What is socialism, dad?

Bret Stephens' son Noah looked over his shoulder at the disturbing photos of chaos and poverty from Venezuela, and asked, "What is socialism?"

"I told him it’s an economic system in which the government seizes and runs industries, sets prices for goods, and otherwise dictates what you can and cannot do with your money, and therefore your life. He received my answer with the abstracted interest you’d expect if I had been describing atmospheric conditions on Uranus.

Here’s what I wish I had said: Socialism is a mental poison that leads to human misery of the sort you see in these wrenching pictures."  (Wall Street Journal)

If you are still a Democrat and you've seen what Obama has done to us, and what Hillary and Bernie promise, why do you want that sort of world? Both German National Socialism on the right and Russian and Chinese Communism of the left are socialism run amuck.  It's all about state control whether Nazis or Communists, Hitler or Stalin or Mao or Chavez. 

"There are lesser names to add to this roll call of dishonor— Michael Moore, Sean Penn—but you get the point: “Democratic socialism” had no shortage of prominent Western cheerleaders as it set Venezuela on its road to hyperinflation, hyper-criminality, water shortages, beer shortages, electricity blackouts, political repression and national collapse. Chávez and his successor, Nicolás Maduro, gained prestige and legitimacy from these paladins of the left. They are complicit in Venezuela’s agony. . .The Sanders campaign is no stranger to accusations that its brand of leftism is cut from the same cloth that produced Chavismo."