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Google Terminates 28 Employees over Protests Against Israel Contract

Google has fired 28 employees for their involvement in sit-in protests at the company's offices in New York and Sunnyvale, California, against Google's $1.2 billion contract with the Israeli government and military.

The post Google Terminates 28 Employees over Protests Against Israel Contract appeared first on Breitbart.

Watch Live: National Guard Whistleblowers Testify About Security Failures on January 6

Whistleblowers from the National Guard will testify before the House Subcommittee on Oversight to the delayed security response during the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot on Wednesday, April 17.

The post Watch Live: National Guard Whistleblowers Testify About Security Failures on January 6 appeared first on Breitbart.

Speaker Johnson’s Choice for Key House Committee Sparks Backlash

Rep. Austin Scott, a Republican from Georgia who has criticized conservatives and is campaigning actively against the House Freedom Caucus chairman, is Speaker Mike Johnson’s choice for a newly vacant seat on the powerful Rules Committee.

Scott’s selection Wednesday infuriated conservatives on Capitol Hill. The Daily Signal spoke with several lawmakers and staffers whose reactions ranged from shock to disappointment that Johnson, R-La., would pick someone who is openly trying to unseat one of the House’s most prominent conservatives.

“This the wrong person for the wrong role at the wrong time,” a Republican member of Congress told The Daily Signal.

By picking Scott for the Rules Committee, one of the oldest and most powerful in the House of Representatives, Johnson revealed whom he trusts to determine floor activity and advance the speaker’s agenda.

“It’s hard to see Johnson’s move here as anything except needing an attack dog against conservatives,” said a former Republican staffer, who requested anonymity to speak candidly. “You get the impression he’s going to use Austin Scott to help as a blockade on the Rules Committee and throughout the [Republican] conference. That’s the signal it sends.”

Johnson’s staff acknowledged The Daily Signal’s request for comment, but did not provide a response.

Critical of Conservatives

Scott, a close ally of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., sought the speaker’s job in October in an ill-fated run against Rep. Jim Jordan, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.

At the time of McCarthy’s ouster as speaker, Scott issued a statement calling the eight members who voted to remove McCarthy “nothing more than grifters who have handed control of the House to the Democratic Party in the name of their own glory and fundraising.”

Scott continued, “There is nothing principled about what they did, and Republican leadership will have to decide to either hold these members accountable or lose the faith of the rest of the conference.”

Months later, he took aim at one of the eight in particular: Rep. Bob Good, R-Va., chairman of the House Freedom Caucus. Scott donated to Good’s primary challenger, John McGuire, in Virginia’s 5th Congressional District. Last month, Scott was a featured guest at a McGuire fundraiser.

Rep. Austin Scott, R-Ga., speaks with reporters following a House Republicans caucus meeting on Oct. 23, 2023. Scott is Speaker Mike Johnson’s choice for a vacant seat on the powerful House Rules Committee. (Photo: Julia Nikhinson/Getty Images)

Despite Scott’s actions, Johnson handpicked him for a coveted seat on the powerful Rules Committee.

“Speaker Johnson keeps saying, ‘We’re on the same team, knock it off, please stop this.’ But he’s not actually doing anything to stop it,” a Republican staffer told The Daily Signal. “Now, Austin Scott, one of the guys who started this civil war on the primary campaign trail, is put on the Rules Committee. The speaker isn’t ending the war, he’s escalating it by rewarding people going after conservatives.”

And while Scott’s public actions have revealed his contempt for conservatives, lawmakers and staff said he is even more hostile to them in private settings.

“He’s got a short fuse and a hot temper,” another Republican member said of Scott. “Quite honestly, he doesn’t have the temperament to be a legislator.”

Scott’s communications director declined to make him available for an interview with The Daily Signal and instead pointed to his brief statement on X.

It is our sworn duty as members of Congress to govern, and I look forward to serving on the Rules Committee to help advance legislation that benefits the American people.

— Rep. Austin Scott (@AustinScottGA08) April 11, 2024

The Speaker’s Committee

Known as the “speaker’s committee,” the Rules Committee includes nine Republicans and four Democrats. One of those seats became vacant this week when Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., won the gavel for the House Appropriations Committee.

