One need look no farther than the current race for mayor of New York where Democrats nominated a socialist to represent their party and it looks like he is going to win.

Socialists advocate for state ownership of the means of production. In the Democrat mayoral candidate’s case he favors state ownership of grocery stores and housing policies that would completely ignore the market as an indicator of supply and demand and would drive away much needed capital to finance housing needs.

Recently, the Trump administration quietly converted CHIPS Act subsidies into an $8.9 billion equity purchase in Intel, making the federal government a 10 percent owner of one of America's largest technology companies.

Again, socialism is government control of the means of production. When the government becomes your largest shareholder, that's a strong first step.

The Intel case offends two basic economic truths. First, no group of officials can ever know enough to guide a complex industry better than millions of private investors, engineers, and consumers spending their own money. Second, the power to "partner" with business is the power to control it.

The more political capital the government invests, the more it demands in return. It's only a matter of time until politically favored locations, suppliers, or hiring quotas shape Intel's decisions. That isn't capitalism.

And then there is the classic market intervention tool called “tariffs”. Democrats loved the concept of tariffs right up until the second that Trump proposed them.

This is what I find ironic. Democrats hate everything about Trump, including policies they have historically supported.

It makes no sense.