Dear John,

Young people today weren’t alive when actual socialism was imposed on one-third of the planet. As memories fade and as the number of living witnesses to the socialist experiment dwindle, many are tempted to jump back on the road to socialism.

In February, we commissioned a survey which found that half of Canadians aged 18-24 support socialism as their preferred economic system!

It is clear that if we don’t educate young people about the realities of socialism, and the misery it inflicted on tens of millions of people, we risk repeating those same mistakes with catastrophic consequences.

Along with think tanks in the US, Australia, and the UK, the Fraser Institute aims to do just that with a new project: The Realities of Socialism.

The project's first book, which examines Poland's experience with socialism, will be released next month.

Its findings are clear:

• Shortages were endemic to socialist Poland. Stores had no soap, coffee, sugar, laundry detergent, or meat. Poles waited 15 to 30 years for housing. Just 11% had cars and just 7% had telephones. 
• Standards of living in Poland were about 40% of U.S. living standards. Life expectancy was well below the average for other comparable European countries and in fact, for the last 16 years of socialism in Poland, life expectancy actually declined.
• Inequality was rampant in socialist Poland, since the communist elite did not pay taxes, vacationed in their own resorts, enjoyed their own spas, and hunted in their own hunting grounds. They had their own pension plans and their own health care. Party elites could have passports and leave the country, and they even shopped in their own shops stocked with goods that were unavailable to the masses.

The book's co-author Matt Mitchell perhaps sums it up best:

"As a direct result of socialism, the Polish people were materially poorer. They died younger. They had less food and fewer social services. Their freedom was curtailed and they were generally miserable."

Check out the Poland pre-release here, and stay tuned for the full book release in June.

Sincerely,

Niels Veldhuis
President
The Fraser Institute