Who won the duel between Bernie Sanders and Rand Paul?
When Senator Bernie Sanders published his book “Guide to Political Revolution” in 2017, a stranger familiar with my writings gifted me that book and asked me to write a review. I promised to do it sometime and put the book aside.
In 2019, I attended an event where Senator Rand Paul was a speaker. The entry fee included a copy of his book “The Case Against Socialism.” When Rand Paul was signing that book for me, he looked at me with disbelief when I told him I might write a review. I did not tell him I had the idea of writing a review of two books together, his and that of Bernie Sanders.
Then I looked at Senator Paul’s book, wondering what new things he might write about socialism. The best book on the subject is by Ludwig von Mises, “Socialism: An Economic and Sociological Analysis,” published in 1922. In this classic dissertation, von Mises argued that socialism would never work because, in its concept, it is against human nature. A quick look at the content page told me that Senator Paul listed many instances of people trying socialism after 1922, with the result that von Misses predicted. So, I put that book aside as well.
Bernie Sanders’ recent book, “It’s OK to Be Angry About Capitalism,” got my attention because I am angry at capitalism, too — not at capitalism in general but at the version we…
