Capitalism Did What Socialism Never Could

In this episode of The Right Side with Doug Billings, Doug breaks down one of the clearest contrasts in American public life: the socialist Left keeps promising power to workers, but capitalism is the system that can actually give workers ownership, opportunity, and dignity.

As socialist candidates gain ground in New York and the radical wing continues consuming the old Democrat Party, Doug explains why socialism remains emotionally seductive to people who feel priced out, ignored, and discouraged. But the answer isn’t more government dependency. The answer is rebuilding the American understanding of work, ownership, risk, responsibility, and free enterprise.

Using the reported SpaceX employee-millionaire story as the centerpiece, Doug shows why capitalism, when rooted in virtue and ownership, does something socialism never can: it lets ordinary people help build extraordinary things and share in the success. Socialism talks about workers. Capitalism can make workers owners.

This is a conversation about more than economics. It’s about the future of America, the dignity of work, the danger of resentment politics, and why free people still build better than bureaucrats ever will.

 #TheRightSide #DougBillings #Capitalism #Socialism #AmericaFirst #FreeEnterprise #Ownership #ConservativePodcast #AmericanDream #SpaceX #Workers #Freedom #Opportunity #Commusocialism #ForTheRepublic 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:03

The Right Side with Doug Billings. Hello, America. Hello, world. Welcome to the Right Side. I'm Doug Billings. Today on the program, the Radical Left continues to promise, you know, power to workers and fairness to families, compassion for the forgotten. But while socialism gives people slogans, capitalism is helping to create thousands of millionaires. Don't let what happened in New York trouble you. The radical left liberal movement and the commune socialist, formerly known as Democrat Party, is clearly now identified itself as an anti-American political movement. We're going to talk about this. We're going to talk about the difference, the real divide in America, dependency or ownership, resentment or opportunity. The right side is now upon you, ladies and gentlemen. Are you ready? Let's go. The right side with Doug Billing.

SPEAKER_01 0:58

We are not liberal snowflakes who melt away in the face of tragedy, adversity, and challenge. We are a covenant nation under God. His divine providence is not dead and it's not gone. It is living within each and every one of you. And you will bring it to life in such a way that the world has never seen before. We never back down. We never give up. We march forward.

