I have the same thought as after reading the book by another political candidate Andrew Yang. Although honestly I'm thinking of author's dad. What if one day America elected one of those genuinely intelligent people. Would it make a difference? Could they change anything?

The book itself is is convincing but takes a bit too many cheap shots at socialists. Pages would be better spent tackling more nuanced problems that are less obviously better served by free economy. ( )

An excellent primer on socialism that splits the difference between the accessible and scholarly on one hand and the contemporary and timeless on the other hand. For instance, the Pauls write about modern events and the historical past, reference modern pundits and classic thinkers (like Hayek or Friedman), and move from Alexandria Ocasio and Bernie Sanders to Mao and Stalin. The book is split into six parts. The parts I found most interesting were Parts I and II: I talked about how capitalism is a better system than socialism in the United States and II talks about how Scandinavia, the current example de jour for "democratic" socialists, is not a good example because capitalism made Scandinavia great. Part III talks about historical faults of socialism, i.e., how it always turns to dictatorial authoritarianism. Part IV and V talk about problems in socialism, like the tyranny, planning, dissent, etc. Part VI moves back to more modern ideals of socialism, including attempts to use green to create red, i.e., use the Green New Deal to restructure society away from capitalism to communism. Anyway, I liked this book and learned from it. (Besides Rand's appeal to his namesake, who had a horrid philosophy: selfishness is not conservative... capitalism must be tempered by Christianity to create a good society.) A decent introduction for the lay reader to socialism's evils and problems and capitalism's goods and benefits. ( )