Two members of the House Freedom Caucus—Reps. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., and Chip Roy, R-Texas—currently serve on the Rules Committee with another conservative-leaning member, Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky. Their three votes, combined with four Democrats, are enough to sink the speaker’s plans.

Rules Committee Chairman Tom Cole, R-Okla., convenes a meeting alongside ranking member Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., on Jan. 31, 2023. (Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

After years of being shut out of the Rules Committee—and any semblance of negotiation over its membership—conservatives scored seats on the panel as part of a deal with McCarthy, resulting in his election to speaker in January 2023.

Unlike when McCarthy negotiated with members, Johnson instead moved swiftly without consulting conservatives about Scott’s selection.

“It is the speaker’s committee, and he can do whatever he wants with it. But in a one-seat majority, there should be a conversation,” a GOP staffer told The Daily Signal. “You talk to people about who’s interested, who might be a good fit, who might be a productive addition on the Rules Committee.”

A former Republican staffer described it as a curious move on Johnson’s part.

“You already have conservatives angry at you for a variety of reasons,” the former staffer said. “You have a one-seat majority. You have a pending motion to vacate [the speaker]. It’s not exactly the time to poke the bear.”

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., filed a motion to vacate March 22, but has not yet forced a vote. If it’s successful, Johnson would lose the speaker’s job, just as McCarthy did before him.

“Speaker Johnson lives in peril every day for his job depending on what he does,” a Republican member said. “It’s a dicey situation. It appears to me that there are other candidates who are interested in being speaker in the new term.”

GOP Civil War

Since joining Congress in 2011, Scott has focused his attention on serving the rural Georgia district he represents. He is a member of the House Intelligence Committee, the Armed Services Committee, and the Agriculture Committee. He has a lifetime score of 77% on Heritage Action’s Scorecard.

Scott also has developed a reputation among conservatives on Capitol Hill, according to lawmakers and staff who spoke to The Daily Signal.

“Austin Scott is a hothead, a notorious hothead,” a Republican staffer said. “He frequently loses his temper inside conference meetings with other members. He’s threatened, berated, cursed out members.”

Scott’s decision to endorse Good’s primary opponent, therefore, didn’t necessarily come as a surprise. However, it did anger conservatives, particularly because Johnson has privately counseled GOP members not to engage in primaries between fellow Republicans. The speaker recently made another appeal at GOP lawmakers’ retreat last month in West Virginia.

“Austin Scott endorsed Bob Good’s primary challenger, attended a fundraiser with him,” a Republican staffer said. “Mike Johnson, repeatedly for several weeks, has lectured the conference about what he calls the hot war on the campaign trail with primaries against incumbent Republicans. The moderates started this by going after Bob Good.”

Rep. Bob Good, R-Va., chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, is facing a GOP challenger in his June 18 primary election. (Photo: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Good, who boasts a 99% lifetime score on Heritage Action’s Scorecard, joined the House in 2021 after knocking off an incumbent Republican. He took over as chairman of the House Freedom Caucus in January.

Scott is one of at least six House Republicans who are backing Good’s opponent. Others include House Armed Services Chair Mike Rogers, R-Ala., and Reps. Jen Kiggans, R-Va.; Ryan Zinke, R-Mont.; Derrick Van Orden, R-Wis.; and Morgan Luttrell, R-Texas.

“Conservatives were appealing to the speaker to end the civil war before it got out of hand,” a Republican member told The Daily Signal. “And when he refused to, we let everyone know that we’re not going to take all the casualties.”

That’s led some conservative members to make their own endorsements against moderate Republicans.

Good, for example, is backing GOP challenger Derrick Evans in West Virginia’s 1st District against incumbent Rep. Carol Miller, R-W.Va., a leader of the moderate Republican Main Street Caucus. Its affiliated PAC, the Republican Main Street Partnership, is actively spending money against Good.

Notably, Johnson has withheld his own endorsement from Good, whose primary election is June 18. A spokesman for the speaker’s political operation did not respond to The Daily Signal’s request for comment.