SPEAKER_00 1:31

All right, ladies and gentlemen. Hello, America. Hello, world. The right side is here. I'm Doug Billings. Today I want to talk about one of the clearest contrasts that you're ever going to see in American public life. And it came at almost the perfect moment. This week, yesterday, one side, you know, we we have the socialist candidates winning Democratic primaries in New York. That's all powered by the radical left, celebrated by activists, applauded by the same people who've been telling young Americans, for example, that capitalism is cruel, success is suspicious, and government control equals compassion. Okay. On the other side, we have companies like SpaceX, a company that built by risk, invention, ownership, engineering, investment, labor, discipline, and American ambition has created more than 4,400 employee millionaires. Okay. Now think about that. The socialist left talks about workers. Capitalism just made thousands of workers very rich. That's the episode. That's what we're going to talk about. That's the contrast, and that's the lesson. I want to begin right there because it really, when you think about it, it's where conservatives sometimes make a mistake. We'll get into a debate about socialism versus capitalism. We'll start throwing around theories, you know, economists, history, numbers. And we'll be right about almost all of that, but we miss the heart of the issue. And the heart of the issue is very simple. Socialism promises dignity through dependency. Think about that. Capitalism, on the other hand, offers dignity through ownership. And they're not the same thing at all. They're not even close to being the same thing. What happened in New York City the other day is just a local political story in the minds of many. But it's not. You see, it's not just another Blue City primary. It's not just another, you know, progressives had a good night headline. It's not that at all. It's a warning sign. And it tells us where the energy inside of the modern liberal movement is moving. And it's clearly not moving in what we once thought was the Democrat Party, or as I've called it since January of 2021, the Commune Socialist Party. Because the old Democrat Party is gone, folks. I've been saying it for six years. And it's not coming back. It's been swallowed up by the radical left. And now we're watching the next generation of that radical left movement form, you know, they've gone from protest signs to public office. And that's what people need to understand here. The radical left isn't outside of the building anymore, you know, with a bullhorn. They are inside of the building with a campaign manager. See, it it the radical left commune socialist, formerly known as Democrat Party, it has candidates now, it has donors, it has field operations, it has activist networks, media protection, social media amplification. It has university language. It's got a nonprofit infrastructure. It has a whole anti-moral universe that's built around the word and the concept of grievance. And now it has primary victories. All right. Zo ran Mamdani. He backs candidates in New York, candidates that win. Brad Lander beats Don Goldman. Other left-wing candidates take down establishment figures. All right. And the message goes out across the country. The socialist wing is no longer begging the old democratic establishment for permission. It's replacing it, folks. Now, you all know how this gets packaged. They call it, you know, affordability. They call the campaigns they run about justice and equity, and they call it grassroots democracy. They call it a movement for working people. But look, my friends, don't listen to only the label of these things. Look at the operating system underneath it. The operating system around and underneath the radical liberal movement in America is resistance. It's resentment. And the operating system says that America is guilty. The successful people out there are guilty. The private sector is guilty. Traditional families are suspicious. The police are suspect. Borders are immoral. Faith should be silent. Schools should belong to the experts. And wealth should be managed by the state. And the individual citizen, you and me, should become more and more dependent upon government permission. That's the worldview of the radical left. It's right out of their playbook. And here's the trap: socialism never walks into the room and introduces itself as control. It introduces itself as compassion. It says things like, you've been hurt, or you've been ignored, your rent is too high, your job doesn't pay enough, or to tell you that, you know, your future has been stolen from you. And then it whispers the most dangerous sentence in politics. Let me run your life and I'll make it fair. That's how this works, folks. Socialism takes real frustration and turns it into a political dependency. I mean, let's be honest, the frustration is real for a lot of people. Young Americans are looking at housing prices. They're wondering how in the hell they're ever going to own a house. Parents are watching grocery bills climb. Families are stretched. Wages don't always feel like they keep up, and college debt has crushed a lot of young people. You got big corporations, sometimes treat workers like replaceable parts. Granted, government protects connected insiders. We see it every day. Washington spends money like a drunk with somebody else's credit card. So yes, people are frustrated, but the socialist doesn't heal the frustration. The socialist weaponizes it. That's the key. And once frustration becomes resentment, people become much easier to control. That's the plan. Because a resentful person doesn't ask, how do I build a better life? The resentful person asks, who should pay for my pain? Who's responsible for this? That's where the left wants the country to be. They don't want young Americans curious about how wealth is created. They want them angry that wealth exists. They don't want young people learning how ownership works. They want young people convinced that ownership is exploitation. And they don't want workers asking how they can get a stake in the future. They want workers voting for politicians who promise to manage the future for them. Now, place all of that next to the uh the SpaceX story. It happened a couple of