Seizing the means of production

Image of the destroyed Key Bridge, taken from Sparrow’s Point in Baltimore. Source: Getty Images

Monday, October 12th, 2026

Bill Bonner, from Ardmore, Ireland

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When we left you last week, France was falling apart. At least, that is what the internet said...in tumbled the videos to prove it. CNN:

Massive demonstrations. Injured teenagers. French students say they’re just getting started.

iHeart:

Protests continue over school conditions in France

CBSNews:

Riot police clash with students in Paris protests

In France, some public schools have been closed since Monday and won’t reopen until next week amid nationwide student and labor protests that have been raging for three weeks. Aiden Stretch reports from Paris.

The students have their grumbles — claiming that they don’t have very nice schools or enough top teachers. There is also an ‘immigration’ angle. The worst schools are in the worst areas...which is where the ‘immigrants’ live. Many of these immigrants are from Africa and the Middle East. They may not have ‘integrated’ successfully.

The real problem — if there is one — is probably not school conditions or ‘integration’ in itself. But as Daniel Oliver put it on Friday, expecting the students (or US voters) to do a ‘considered examination’ of the origins of their issues is akin to asking a greyhound to tap dance. It is probably expecting too much of them.

Since they won’t, we will. That is, we will undertake a ‘considered examination’ of what’s actually got them stirred up.

Neither student mobs in France...nor the voters in America...may understand the problem. But both whine that the government should ‘do something’ about it. And on both sides of the Atlantic, what they will do...all they can do (short of actually solving the problem, which they won’t do) involves spending money they don’t have on things they don’t need...which is the real source of their complaints anyway.

Yes, we’re talking about good, old-fashioned socialism. What is socialism? An example: People could have been left to deal with the Covid virus on their own just as they dealt with everything from pneumonia to dandruff. But the Trump Team socialized it. Few people were actually at risk; they could have taken reasonable precautions. Instead, the whole society suffered from the shutdowns...and from the inflation and debt caused by the Trump/Biden stimmie program.

Another example of bi-partisan socialism: Remember the financial crisis of ’08-’09? Homeowners had spent too much. Lenders had lent too much. And with house prices falling, both were going broke. The US Congress took prompt action — with the blessing of the G.W.Bush administration. It bailed out Wall Street...and left homeowners to move in with in-laws. It ‘socialized’ the lenders’ losses — passing them along to the taxpayers. Homeowners, on the other hand, got to practice their rugged individualism.

Americans like to think that they are wise while the French are foolish. The French are said to be ‘socialists.’ They don’t even have a word for ‘entrepreneur,’ Bush allegedly pointed out, between bites of freedom fries.

Americans, on the other hand, have never had an unflattering thought about themselves. They are brave, independent...risk takers. And yet, the important differences are few and the gap is closing. Both governments have largely nationalized old age, medical care, employment conditions, passenger trains, poverty, unemployment, education...and much, much more.

One important difference was that the French had taken direct ownership of many companies — including the power company, EDF, and automaker, Renault. But ownership proved more of a liability than a plus. The companies lost money. Their employees went on strike. The trains declined to keep the government’s published time schedule.

In the ’90s, France began a major divestment program...which continues today. But while the French have been unloading their stocks, the US is backing up the truck to acquire stocks at the highest prices in history. A few years ago, a Republican who proposed government ownership of the ‘means of production’ would have been kicked out of the Rotary Club. But now, they’ve already got shares in 30 different companies — in steel, chips, critical minerals and others — and they’re adding another big one. Copilot:

The U.S. government is investing in a new shipyard in Baltimore to enhance submarine production, with a 40% stake being taken by the government.

Both parties and the public appear to be on board. US News & World Report:

U.S. Acceptance of Socialism Hits Record High, Poll Says

A new Gallup poll shows that 43% of Americans view socialism favorably, the highest level since the survey started in 2010.

Our friend, MN Gordon, provides more detail.

Whether it’s capping the cost of prescription drugs, childcare, or credit card interest rates, Americans are begging the government to step in and fix the price tag…

This urge spans almost every demographic. The poll showed that 66 percent of Democrats, 56 percent of voters earning over $100,000, and 60 percent of those making under $50,000 all want healthcare price limits. Age makes little difference either. Fifty-eight percent of 18-to-29-year-olds and 56 percent of seniors over 65 agree that force is needed to get costs under control.

It goes in cycles. Those whose lives have been ruined by it want nothing more to do with it. But those with no experience of socialism can imagine how it will miraculously multiply the loaves and fishes; they can scarcely wait until the feds get more control. They especially like price controls — until they’ve lived with the empty shelves they inevitably produce.

Stay tuned.

Regards,

Bill Bonner