If conservatives want an answer to the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) and the growing popularity of socialism, they need to embrace free markets. Not the status quo. Not corporate cronyism. Not an agenda that begins and ends with rooting out fraud. Actual free-market policy. 

On Monday, Daniel Di Martino, a fellow at the Manhattan Institute and Venezuelan immigrant, explained how the DSA’s rise has so far mirrored that of Hugo Chávez. Chávez capitalized on a short-term economic crisis in one of the world’s wealthiest countries, selling the promise of socialism and free things, and ultimately transformed Venezuela into one of the poorest and most corrupt countries on the planet. 

Yet rather than heed that warning, Di Martino argued, the right is trying to beat Democrats at the very game that helped bring Chávez to power: promising people free things. 

If conservatives were serious about stopping socialism’s rise, their policies would reflect their professed faith in free markets, the system the vast majority of people say creates the most wealth, delivers the most abundance, and keeps costs lowest. Instead, when it comes time to write policy, they keep reaching for government grants, expanded redistribution, and greater government control.

"In 1998, Venezuelan voters voted for Hugo Chavez because there was an economic crisis temporarily in the country," Di Martino explained. "They thought that he was going to be better than the establishment, he was going to, you know, redistribute wealth, he was going to really stand up to the oligarchy, the new favorite word of the DSA now. What really happened is that corruption skyrocketed."

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"Yes, they get free things, but they cost inflation, they cause shortages, and that is exactly what Medicare for All, what more government spending would do," he added. "And if conservatives were right, by the way, it's not just about Iran, we would put forward free market solutions. Republicans failed at reforming Obamacare too, we have to take accountability for that. Republicans are promising also more government spending. We need to be a free market alternative with actual new solutions, not just see who gives away more money."

That criticism comes as President Trump has sought to give Americans a financial incentive to vote Republican in the midterms: a promised $5,000 check for every American adult if the party holds both the House and Senate. The pledge follows a slew of other departures from free-market policy, including government stakes in private businesses, tariffs that artificially prop up favored industries, and increasingly pointed criticism of free markets from administration officials, including the Vice President. Every single critique has the same familiar flaw: blaming markets for problems government created in the first place. 

Republicans have a tremendous opportunity to usher in the next economic golden age. But that opportunity lies in making free markets the centerpiece of their economic agenda, not repackaging socialism and redistribution as Republican policy. 

For the better part of a century, the United States has continuously moved towards socialism. It is long past time we gave free markets an actual try.