Capitalism is a horrible economic system. There’s fraud, abuse, exploitation, and a shocking degree of waste. Instead of being a strict meritocracy, success often hinges on random, outside events. The dang thing sucks!
Trouble is, it’s far and away the best economic system that humanity has ever devised.
I’ve been thinking about capitalism a lot lately. Despite its flaws, I’ve always been a fanboy. Whereas my pals on the left would kvetch and moan about globalization, I thought it was pretty cool that the most successful products from other countries would (eventually) wash upon our shores. To me, that was a positive feature of capitalism, not a horrible defect (assuming, of course, that U.S. companies were allowed to compete in those countries too).
Hey, if a sandwich or doohickey from Sweden, Japan, or Jamaica is a smash hit, I wanna try it. A good idea is a good idea. (And often quite delicious.) Complaining about globalization while snacking on tacos, hummus, sushi, and Takis is kinda silly.
To me, capitalism is exciting. It’s participatory. May the best man product win!
Yet capitalism is on the decline. In the Democratic Party, support for socialism is spiking: A record high — 66% of Democrats — now have a positive opinion of socialism. Which, not-so-coincidentally, just led to a slew of Democratic Socialists winning primaries.
What happened in NYC tonight represents a larger trend among Dems...
— (((Harry Enten))) (@ForecasterEnten) June 24, 2026
1. Dem Socialists (+17 pt net fav) are more popular than Dems in Congress (+4 pt net fav) with Dems.
2. Socialism's popularity with Dems is way up in the last 15 years & is far more popular than capitalism. pic.twitter.com/jMgjppCP9R
So far, hatred for capitalism is (mostly) a Democratic Party phenomenon.
Democrats are the only partisan group of the three that views socialism more positively than capitalism — 66% to 42%, respectively. Independents are modestly more pro-capitalism than pro-socialism (51% vs. 38%), while Republicans are overwhelmingly so (74% vs. 14%).
That’s good news. It means that if the next national election is framed as Republicans/capitalists versus Democrats/socialists, the GOP would win in a landslide. (Hint, hint.)
But it’s certainly not great news, because we have a two-party system, and eventually the Dems will be back in power. That means a lurch towards socialism — even if it’s temporary — is going to happen.
At this point, it’s probably unavoidable.
And when it does, there’ll be a Mamdani effect: The mainstream media will clap, coo, and cheerlead, because the mainstream media is an extension of the Democratic Party. One hand washes the other. They’ll work together to popularize socialist ideas — and if the politician in the spotlight is charismatic or media-savvy, they’ll probably be successful.
Which means that the pro-socialist numbers are gonna jump even higher.
Then it won’t just be a Democratic Party phenomenon. The next domino to fall will be independents becoming pro-socialist.
That’ll leave Republicans on an island. (And even in the GOP, pro-socialist sentiment has risen by 55% since 2019. It’s still a small number, but it’s clearly moving in the wrong direction.)
Is there any way out of this mess?
PRediction: The GOP will prioritize defending the positives of capitalism.
The biggest reason why capitalism is on the decline is because my opening sentence is true: Capitalism is a horrible, deeply flawed economic model.
The fact that it’s also humanity’s best available option provides scant comfort to the Zoomers, Millennials, and others who’ve suffered from its (many) defects. They believe the game is rigged. They don’t think it’s fair that Elon Musk is a trillionaire when they can’t afford a house. They see trust fund babies living better lives than they ever will, and it pisses ‘em off.
And I get it. The expression that “comparison is the thief of joy” is true: On one hand, a 25-year-old American kid is living in an air-conditioned home with a full refrigerator, a 70-inch TV, a car in the garage, a smartphone in his pocket, and an Uber Eats delivery coming for dinner. All in all, life is pretty good.
But on the other hand, it’s probably his parents’ home. And his car is probably used. And his smartphone is bombarding him 24/7 with images of people with infinitely more toys and goodies.
It’s hard to feel good about your used Toyota when your Instagram feed is showing you new Ferraris.
We’re reminded every single day of capitalism’s flaws. We see them with our own two eyes; they’re inescapable. And they’re not fake! As Seinfeld might say, “They’re real and they’re spectacular.”
But so are capitalism’s benefits.
That’s why we desperately need a PR campaign that shines a spotlight on capitalism’s pluses. Because the good FAR outweighs the bad.
PRojection: The GOP’s objective should be to tie capitalism to freedom, opportunity, dream-making, new jobs, and America’s love of small business.
