In this two-minute clip, Ben Shapiro gives a rapid-fire explanation of socialism, delivered to students at the University of Minnesota. Shapiro, a conservative commentator known for his fast-paced arguments and campus debates, sets out to explain in the shortest possible time why he believes socialism is a failed and tyrannical form of government. The brevity is the point: this is socialism explained as a concise argument, not a lecture.
Shapiro’s case turns on two ideas. First, socialism requires the state to control the means of production, which means taking property and choice away from individuals. Second, once the state has that power, it must use force to keep it, and that is why socialist governments, in his view, so often become oppressive. He contrasts that with a market system, in which individuals are free to work, trade and keep the fruits of their labour, and argues that freedom and prosperity go together.
For viewers, the clip is a useful snapshot of the conservative case against socialism, delivered in a form designed to be shared, remembered and argued about, long after the two minutes are over.
Ben Shapiro takes University of Minnesota by storm with his explanation of why socialism is a failed, tyrannical form of government.