weeks ago, right? Because that's where the whole socialist argument runs into a brick wall called reality. SpaceX, after years of risk, all right, failure, explosions, invention, engineering, pressure, private investment, you know, relentless work. It goes public, and the result isn't just that Elon Musk becomes richer. The result is that what the left will focus on, okay, that well, they'll focus on Elon Musk getting richer. It's all about Elon Musk. How come he has so much? They can't help themselves. Okay. They'll hear a story about thousands of workers becoming millionaires, and their first reaction will still be, but why does Elon have so much? Because envy is their native language. I'm telling you. But the real story is that thousands of current and former employees of SpaceX became millionaires because they held stock. All right. And I'm not talking about executives and nice corner offices, not just financiers, not just the people in the boardroom. I'm talking about SpaceX workers, technicians, engineers, cafeteria staff, janitors, administrative support staff, maintenance workers, you know, people who helped build the thing. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the moral beauty of capitalism when ownership is part of the equation. Socialism puts workers on posters. Capitalism can put ownership right in their hands. That's the difference. Socialism will tell workers, you're victims. Capitalism tells workers you can be builders. Socialism will say someone else has too much. Capitalism will say, what can we create that doesn't yet exist? Socialism will ask, who should be punished? Capitalism will ask who can help us build something bigger. So look, those are not small differences. Those are the entire difference between decline and renewal. And I want to say something here that matters. Defending capitalism doesn't mean defending every corporation. And it doesn't mean every CEO is noble. It doesn't mean that every business owner is virtuous. It doesn't mean that every market outcome is a perfect one. And it doesn't mean that greed doesn't exist. Of course, greed exists, but greed is not capitalism. Greed is a sin. And greed exists in every system. The difference is that capitalism, restrained by law and guided by virtue, gives ordinary people the opportunity to create, own, risk, serve, save, invest, and to rise. Socialism concentrates power in the state and tells you that, you know, it's doing all of this for your own good. That's the part that they don't want you to notice. The socialist will say, we're going to take power away from the rich. Okay? But somehow the power never ends up with the people. It ends up with bureaucrats, with committees, it ends up with political managers, with agencies, and it ends up with people who produce nothing but rules and forms and punishments and speeches. And the worker, the worker gets slogans. The worker will get rationing. They'll get waiting lists. The worker will get a lecture about sacrifice from political elites who never seem to sacrifice quite as much as everybody else does. You ever notice that? That's the story of socialism every time that it's tried. It promises equality, but it only produces equal misery, except for the people in charge. Now let me bring it all home in a practical way for you. Imagine two young men, all right? One young man is being raised in the grievance machine. Okay. Every day he's told the system is rigged. He's told that America's rotten. He's told that rich people stole his future. He's told that work is exploitation, that business owners are predators. Government should provide for his needs, define his rights, government should manage his health care. Government should regulate his speech and subsidize his life, forgive his debt, and government should punish people who have more than he does. Now, what kind of man does that produce? It does I mean, does it produce courage? Do you think it produces discipline or gratitude? Does it produce ambition? Does it produce a good father or a builder or a citizen? A man who can stand right up straight and say, in this republic, I've got responsibilities, not just demands. No, it doesn't. It produces dependence that's wrapped up in moral arrogance. Now, imagine another young man. This young man is told that the world is hard and difficult, but not hopeless. He's told that America is imperfect but extraordinary. And he's told work has dignity. He's told that wealth is created by solving problems for other people. He's told ownership matters. He's told to learn a skill and to show up early and stay late when it's needed. Take responsibility, save money, invest, find mentors, respect customers, build trust, love your family and honor God, and stop waiting for somebody else to hand you a future. Now, what kind of man does that produce? It produces a builder. And my friends, America needs builders. We need builders in business, in families, in churches. We need builders in schools, in the in politics, in media. We need builders in our neighborhoods. We need people to look at the broken things and say, you know what, that can be fixed. The socialist looks at broken things and says, that proves I need more power. That's the difference. Now the left is going to tell you that capitalism is cold, okay? Unfeeling, harsh. They're going to tell you that socialism is compassionate. But let's ask, let's ask that question that almost nobody else except me is going to ask. What is more compassionate? Telling a person that he's permanently oppressed and that he needs the state to manage his life? Or is compassion telling him that he was made by God in his image with dignity, talent, he's got responsibility, and the ability to build things? What is more compassionate? Handing people dependency with one hand while taking their freedom with the other? Or is creating a society where ordinary workers can help build a company and share in its success? Isn't that more compassionate? Telling young people to hate the successful, is that compassionate? Or teaching them how success is created? That's the argument that we've got to win. And we can win it because reality is on our side. Look at the socialist cities around the country. Look at the promises versus the reality. Look at taxes or crime or schools. Look at the