Thomas Piketty, the French economist from communism’s birthplace, is back and this time he wants to drive a stake through the heart of capitalism, end human rights, and deny equal protection of the law in the true spirit of Marxism. Now in his latest treatise, “Capital and Ideology,’’ he argues that governments should fix the inequality of wealth by confiscating all the assets of the rich thereby ending capitalism. Excuse me, but didn’t Lenin and Stalin try this once before?
Piketty has been influential, and believe it or not, his ideas are the core of Elizabeth Warren’s platform. Warren worked with two former Piketty aides to design her Wealth Tax proposal.
The idea of communism actually emerged during the French Revolution. It was an experiment known as the Parisian Commune of 1793. Marx concluded ultimately that the power of the state, and the duty of citizenship, must be subordinate to the state by necessity. If that principle stands, there can never be liberty. It was the French who convinced Marx that socialism was not enough. There had to be the forced subordination of all people to the will of the state. This is the core of what Piketty is really all about. He is still speaking from a French view that has prevailed since the revolution during the Commune Movement.
France has one of the worst economies in Europe. It has opposed free trade to support uncompetitive jobs. France has been unfavorable to capital investment which has kept the nation from really participating as a leading economy in the 21st century. France has been unable to test, no less exceed, its 2000 high. Now Piketty wishes to spread the worst of France to the rest of the world. This is like going to dinner with a friend and they taste something so bad and then offer it to you to see how bad it really tastes.