The post Speaker Johnson’s Choice for Key House Committee Sparks Backlash appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Report: January 6 Defendants Sue Capitol Police Officers for 'Millions'

A group of January 6 defendants has reportedly filed a class action lawsuit against 21 Capitol Police officers for millions of dollars.

The post Report: January 6 Defendants Sue Capitol Police Officers for ‘Millions’ appeared first on Breitbart.

Capitalism, Not Socialism, Makes Us Richer and Freer

 

 

President Joe Biden, Senate Majority Leader Charles “Chuck” Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., look on as Vice President Kamala Harris delivers remarks on the American Rescue Plan Friday, March 12, 2021, in the Rose Garden of the White House. (Official White House Photo by Adam Schultz)

 

“The rights of man come not from the generosity of the state but from the hand of God.” – JFK

Capitalism and free markets are the primary drivers of wealth creation while also protecting personal freedoms. Socialism and government intervention tend to erode personal freedoms and produce only temporary prosperity, addressing specific issues for certain groups while impoverishing others and overlooking the underlying causes of problems.

Biden’s American Rescue Plan was a good example of how ineffective socialism is at solving economic problems. By sending a $1,500 check to every poor person, he claimed, incorrectly, to have done more to reduce poverty than any other president.

Firstly, the American Rescue Plan drove up the US debt and pushed inflation to levels not seen in decades. Additionally, the $1,500 did not reduce poverty. The poverty threshold for a family of 3 is $25,820 per year. So, unless these families fell short by exactly $1,500, he did not bring them above the threshold that year. And unless he planned to send checks to all 37.9 million Americans living below the poverty line every year, forever, he has not eliminated poverty.

The only way for these people to rise out of poverty is to get a better job with a higher salary. So, the solution is free markets, not socialism.

The US ranks among the most capitalist countries in the world. In a capitalist society, the means of production are controlled by private businesses and private citizens, not the government. The economy runs according to the market, not central planning. Prices, wages, quantities, and types of production are determined by the market, with information transmitted from buyers to sellers millions of times per day.

In a capitalist society, a fast-food restaurant has the right to make a fish and peanut butter milkshake, but by refusing to buy that product, citizens signal that they do not want it, and the producer will either stop selling it or go out of business.

On average, the more government intervention there is in the economy, the lower the standard of living will be. As a hypothetical example, if the peanut butter and fish milkshake company had a government subsidy, it could remain in business, even though no one wants that product. The money the government spends supporting the unwanted fish and peanut butter milkshake company could have been spent on border security, which is one of the only purviews of government in capitalism.

In a true capitalist society, the government only has three responsibilities: maintaining courts and public security for protecting personal property rights, building infrastructure, and protecting the border. The further the government deviates from these limited mandates, the more money is wasted.

This report will compare four countries: the US, which has an economic freedom score calculated by Freedom House of 8.22, and the more socialist countries, Germany with an economic freedom score of 7.85, China with a score of 6.2, and Venezuela with a score of 3.34.

Standard of living can be quantified in the Quality of Life Index, which ranks countries based on the level of wealth, comfort, necessities, and material goods available to citizens. It also examines physical and mental health and wellness. Germany, with a score of 91.26, ranks slightly higher than the US at 89.11, but this is probably because of obesity and obesity-related illnesses, which decrease the health indicator in the US. But on some level, obesity is a positive sign of wealth. China, at 82.80, and Venezuela, at 71.66, rank worse off, with a lower standard of living.

While socialist countries offer free or heavily subsidized higher education, the United States boasts a diverse array of prestigious universities and colleges, many of which are privately funded. This competitive landscape fosters innovation and excellence in education, attracting students from around the world. The US has 3,100 universities, with 53 ranked in the top 100 globally. China has 2,495 universities, with 6 ranked in the top 100; Germany has 461 universities, with only 1 ranked in the top 100; and Venezuela has 73 universities, with 0 ranked in the top 100.

In terms of the average number of years of education citizens have, in Germany and the US, most adults have had 14 years of education, while in China, the average is 8 years, and in Venezuela, it’s 6.6 years.

