Staff Reports
Townhall republished a Dennis Prager column as part of a birthday retrospective, and they dusted off a PragerU video from 2016 with a very plain point: socialism, Prager argues, breeds selfishness. The timing is not accidental. With the Democratic Socialists of America claiming rapid growth and scoring recent wins in New York, conservatives have every right to ask whether Prager’s warning is finally landing where it matters — in real elections and real wallets.
Reprint and the Core Claim
Dennis Prager’s line is simple and blunt: “Socialism produces far more selfish individuals and a far more selfish society than a free‑market economy does.” That sentence comes straight from the PragerU video Townhall highlighted. This is opinion, yes, but it’s being put back in the spotlight because the left’s political program is louder than it was a decade ago. When a conservative outlet republishes an old warning, it’s because something in the present makes the warning feel urgent.
DSA’s Surge and Democratic Socialists in Power
The modern Democratic Socialists of America have been boasting membership growth beyond 100,000 and a push into electoral politics this year. DSA newsletters and chapter posts celebrate bigger rosters and more endorsements. That energy showed up in New York primaries and in the rise of Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who now wields real power in a big city. If socialism is only an idea, fine. But when it becomes an organized force that wins primaries and mayoralties, it stops being theory and starts being policy.
The Cost and the Consequences
What are those policies? Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Alexandria Ocasio‑Cortez want massive expansions of government programs. U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El‑Sayed and Texas State Representative James Talarico repeat the same promises: tax the rich, guarantee healthcare, declare services to be rights. Pop-sounding lines about billionaire taxes are great for headlines. But the math is ugly. Promises that politicians can “take from the rich” ignore how wealth is held and what large, permanent new programs actually cost families. That’s the practical side of Prager’s point: when people come to expect government to provide, the culture of independence and gratitude frays.
Wake-Up Call for Conservatives
Townhall’s reprint is meant to be a reminder: this is not just a philosophical fight. It’s a fight over incentives, responsibility, and who pays the bill. Conservatives should answer with clear, workable alternatives — tax relief, targeted reform, and a defense of personal responsibility that actually appeals to voters tired of slogans. If socialists are gaining ground in city halls and primaries, then re-stating the obvious — that policies have consequences — is not old news. It’s practically a public service. And if people prefer freebies over freedom, we should at least laugh about the bill before we pay it.