bureaucracy, homelessness, businesses leaving, families leaving. Look at the middle class fleeing places that their grandparents built. Socialism sounds wonderful, you know, in the abstract, but it collapses in the concrete. It looks beautiful on a campaign flyer, but it gets really ugly when the bills come due, folks. It works in a classroom debate, but it fails in a grocery store. All right. And that's why the SpaceX story is so important in today's news, even though it happened a couple of weeks ago. It gives us something better than an argument. It gives us an example. You want to talk about workers? Fine. Let's talk about workers. Let's talk about the workers who helped build rockets. Let's talk about the people who went to work every day, day after day, in a company where failure was public, pressure was intense, and the mission was enormous. Let's talk about the employees who held stock and then watched that ownership become life-changing. That is what socialism cannot produce. It can redistribute what already exists for a while, certainly, but it can't create like free people create. And that phrase matters, free people, okay, because capitalism without freedom becomes cronyism. And capitalism without virtue becomes exploitation. Capitalism without competition becomes monopoly. And capitalism without law becomes corruption. So when I defend capitalism, I'm not defending a jungle. I'm defending ordered liberty. I'm defending free enterprise rooted in virtue. And I'm defending the American idea that people should be able to build and to own and to profit and to fail and to recover, to serve, to innovate, and rise without begging the state for permission to breathe. That's what built this country. Not committees, not slogans, not resentment. Builders built America. Farmers built it, shopkeepers built it, inventors built it, mothers and fathers built it, immigrants who loved this country and assimilated into it built it. Workers built it, entrepreneurs built it. Okay. Churches formed the souls that made all of this possible. And families carried the virtues that made self-government possible. It's very important. And government, when it worked properly, protected the conditions that allowed for all of that human energy to flourish. That's the American formula, folks. The left wants to invert it. They want the state at the center. They want the family negotiable. They want the church silent. They want business obedient, and they want schools ideological. They want citizens dependent on them. And they call all of that progress. Well, no, thank you. That's not progress. What that is, is managed decline. Real progress is a worker becoming an owner. Real progress is a kid learning a skill that changes his family tree. And real progress is a company building something that the world didn't have before. Real progress is a nation that teaches young people to aspire, not to resent. That's the America that I believe in. And, you know, here's where I want to, where I want to land today. The answer to socialism is not just to say socialism is bad. I mean, that's true, but that's not enough. The answer is to make capitalism moral again in the public imagination. We've got to reconnect capitalism to the human being. Not just numbers on a screen, not just stock tickers, not just billionaires in Wall Street, you know, quarterly reports. Uh-uh. Capitalism is the local mechanic who owns his shop. It's the waitress who saves enough money to start a catering business. Capitalism is the welder whose stock options became a down payment on a new home. And capitalism is the engineer whose innovation creates jobs for people that she'll never meet. Capitalism is the small manufacturer who takes a risk. He hires 10 people. It's the father who works overtime so that his son can have a better start. It's the mom who starts a business at the kitchen table. It's the employee who becomes an owner. That's it, folks. That's capitalism at its best. And socialism has no answer for any of that. It can sneer at it, it can tax it, it can regulate it, it can lecture it, it can try to control it, but socialism can't replace capitalism. Because socialism destroys the very habits that create prosperity. Socialism destroys trust, risk, work, thrift, ownership, responsibility, innovation, and hope. And hope is the big one. Socialism feeds on despair. That's why the Doomer class is out there. Capitalism requires hope. You don't start a business unless you believe tomorrow can be better. You don't invest unless you believe the future can grow. And you don't work late on a difficult project unless you believe that the effort can matter. You don't build rockets unless you believe that human beings were made for more than standing in lines waiting for permission. That's the deeper spiritual divide here. One side says, give us power and we'll manage your decline. The other side says, give free people room to build and watch what happens. Well, we just watched what happened. Thousands of workers became owners of real wealth because they helped build something extraordinary. That's the story America needs right now as things in New York unravel. Not envy, not dependency, not grievance, not managed decline, ownership, work, opportunity, dignity, creation. That's the way out of despair. And that's why the socialist wave in New York should concern us, but it shouldn't discourage us. Because their ideology still has the same fatal flaw it's always had. It can promise the world. It can, you know, it can't build a rocket. And America, America, my friends, was built by people who knew how to build. That's the good news in all of this. Don't despair, but be aware of the things like in New York that are happening. The Democrat Party no longer exists, folks. It's the Commune Socialist Party. And they are clearly not a pro-America political movement. Until next time, look, God bless you, God bless your families, God bless the United States. Head over to Doug Billings.us, please, and prayerfully consider contributing to the program over there. Please share this episode wherever you're watching it. Subscribe to the program wherever you're watching. It helps get the word out. We're in this thing together, ladies and gentlemen. Believe it. For the Republic. Cheers. The right side with Doug Billings.