Last updated on June 12th, 2022 at 03:42 pm
If we just follow their policies regarding the economy, crime, welfare, the military, authority, etc., the world will become an earthly paradise. Unfortunately, the results produced by leftist policies are generally the exact opposite of what was promised. Indeed, the best case against any leftist policy is the results it produced the last time that policy was tried.
For example, ever since Karl Marx created communism in the 1800’s, communists have been promising us that their ideology would lead to a “workers’ paradise” where everyone would be valued. The results produced by communism in the countries where it was actually implemented, however, were nothing like what was promised; instead, there were hundreds of millions killed, hundreds of millions more tortured, threatened, or otherwise silenced, a moribund economy, a lack of material goods, and misery equally shared by all workers. It is no wonder that the workers of the Soviet Union and its Eastern European satellites between 1989 and 1991 eagerly overthrew their communist leaders with hardly any violence because, by that time, even the communist leaders themselves had lost hope in their leftist policies.
Likewise with America in the late 1970’s, where the leftist policies of Democratic President Jimmy Carter had led to a stagnant economy, unprecedented interest rates, high unemployment, a weakened military, and loss of pride by Americans. By 1980 Americans had had enough and elected Republican Ronald Reagan as president. After eight years of Reagan’s common-sense conservative policies, the American economy was humming, unemployment was low, Americans were richer than ever, our military once again was the envy of the world, the Soviet Union’s “Evil Empire” was on its knees, and Americans were again proud of their country.
The same with New York City in the early 1990’s, where decades of the leftist policies had made New York one of the most dangerous cities in America (over 2,200 people were killed in the city in 1990) and where one in seven in the city (over 1 million people) were on welfare. By 1993 New Yorkers had had enough and elected Republican Rudy Giuliani as mayor, despite Democrats having an 8-1 advantage in voter registration. After eight years of Guiliani’s tough on crime and welfare reform policies, New York had become the safest large city in America and the welfare population had gone down by almost 60%.
And now radical San Francisco, where Democrats outnumber Republicans by 9-1, has joined the list of places that could no longer tolerate leftist policies that were producing disaster. After two years of the leftist policies of Democratic San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin–which policies included ending cash bail, not charging violent criminals under eighteen as adults, ending enhanced penalties for gang-related offenses, and not prosecuting the use of illegal drugs in public places–crime spiraled out of control in the city. Indeed, between 2019 and 2021, homicides increased by 37%, burglary increased more than 40%, arson increased 40%, and motor vehicle theft increased 36% in San Francisco. San Franciscans had had enough and in an unprecedented move on June 7, 2022, removed Boudin from office in a recall election, where 61% of the voters of this far-left city supported getting rid of the district attorney.
So there you have it. Leftists always promise us that we can create paradise on earth if we just follow their policies. Yet when we actually implement their policies, only disaster results and real people suffer. So the next time you hear a leftist advocating for his policies, just ask him how those policies actually worked out the last time they were tried. I can guarantee that you will have a very short conversation.
Photo: Chesa Boudin, https://www.sfdistrictattorney.org/about-us/