From the Stanberry Report.
For decades, it was all but unthinkable in America...
The collapse of Union of Soviet Socialist Republics – or the Soviet Union, as it was commonly known – in the early 1990s proved it beyond a doubt: Socialism, as an economic model, was an unmitigated failure.
Of course, that doesn't mean it suddenly disappeared. Despite its "Cold War" opposition to the Soviet Union, even the U.S. had adopted many socialist principles decades earlier. And this strange blend of capitalism and socialism has continued – and grown even stronger – in the decades since.
Porter explained this system – which he dubbed "New American Socialism" – nearly eight years ago in the June 2011 issue of Stansberry's Investment Advisory. As he wrote...
You can't just call our economic system "socialism." It's not. There's a profit motive and private ownership of nearly all assets. Socialism has neither of these. Besides, far too many people have become far too rich in our system to simply label it "socialism"...
Our system isn't truly capitalism either, though. The State intervenes in almost every industry, often in a big and expensive way. With government at all levels making up more than 40% of GDP, it's fair to say we live in a State-dominated society...
A certain class of people has the power to not only protect itself from these policies but to profit as well. These people have used the last 40 years to produce massive amounts of paper wealth. And they are now desperately trying to convert those paper accounts into real wealth, which explains the exploding price of farmland and precious metals.
New American Socialism is fueled by paper money and the constant expansion of debt, Porter explained in 2011. It also features a kind of corruption that's hard to police because it occurs within the boundaries of the law. And the "explosion of wealth at the top of the 'food chain'" was a key characteristic of this system...
In the New American Socialism, the power of the system produces private profits. In this way, it provides a huge incentive to entrepreneurs and politicians to work together on behalf of the system. This is what keeps the system going. This is what keeps it from collapsing upon itself. And this, unfortunately, is why the imbalances in the world economy will continue to grow until the entire global monetary system itself implodes.
At the time, Porter was still optimistic...
He believed Americans would eventually recognize these problems for what they were – a perversion of capitalism, rather than a failure of capitalism.
Eventually they would say "enough is enough," and turn back the power of the federal government before it was too late.
Unfortunately, that has not happened...
Instead – forgetting the clear lessons of history – many Americans have been moving in the other direction...
A new socialist movement has suddenly taken hold in this country. And there is no better "face" of this movement than freshman congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
The 29-year-old former Bernie Sanders activist trounced 10-term Democratic incumbent Joe Crowley to win New York's 14th district last year. She did so on a radical platform that included just about every socialist scheme imaginable, including free health care and college for all... subsidized housing for all... and a guaranteed federal job for every American.
More recently, she went even further...
She has now proposed a "Green New Deal," which aims to reduce America's carbon emissions to net-zero through "getting rid of farting cows and airplanes," among other measures.
The scheme also initially promised "economic security" – aka free money – for all Americans who are "unable or unwilling to work," but this particular bullet point was later removed from her website after a public backlash.
However, 'AOC' (as she has become known) is not alone...
Unfortunately, a number of other notable politicians are suddenly proposing similar policies. As Bloomberg reported on Tuesday...
A leader of House Democrats' progressive wing is proposing "Medicare for all" legislation that would replace almost all private health insurance, an idea that's galvanizing the party's liberal base and winning endorsements from many of its top presidential contenders.
The legislation by Congressional Progressive Caucus co-chair Pramila Jayapal would steer all Americans – not just those 65 and older – into the Medicare program in two years. It would cover comprehensive health care services and, in a radical departure from the existing system, limit private insurance to supplemental benefits not provided by the government-run program...
She said the measure will be introduced Wednesday with more than 100 co-sponsors.
Not surprising, Jayapal didn't explicitly say how much such a program would cost...
Nor did she say how it would be funded, other than to say options include a wealth tax and higher marginal income tax rates.
However, the reality is these measures alone wouldn't come close to paying for even the most conservative cost estimates of this program, let alone free college, job guarantees, or any of these other proposed schemes.
What these politicians won't admit is that these promises would require significantly higher tax rates for all Americans taxpayers, as well as a complete "reset" of our entire financial system. History has proven again and again, the heaviest burden of that would fall not on the rich, but rather on hardworking, middle-class Americans.
To be clear, none of these programs are likely to become a reality under the current Congress and administration. But it looks increasingly likely these ideas will become a deciding factor in the 2020 elections... and a large and growing number of Americans are now in favor of them.
If you're not concerned, you're simply not paying attention.
As we've mentioned before, Porter prepared a book detailing exactly why this is happening... why this movement – like every socialist movement before it – is guaranteed to end in disaster... and most important, how you can best protect yourself from the inevitable fallout. If you haven't read it yet, click here to get your copy now.
TJ
T. J. Du Puy
National Cell
615-202-4747
“It's not what you don't know - it's what you do know that ain't so.”
