The Nike memes slamming the athletic apparel maker’s decision to make a failed quarterback the face of their signature slogan aren’t slowing down, and we’re not complaining.
This time, the meme takes aim at socialist Senator Bernie Sanders, who has this revolutionary idea to create prosperity by taking your money and giving it to someone else. Why hasn’t anyone thought of this before?!
The truth is that plenty of people have thought of this before. Many academics are slow to admit this, but authoritarian socialist practices far pre-date Karl Marx or any Russian revolutionary. The idea of stealing from the most productive members of society to placate the lower classes goes as far back as the Roman Republic — and perhaps even farther.
So, what happened? The republic turned into a top-down autocratic oligarchy which would end up devaluing its currency to pay for its endless government spending. Granted, this demise was far slower than socialist states today, but it is demonstrative of the disastrous effects of central economic planning.
~ Facts Not Memes
