Socialism is a topic that has been discussed by many different people, especially in recent years. Those who support socialist ideals are often uninformed about what socialism really means.

Bernie Sanders may seem like a messiah to people who become aware of socialism through his speeches about free college and other benefits related to lowering the cost for daily life, but very few of them seem to understand what this would actually mean.

If we were to introduce a system of having our government pay for things like college educations, there would be issues that have direct consequences for citizens.

No country has an infinite amount of money in the pockets of their government. The United States is not an exception to this, despite what some people may believe.

Taxes put in place by U.S. politicians do not exist without a reason to justify them.

From the $30 billion in taxes spent on our backing of Israel to the $150 billion we spend yearly on sanctuary cities and the support they provide for illegal immigrants, there are many causes that require these policies.

Oddly enough, the border wall that President Donald Trump seeks to put in place would only cost $5 billion to construct, which is very little in comparison to the number of taxpayer dollars spent on other things.

Maybe this isn’t enough proof for some people about the flaws of socialism. Another example to help change their minds would be the current situation in Venezuela, which has a socialist government.

In Venezuela, the average citizen is currently so dirt poor due to over-taxation that many of them need to dumpster dive for food so that they can feed their families.

Meanwhile, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has been seen feasting on steaks from Turkey while his citizens starve.

Yet the Venezuelan President himself has stated that he believes the Socialist Party in Venezuela is responsible for the country’s downfall, which is something American socialists seem to have missed out on in their commentary. Forbes Magazine published Kenneth Rapoza’s article in August about this comment from President Maduro.

A baseball metaphor may help clarify the dangers of socialism.

A baseball game is being hosted, and people need to pay for tickets in order to watch it. Nobody wants to pay for the tickets, so the hosts let people in without paying.

When the hosts stop getting money from the tickets, they’re unable to pay the baseball players. Once the baseball players stop getting paid, they refuse to play. If the baseball players don’t play, then there’s no baseball game.

Socialists/Progressives in the U.S. like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are currently promoting a new proposal that would increase income tax to 70% for everyone who makes over $1 million a year, in order to fund many of their projects.

However, most of these projects don’t have the positive impact on the U.S. that they would need to as a justification for all the negative, especially since there’d be no way to get all of this funding simply from taxing the upper class.

Brian Riedl from the National Review seems to recognize this as well, considering his Jan. 8 article published about the issues with this Green New Deal.

Tax evasion is something many rich celebrities and politicians can easily avoid, through loopholes in the system. Not only this, but the fact that most rich families keep their money secured in the form of assets means that they can liquify them at any time and not count the value toward their income.

Eventually there would need to be a significant increase in taxation of the middle class too, which presents the issue of turning the middle class into the lower class, while the upper class stays rich.

If something like that happens, the response to the tax increases in France by members of the Yellow Vests would look like child’s play in comparison.

Our country has grown so much in both population and esteem that making such a major change would surely turn the average citizen against the government themselves.

Images of Venezuelan President Maduro and former Sec. of State John Kerry

and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez from en.wikipedia.org.