For infrastructure, China is always touted as the leader in transportation because they have high-speed rail. However, the US has a much broader transportation infrastructure than any country in the world. The US has 148,553 kilometers of railroad, China has 10,767 kilometers (with a population four times the size of the US), Germany has 33,401 kilometers, and Venezuela has 682 kilometers.

Socialist countries usually have a government-owned national flagship airline, such as Air China or Conviasa in Venezuela. In the US, the airlines are private, and the US has more flights, with more Americans flying each year than citizens in any other country. Furthermore, Americans can afford to buy cars. Cars per capita in the US are 860 out of 1000, in Germany it’s 627 out of 1000, in China it’s 223 out of 1000, and in Venezuela it’s 149 out of 1000.

The US does not have a government sovereign wealth fund. Our outbound investment is private, and yet, the US is the largest source of outbound investment on the planet.

In socialist countries, citizens depend on the government to create jobs. The US, with a relatively free market for jobs, has a low unemployment rate of 3.6%, while in socialist China it is 5.1%, and in Venezuela, it is 7.5%. However, in China, youth unemployment had reached 21.3% last year before Beijing stopped reporting and then changed the definition of youth unemployment to make the number smaller. This is another example of the benefits of a free-market society. We have private institutions, NGOs, and associations that collect and publish data, so there is greater transparency.

The salaries between the US and socialist countries are vastly different. The average American earns about $75,269 per year, while the average German only earns $48,845. In China, it’s $12,598, and in Venezuela, it’s $3,910.

And the final kicker in a socialist country is income tax. In both China and Germany, the top income tax rate is 45%. In the US, it is 37%, and in Venezuela, it is 34%. So, Americans earn dramatically more than people in socialist countries and get to keep a larger percentage of their salary compared to most socialist countries.

Apart from failing to deliver in terms of economic well-being, socialism also falls short of its claim to offer greater freedom. Economic freedom, as already discussed, is higher in the U.S. In general, personal freedoms are also higher. According to the Human Freedom Index, which evaluates countries across the following criteria: Rule of law, Security and safety, Movement, Religion, Association, assembly, and civil society, Expression and information, public health, and a number of other factors, Germany ranked higher than the US at 18th. But this was largely because of the lack of social welfare in the US and because of the higher crime rate. The US ranked as the 23rd most free country in the world, China 152, and Venezuela 163.

As a result of capitalism, Americans earn more, keep more of their salary, and have greater freedom than in socialist countries. Let’s vote to keep it that way.

 

The post Capitalism, Not Socialism, Makes Us Richer and Freer appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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President Joe Biden, Senate Majority Leader Charles “Chuck” Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., look on as Vice President Kamala Harris delivers remarks on the American Rescue Plan Friday, March 12, 2021, in the Rose Garden of the White House. (Official White House Photo by Adam Schultz)

WATCH: USWNT's Korbin Albert Booed During Game After Posting Detransition Video

U.S. Women's National Team (USWNT) soccer player Korbin Albert was booed Saturday in her first game appearance since she drew criticism for posting a video of a teen who stopped believing he was trans after finding God.

The post WATCH: USWNT’s Korbin Albert Booed During Game After Posting Detransition Video appeared first on Breitbart.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Undercuts Democrats on January 6: 'Little Evidence of a True Insurrection'

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. issued a statement on the January 6 prosecutions Friday, saying that while violent rioters deserved to be punished, many prosecutions of non-violent protesters were excessive.

The post Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Undercuts Democrats on January 6: ‘Little Evidence of a True Insurrection’ appeared first on Breitbart.

Mario Is Woke: Nintendo Job Listing Emphasizes 'Culturalization' and 'DEI Awareness'

Nintendo of America has highlighted the importance of "culturalization" and DEI awareness in a job listing for a localization production specialist  position based in Redmond, Washington.

The post Mario Is Woke: Nintendo Job Listing Emphasizes ‘Culturalization’ and ‘DEI Awareness’ appeared first on Breitbart.

Javier Milei Austrian Economist, Champion of Anti-Globalism

Casa Rosada (Argentina Presidency of the Nation), CC BY 2.5 AR via Wikimedia Commons

Argentina’s president, Javier Milei, is disliked by liberal globalists due to the threat he poses to their global agenda, much like Trump.

