The Case Against Socialism

By: Rand Paul

Narrated by: Kelley Paul

Length: 10 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's summary

A recent poll showed 43 percent of Americans think more socialism would be a good thing. What do these people not know?

Socialism has killed millions, but it’s now the ideology du jour on American college campuses and among many leftists. Reintroduced by leaders such as Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the ideology manifests itself in starry-eyed calls for free-spending policies like Medicare-for-all and student loan forgiveness.

In The Case Against Socialism, Rand Paul outlines the history of socialism, from Stalin’s gulags to the current famine in Venezuela. He tackles common misconceptions about the “utopia” of socialist Europe. As it turns out, Scandinavian countries love capitalism as much as Americans, and have, for decades, been cutting back on the things Bernie loves the most.

Socialism’s return is only possible because many Americans have forgotten the true dangers of the 20th-century’s deadliest ideology. Paul reveals the devastating truth: For every college student sporting a Che Guevara T-shirt, there’s a Venezuelan child dying of starvation. Desperate refugees flee communist Cuba to escape oppressive censorship, rationed food and squalid hospitals, not "free" healthcare. Socialist dictatorships like the People’s Republic of China crush freedom of speech and run massive surveillance states while masquerading as enlightened modern nations. Far from providing economic freedom, socialist governments enslave their citizens. They offer illusory promises of safety and equality while restricting personal liberty, tightening state power, sapping human enterprise and making citizens dependent on the dole.

If socialism takes hold in America, it will imperil the fate of the world’s freest nation, unleashing a plague of oppressive government control. The Case Against Socialism is a timely response to that threat and a call to action against the forces menacing American liberty.

©2019 Rand Paul (P)2019 HarperAudio

Very informative! Well read, great book overall.

Great book. Super informative, a must read for anyone for or against Socialism, or anyone with eyes or ears for that matter.

Think of moving to Kentucky

To be fair I’m already a Rand Paul fan and I expected to enjoy this read. Still, at the risk of the surveillance state described in this book that could arrive, I need to Loudly Support this read. Thank you for taking the time to articulate the need for freedom in today’s world.

Educational and relevant

Great book, history mixed with the present. An eye opener for those unaware of the brutal harshness of socialism. A must read or listen.

Really great book

Really informative book, I would highly recommend this to liberty loving American, God Bless America!

True

Being born in Cuba I can Certified how violent, brutal and miserable live in communism is. This book should be in every school in the united state of America!

Interesting Fast Paced and Well Documented

Must reading argument for both young and old. Does a great job of defining American socialism versus free market capitalism. Kelly the wife of Rand reads the book well. Loaded with historical accounts and fact. Plato’s republic was an enviable but unattainable utopia.

socialism, just as scary as it always has been

Rand does a great job of concisely resurrecting the horrors of socialism past, reminding everyone that those WERE REAL SOCIALISM and draws conclusions that show we're in a bad direction in today's current political climate.

Nazis were socialists no matter how bad the Cathedral wants them not to be.
Pol pot was socialist
Mau was socialist
Stallin was Socialist.

It was a horrible idea then that leads to blood and death, and there is NO reason to think it'd be any different in today's age just wrapped in a nicer terminology.

My Thoughts on this book.

I enjoyefd listening to the stories ahat h ave been a part of m y loife since I was kid and being reminded f fof wht TRUE Socialism is. It tells the horrors of it and doesn't glorify it. It's exactly what I remember being taught in school and not what I am hearing of it today.

Good book overall

I liked the subjects covered, towards the middle of it the book it got a little too into the weeds of certain things. Easy to listen to and has a good amount of proposed ideas to fix our current situation.

Exceptional!

With all of the falsehoods perpetuated and parroted by the media on both sides of the aisle, Rand Paul comes forth with a well-researched and comprehensive look at how actual Socialism has been enacted throughout recent history, most notably in modern-day China. I read this book because my daily interactions with woke far-left individuals who preach Socialism directly contradicts the way Socialism has been used in the past, which shows me that the average American clearly does not understand what Socialism actually is and how totalitarian regimes in recent history have killed millions of their own citizens through the guise of providing "equality" within the structure of Socialism. The best sections of this book are when Paul thoroughly describes how free-market Capitalism has exponentially improved the lives of people in countries where it has been practiced in the last 200 years, as well as how Scandinavian countries are not practicing Socialist economics at all, but rather funding their social programs through Capitalist economies. The truth is rarely 100% perfect or clear in today's society due to the outrageous amount of false information that has been touted as "truth" by the media, which is why books like this are important for people to read in order to avoid being some sort of public opinion parrot themselves. As Winston Churchill stated in 1948 (as paraphrased from the original quote by Spanish philosopher George Santayana), "Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it." Whether you agree with Rand Paul's politics or not, this book is still an objective look at economics and the falsehood of a "Socialist Utopia". Fantastic work that will surely lead you to the arena of critical thinking, as well as push you to read more books of this nature. Bravo!