Aptly titled, the main takeaway from this book is that socialism sucks the wealth right out of a society and ultimately impoverishes the vast majority of its citizens. I believe the authors are absolutely correct to point out that the main tenet of socialism (government ownership of the means of production) is deeply misunderstood in this country, and that progressive liberalism is mistakenly conflated with it. They are vastly different. They authors are also correct to point out that no country in the world is 100% capitalist or 100% socialist. There is a spectrum, and every country falls somewhere between the two poles. This was a good primer on the subject of socialism, easy to understand, relatable, and most importantly, down to earth. The authors don't take themselves too seriously, though they do take seriously their commitment to a free economy, and it made for an entertaining and enlightening read.

I wanted this book to be more. I was hoping for an indepth look at the history of drinking and cultural in the various countries, and how the transition to socialism changed them. I would've settled for more of a travel log. As it is, the book is little more than a econ journal article with flair. To be fair, they said as much in the introduction.

Great to hear about actual experiences in the socialist or collectivist countries while still keeping the book casual and not so academic. Toward the end of the book, they said something that just clicked for me in terms of beautiful simplicity as to why capitalism is superior: Capitalists are required to innovate in order to compete and sometimes they fail. Their failure is what drives quality to increase over time. A socialist or collectivist system does not take failure into account. Without failure you cannot have progress and growth just like with evolution in organisms.

It was a good book! If you are unfamiliar with socialist countries, it’s a good read. I studied this in grad school so I had a good understanding already - Overall, the author does a good job of keeping the writing light and interesting!

As I don't drink alcohol, a book with some beers on the cover is not generally going to appeal to me, but it seemed like an entertaining look at a subject I am interested in. The authors were crude at times and there was some random cursing throughout but there was humor too, and it was overall a fascinating quick read.

The authors first traveled to Sweden, which is not a socialist country (it protects personal property rights, allows free trade, and lightly regulates businesses), but a big welfare state that taxes the dickens out of everything. Then they traveled to Venezuela which used to be touted by socialists as a pristine example of socialism, which they now say is "not really socialism" because it's a complete and utter failure.

Next was Cuba, which some socialists like to say has a better healthcare system/life expectancy than the U.S. But its hospitals are so poorly equipped that many people bring sheets from home. And they have far fewer automobile fatalities because most Cubans don't even own cars. Cuba's low rate of infant mortality is a result of data manipulation. Cuba has one of the highest rates of abortion in the world: 72 out of 100 babies are aborted, and doctors force women to abort high risk pregnancies.

The authors were not able to safely get into North Korea but they saw it from China. China is an interesting country as it has adopted free market reforms that have transformed much of the country and brought millions out of poverty. For example, the government realized that farmers free to make a profit were productive, self-employment and private business ownership is legal, and there are free trade zones and special economic zones. The authors refer to China as a crony capitalist police state, as politically it is still very communist.

The authors also traveled to Russia, Ukraine, and the country of Georgia. They cite Georgia as a good example of a country that has successfully reformed from its Soviet socialist days into a pro-capitalist country by reducing the size of the government, privatizing state-owned corporations, and repealing unnecessary bureaucracy rules/regulations.

They finished at a socialist conference in Chicago where the majority of attendants were millennials who didn't have a firm grasp on socialism. They were passionate about BLM, social justice, abortion, illegal immigration - generally liberal ideas.

I couldn't get on board with the authors libertarian ideas though. In particular I disagree with their "no borders" stance. It's just a terrible idea. legal immigration=good, illegal immigration=bad.

"Abortion and environmental activism seem to be common gateway drugs to socialism."

3/5 ⭐️'s

I found it really interesting to learn about the different countries that still live in a socialistic economy, especially their different ways of handeling this. Learning about forced abortions really shocked me. Next to that, I really liked the writing style of the authors and how they wrote about their own experience and research.

I would definitely recommend if you're interested in reading a non-fiction book and want to learn something about our world.

Written in 2018 by libertarian economist, this examination of Socialism in the wild is timely and informative. The authors provide an effective counter narrative to the recent surge in socialism.

Note: Social justice does not equal Socialism. Despite what seems to be the idea touted by many followers today, Socialism doesn't stand for equality and representation of oppressed groups. It does, however, tout no privately-owned property and government owned & controlled means of production as its hallmarks. This is something that seems unclear to many who identify with Socialism. I didn't have the best education so informing myself is my own responsibility now. I couldn't put into words any tenets of Socialism, Marxism, or Communism. I would encourage anyone to read this to get a snapshot of how these ideologies historically have played out and why more people leave these countries than arrive. While our system isn't perfect, it is pretty great when compared to many others.