While Trump vowed to “drain the swamp,” Javier Milei wielded a chainsaw during his campaign, symbolizing his commitment to drastically reducing the size of government.

Most mainstream media label Javier Milei as either a Libertarian or a far-right extremist, a term they now apply to anyone who is less than 100% on board with every single aspect of globalism. However, Milei is also an economics professor and a supporter of the Austrian School of Economics. The Mises Institute in Auburn, Alabama, serves as a hub for Austrian economics. Its name originates from the Austrian heritage of the school’s early pioneers, including Carl Menger, Ludwig Heinrich Edler von Mises, Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk, Friedrich von Wieser, and Friedrich Hayek.

Austrian economics aligns closely with conservative values. It emphasizes personal property rights, limited government intervention, free markets, low taxes, inflation, and debt, and voluntary exchange. Milei’s policies prioritize reducing government involvement, debt, and the welfare rolls while fostering entrepreneurship and protecting property rights. He rightly suggests that by cutting 70,000 government jobs, not only can government size be reduced, but also the deficit and Argentina’s debt problem can be addressed.

Regarding globalism, Austrian economists typically support free trade and international cooperation through voluntary exchange and economic interactions among nations. However, they oppose involvement in supranational organizations that impose policies on sovereign nations, citing conflicts with principles of individual liberty, national sovereignty, and limited government.

The mainstream media characterize Argentina’s Javier Mileii, America’s Donald Trump, Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro, El Salvador’s Nayib Bukele, and Chile’s José Antonio Kast as the new hard right, sharing three commonalities: fierce opposition to abortion, and gay and women’s rights. However, mainstream media misrepresents their stance on gay and women’s rights. They are only against policies that grant specific groups privileges. Affirmative action, quotas, or preferences in hiring, promotion, or school acceptance based on race, gender, or orientation would be banned.

Indeed, they oppose abortion, but in Argentina, America, Brazil, El Salvador, and Chile, murder is already illegal. These men advocate for extending legal protection to unborn babies.

Interestingly, although most Austrian economists adhere to Christian or Jewish beliefs and operate within a framework of Judeo-Christian values, they oppose abortion for various reasons of economic philosophy. These reasons include principles of individual liberty and property rights, which encompass the rights of unborn individuals. The notion is that our life is your property, and no one has the right to steal it. Furthermore, Austrian economists assert that abortion disrupts incentives and undermines the essence of voluntary exchange and societal cooperation by tampering with the natural consequences of individual actions.

Given their emphasis on property rights and the consequences of individual actions, it’s not surprising that Austrian economists take a tough stance on crime. President Bukele waged war on El Salvador’s drug gangs and successfully brought down the crime rate by arresting 76,000 villains and locking them up in a specially designed prison, where the guards rule, not the cons.

While Austrians typically reject the industrial military complex as a means of expanding government size and fostering opportunities for patronage, they strongly advocate for the use of force to protect property rights. President Milei is contemplating deploying the armed forces to take on the gangs in his country. Additionally, he has relaxed regulations on the use of firearms by law enforcement officers.

Just like President Trump, who always speaks his mind, Milei recently stirred up an international controversy when he insulted Colombia and Mexico, both of which are effective narco-states. He even warned that Colombia was on the brink of becoming the next Venezuela or Cuba. He referred to Venezuela as a “prison island” full of carnage. Of course, he was correct on all counts, but in this era of enforced globalism, identifying a genuine problem and attempting to solve it is not typically encouraged.

Of course, the mainstream media are labeling Javier Milei as a threat to human rights and attempting to vilify him, just as they did with Bukele for substantially reducing crime, as they did with Trump, and with Bolsonaro, who is now facing potential arrest in Brazil over allegations of using a fake vaccine passport two years ago.

Personally, I find the Milei show nearly as entertaining as the Trump show, observing how the globalists lose their minds over anyone daring to reject their agenda. However, I genuinely fear that Milei may be assassinated.

