From Margaret Thatcher’s Britain, to Ronald Reagan’s America, to the ending of the USSR, to the defeat of the Charlottetown Accord, to the stunning gains by the Reform Party in the last federal election, to Ralph’s Revolution in Alberta, to the startling success of Republicans in the 1994 US elections, and now in Ontario—freedom and free markets are winning. Capitalism is on the march! 

Capitalism? Sure. A movement toward lower taxes, freer markets and smaller government is a movement toward capitalism. Capitalism has lowest taxes, freest markets and smallest government. 

The welfare state is not defeated, but it is in retreat; its generals are timid and confused. They never expected to lose; they were the “wave of the future.” They thought the welfare state was permanent. It isn’t. 

This is not victory, but it is a breakthrough, and victories are won by exploiting breakthroughs. The welfare state’s retreat can be made into a rout.  

The danger now is timidity. Your generals aren’t used to winning, and may waste your gains by failing to exploit the statists’ bewilderment. Now is the time to urge them to boldness. Encouraging them now may pay off beyond your dreams! 

Here are three tips you can pass on to your politicians, collected by a highly political, but non-partisan, observer of Ralph’s Revolution in Alberta. 

Saturate the welfare state’s defenses. Reform everything at once. Go after medicine, education, welfare, public works, transportation, etc., etc.–all at once. Cut all government budgets, all at once. Privatize what you plan to privatize, all at once. 

This tip comes from Mrs Thatcher’s Britain, and is usually expressed in the coy metaphor of not trying to leap a gap in two bounds. 

Here’s how it really works. Welfare statists are thin on the ground, so they must combine their efforts. When all their oxen are gored at the same time, they can’t easily unite; they each have problems enough of their own. 

This creates a “fratricide” effect; when they all squawk at once, they drown each other out! The establishment press can’t back all of them effectively, and backs none of them effectively. Joe Citizen, left to his own devices, makes up his own mind. It’s a joy to see this in action! 

Cut taxes drastically. Tax cuts do a lot of things, all good. They give taxpayers a desperately needed break. They repay supporters, and attract new supporters. They promote prosperity. They encourage reformers. 

They demoralize statists! The welfare state can’t exist without high taxes, and taxes can’t be raised quickly and easily. Statists needed decades to sneak taxes up to present levels. Watching decades of conniving vanish like snow in spring will hit them hard. Some may altogether lose interest in politics. 

Privatize liquor sales early. This doesn’t sound like much, but when something as old and established as the state liquor monopoly can be abolished, almost anything can be. This is clear to both sides–encouraging reformers and dismaying statists. Privatized liquor sales are a highly visible down payment on the benefits of reform. They are the first sign most people will have that reformers mean business this time.