzo dedicated the book "to all the victims of socialism--past, present, and future."

And future, remember.

Highly recommended.

I have dozens of books on socialism, its principles, & how it works. This is, by far, the most succinct, clear, concise & comprehensive one. It is not the hype or propaganda promises that compose most treaties on socialism. It is a concise examination of it & how it actually works with real people in a real world. It is consistent with all that I have learned about it & all that I have observed. It is a book that everyone faced with socialism should read before being bombarded with socialism's idealistic hype. We can wish it could deliver an unrealistic paradise, but must face the fact that it is basically flawed & cannot do that without considerable restructuring to accommodate the reality of dealing with actual human beings without mass murdering millions of them & creating an unhealthy & paranoid society.

This is a well written book going directly at the heart of the shortcomings of socialism. The history of socialism for delivering real benefits to people is appalling. Too many people do not understand this. In fact, most young people have a foggy understanding of socialism in general. But DiLorenzo's book is easy to read, quickly gets to his point and is truly devastating to socialism. And it is short and can be read in just a few hours. For those who favor socialism; to defend honestly defend your position you have to address the arguments DiLorenzo makes against the free market or true capitalism (not crony capitalism). :You will be well rewarded in reading this book by increasing your understanding of socialism. And you will also have a better understanding of why Venezuela is collapsing before our eyes today.

Tom DiLorenzo has outdone himself and this brief work may last in history with the likes of Bastiat's The Law and Hazlitt's Economics In One Lesson for putting together so many critical lessons in such a short read; and in doing so in such a way the layman can easily understand. It's full of real theory and evidence, not fallacies, straw-men, and conjecture.

Some of the key elements he brings to this, which typically escape the layman, are the 3 major theoretical problems with socialism, the incentive problem, the knowledge problem (HT F.A.Hayek), and the economic calculation problem (HT L.v.Mises). He details how Fascism and Naziism (National Socialism) were always and forever a particular brand of socialism and in no way connected to the concepts behind "free-markets" or capitalism. He destroys myths, new and old, about the successes of Scandinavian Socialism, and the Millennial's newfound infatuation with Bernie Sanders and his Democratic Socialism. In my favorite chapter, he destroys myths about public schools and leaves the reader feeling cheated by their education. He tackles these issues and several more in a sweeping defense of freedom from central planning authorities.

I recommend this book to anyone who's open to hearing ideas they may disagree with, because only someone willing to be challenged will ever accept said challenge. Even for the more advanced economist or libertarian this is a shining example of how straight talk and simple examples can get through some seemingly complicated issues. A great introductory read for the newcomer to political awareness.