The post Javier Milei Austrian Economist, Champion of Anti-Globalism appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

mileiaperturasesiones

Casa Rosada (Argentina Presidency of the Nation), CC BY 2.5 AR <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/ar/deed.en>, via Wikimedia Commons

New York Volleyball Coach Commits Suicide by Train After Rape Allegations

A male volleyball coach at an all-girls New York high school took his own life by stepping in front of a train after being accused of raping a 15-year-old player, officials said.

The post New York Volleyball Coach Commits Suicide by Train After Rape Allegations appeared first on Breitbart.

Socialist Policies: Steps Toward a System That Has Always Failed

Red Guards Cell, Austin, Texas. By Reddebrek, CC BY 3.0

A country’s slide into socialism/communism begins with socialist policies. And every one of these has been proposed in the United States: like an exorbitant minimum wage which is exorbitant and not tied to performance or return on labor, a universal basic income, charging for electricity usage based on income rather than quantity of electricity used, issuing carbon usage credits, allowing the state, not the consumer, to decide how much is enough, imposing a billionaire tax, taxing wealth transfers and inheritance to prevent parents from helping their children, and taxing unrealized capital gains to discourage saving and investing.

Beyond the purely economic, policies that mandate demographic quotas for promotions, hiring, firing, or school acceptance are examples of social engineering that removes the “profit motive,” the reward for hard work, disincentivizing hard work, and resulting in the promotion of those who cannot meet the quality standards.

Washington State has proposed eliminating the bar exam in order to increase diversity among lawyers. Oregon high school students will no longer need to be able to read, write, or do math in order to graduate, for the same reason.

United Airlines announced that it would prioritize diversity in its selection of trainee pilots. And in order to ensure that the younger generation understands only the state agenda, homeschooling will be banned.

Socialism/Communism has never worked, but somehow, people keep voting for it and believing that this time will be different. The truth is that it has caused tens of millions to starve to death while robbing hundreds of millions of their innovation, creativity, and motivation.

The entire society, working different jobs from research scientist to ticket puncher, for an equal number of turnip coupons, is so unnatural that it can only exist in a totalitarian system where people have no choice.

No capitalist nation ever forced people to earn a profit, but communist countries had to use their secret police and state surveillance to force people not to.

No one was ever shot trying to break into East Germany or swimming to Cuba.

Socialism cannot bring prosperity because it destroys the market functions of private property and eliminates the incentives for more productive people to work harder or more inventive people to innovate. Socialists are always worried about wealth inequality, and their solution always involves taking money from the harder-working, more efficient people and giving it to the less productive.

Socialists believe that if they were to forcibly redistribute the wealth, everyone would be better off. The first problem with this logic is that the people who have wealth now would be worse off if someone stole it.

The United States has the highest GDP per capita in the entire American continent, from Canada to Argentina, including the Caribbean. The US average income is about $76,000 per year.

In Haiti, it is $1,748. If the socialists had their way and redistributed the wealth evenly across the roughly 1 billion people in the Americas, the average would be $35,000 per year. So, US citizens would be giving up more than half their income but would still be working the same jobs, for the same number of hours.

If you received the same wage, no matter what, you would stop doing overtime, stop coming up with new ideas, and pretty much stop working at all. In the Soviet Union, there was a joke: “We pretend to work, and they pretend to pay us.”

Almost every communist country began by abolishing money and nationalizing production of everything, including food. Within a very short time, these countries faced famines.

With no profit incentive, there was no motivation for farmers to grow food. Additionally, with no money prices, there was no rational way to calculate the cost of planting versus the money earned from selling the produce or to calculate how many resources should be allocated to producing food versus producing some other product.

Nearly six million people in the USSR starved to death in the Soviet Famine (1931-1934). Roughly half of these were Ukrainians, living in the “breadbasket of Europe.”

During the Khmer Rouge period (1975-1979) in Cambodia, between one half and a third of the population died of starvation and overwork, although nearly 100% of the population was sent out to the fields to farm. Venezuelans are facing hunger, while Cubans are facing shortages of everything.

The winner of the socialist starvation death toll competition is Mao Zedong, whose Great Famine (1958-1962) killed 30 million Chinese.