Because, despite socialism’s ascendency, Gallup’s data uncovered something revealing:
This year’s survey asked Americans to evaluate free enterprise, big business and small business in addition to capitalism and socialism. Americans are overwhelmingly positive toward small business (95%) and free enterprise (81%), as they have consistently been. They are far more negative toward big business, with 37% rating it positively and 62% negatively.
Perceptions of big business have tumbled in recent years, including a nine-point decline this year on top of a six-point drop in 2021. In 2019, a slim majority of 52% of Americans still had positive views of big business. The high point was 58% in 2012.
Support for small businesses and free enterprise are both 80% - 20% issues. If we focus the pro-capitalist debate around small businesses and free enterprise, we’ll annihilate the Dems. Won’t even be close!
Sell the dream of small business ownership — explain how they create jobs and benefit communities — and highlight the virtues of the free enterprise system!
Because none of it would happen under a socialist model. The closer we move to socialism, the harder it is on small businesses. (And the less “free” our free enterprise system becomes.) When regulations go up, productivity goes down.
That means fewer dreams will come true.
If the Dems put the focus on big business, we’re going to lose. Between 2012 and today, American support for big business has dropped by a whopping 21 points. Only 36% of independents view big business positively.
The Democrats will argue that capitalism = billionaires, big businesses, Elon Musk, and all the tech oligarchs. (With a hefty helping of data center/A.I. hysteria for good measure.) They’ll argue that small businesses are irrelevant — because the rich billionaires already control the world.
Even though it’s not true. Small businesses create 66% of new private sector jobs. (With a high of 98.5% of all new jobs in the second quarter of 2022.) Small businesses are still the engine that empowers us to rise out of poverty, accumulate wealth, and achieve the American Dream.
But in politics, nothing moves until it’s pushed. This means the GOP will have to push the issue in media — and aggressively defend the benefits of capitalism.
PRaise: Y’know who was tailor-made for this sort of information campaign? Rush Limbaugh. Ain’t nobody better! Defending capitalism — and lampooning left-wing hysteria of data centers — was tailor-made for our Doctor of Democracy.
Rush Limbaugh was back in the news last week: His best-selling children’s book series, Rush Revere, is being revised:
In honor of Rush, and in celebration of the 250th birthday of our country…the very popular Adventures of Rush Revere Series, Time-Travel Adventures with Exceptional Americans is back!
— Official Rush Limbaugh (@OfficialRushUSA) June 22, 2026
Proceeds will benefit the Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation, supporting the families of… pic.twitter.com/zTE4cLVHrn
The Rush Revere series is great. I used to read ‘em to my boys at night. It’s wonderful the I.P. is being used again. (I’ve felt for a while that Rush Limbaugh is the most underutilized intellectual property in conservative media.)
But more than anything else, I miss the man. And I know I’m not alone.
Without Rush Limbaugh, conservatism has lacked a standard bearer — an ideological gatekeeper. It’s provided an opening for bad actors to contort conservatism into something it’s not. (Unfortunately, these bad actors get plenty of clicks on YouTube and social media.)
So who’ll take the lead in defending capitalism?
Because Limbaugh did it so well, we assumed our next standard bearer would also be a talk-show host. That’s why it was so disappointing when Tucker Carlson, Candace Owens, and Megyn Kelly became apologists for Russia, Qatar, and antisemitic forces. They squandered the trust that Limbaugh had built.
Of all the top names in conservative media, is there anyone with the prestige, gravitas, and credibility to take the lead? Probably not (alas): The ecosystem is too splintered.
It’ll probably take an outsider — someone who bursts on the scene, a la Donald Trump in 2015 — who champions the message. Some messaging works better when it comes from the outside.
But that doesn’t mean we don’t all have a role to play. Because we do. We ALL do.
But man, I sure wish Rush was here…
PRedators: Speaking of which, someone online has resurrected El Rushbo’s persona, using his voice and expressions to launch a new conservative podcast. The impression is uncanny! I’m debating writing an article about it.
Reasons to write it: There are tons of Ditto Heads who’d love to hear Rush’s voice again. (And listen to his spin on the Iran War, Zohran Mamdani, JD Vance, and everything else.) Besides, it’s an entertaining conservative podcast! I’m hooked!
Reasons not to write it: There’s something deeply creepy and exploitive about someone (probably using A.I.) putting words in Rush’s mouth. The line between a tribute and a ripoff is blurry.
Maybe this kind of podcast doesn’t deserve publicity.
I’m on the fence. Let me know your feedback in the comments.