India was resource-rich and had the largest workforce, but socialist policies led to India becoming synonymous with extreme poverty. The USSR was the most resource-rich country on the planet and had one of the largest workforces, but had an economy about 5% the size of the U.S. China similarly had a huge workforce, and it was not until 2007 that the average Chinese citizen was earning more than the average American was earning in the year 1900.

Vietnam also experienced a mini-famine caused by communism, but they quickly realized that by privatizing farming, they were able to increase rice production.

It was privatization that also ended the Chinese famine, and Deng Xiaoping allowing private sector entrepreneurs to earn profits that lifted 800 million Chinese out of poverty.

No former communist country has ever reverted to communism. And China and Vietnam, the world’s largest remaining communist countries, dramatically increased the welfare of their people by allowing market economics, profit, and private ownership.

But both China and Vietnam remain dramatically poorer than the US because of their refusal to completely let go of communism/socialism.

Given all the evidence against it, how can American socialists believe that this time will be different?

The post Socialist Policies: Steps Toward a System That Has Always Failed appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Red_Guards_Austin

Red Guards Cell, Austin, Texas. By Reddebrek, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=104103414

New Frontier In Woke Capitalism

(John Hinderaker)

North Face is a left-wing clothing company that is breaking new ground in wokeness. It now has a program, where anyone who completes its “allyship” training module can get a 20% discount on North Face products. This is truly a new frontier: a company is actually engaging in price discrimination, offering lower prices to people who share (or pretend to share) its political views.

Intrigued by news stories about North Face’s left-wing discount, I signed up to take the “Allyship in the Outdoors” course. For reasons stated below, I didn’t complete it. But this is what I saw, starting with how North Face introduces its course:

It is all about race. There is, you see, a problem. Not enough POCs are venturing into the outdoors:

The statistics are grim, especially in England. Hey, North Face is international:

But let’s pause here for a moment. There is not a single human activity that is engaged in by equal proportions of members of different ethnic groups. Not one. In the U.S., blacks live mostly in cities. Urban populations do not hike and camp as often as rural populations. So what? Rural populations do not play basketball as much as urban populations. Should North Face offer discounts to rural whites for that reason?

Of course, North Face is on board with the Black Lives Matter Movement, even though the Black Lives Matter organization turned out to be a criminal fraud. Should someone tell them?

North Face thinks it is really important that women in full head coverings participate equally in the great outdoors:

Here’s the thing: I haven’t done so much hiking and camping in recent years, but I did quite a bit when I was younger, as well as skiing, fishing and other outdoor activities. There is no “barrier” to anyone doing any of these things. The national and state parks are open to all. Anyone can hunt or fish. Just buy a shotgun or a fishing rod. You don’t have to be a left-wing “ally” to encourage anyone who feels the urge to get outdoors. Maybe by joining the Boy Scouts, although I don’t suppose North Face would approve of that.

One thing about a far-left outfit like North Face, they lay it on the line. “Equity” means equal outcomes, i.e., exactly equal percentages of all ethnic groups engaging in all outdoor activities:

Let me know when all ethnic groups are equally represented in the NFL, and then I will get back to you.

Before getting too far into the “allyship” lesson, I had to take a quiz:

I clicked on f), but that turned out to be a thought crime:

So that was the end of the road for me. I had to either sign on with North Face’s rightthink, or forgo my opportunity for a 20% discount. Since I would not, under any circumstances, consider buying a product from North Face, it was an easy decision.

What to make of this? North Face has ventured beyond any other “woke” company, to my knowledge, in offering discounts to people with stupid political beliefs. Can that possibly work? I don’t know. The adage “Get woke, go broke” sometimes holds with regard to companies that rely on American sales, like Bud Light, but it generally doesn’t with regard to companies whose sales are mostly international, like Nike. I am not sure where North Face falls on that continuum.

I do suspect that North Face, which pretends to be “green,” is embarrassed by the fact that its products are made mostly from petroleum, and that may partly account for its insistent leftism.

So, is there an opportunity here for conservative companies? Should conservative companies (assuming there are some) offer discounts to customers who assert belief in values like patriotism and free speech?

It isn’t going to happen. Why? Because conservatives believe in inclusion and equality.

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