Facts don’t care about your feelings. Logic isn’t fair. Reason isn’t concerned with your emotions. These oft-regurgitated cliches hurled at the left by those on the right might sound familiar to you. Hey, maybe they’ve even been directed at you personally. And, aside from seeing these claims from the right as simply funny, they’re also quite ironic. Because, when you actually dig down into the arguments of both the left and the right, it becomes quite clear, quite quickly, that the facts are actually on our side. That when you use logic and reason to argue for either capitalism or socialism, it’s socialism that comes out as the winner. Everytime. 

There are many tools in the left’s toolbox when it comes to convincing those we interact with about the superiority of socialism. We do have arguments that center on fairness and equity, on more feelings-based arguments, which are very compelling and which we should certainly not abandon. But we also have a vast arsenal of arguments that rely on simple logic. And it’s some of these arguments that we’re going to explore—both in favor of socialism and against capitalism—in this episode. And we’ve brought on the perfect guest to walk us through this style of argumentation.

Scott Sehon is a Professor of philosophy at Bowdoin College and author of the book Socialism: A Logical Introduction, published by Oxford University Press. In this episode, we introduce the philosophical study of logic and how to construct and deconstruct logical  formulas and logical arguments. We then apply this knowledge to the real world by asking what is the better economic system: socialism or capitalism? In the process we discredit and overturn some of the most common arguments for capitalism, we explore what we actually mean by socialism and socialistic societies, we explore a great deal of empirical data suggesting the superiority of societies with more democratic control and more egalitarian distribution, and, we talk about the importance of utilizing the tools of logic and reason as socialists.

Further resources:

• Socialism: A Logical Introduction, by Scott Sehon
• Taking Stock of Shock: Social Consequences of the 1989 Revolutions by Kristen Ghodsee and Mitchell Orenstein

Related episodes:

• Dialectical Materialism w/ Josh Sykes
• Why Women Have Better Sex Under Socialism with Kristen Ghodsee
• [UNLOCKED] How the North Plunders the South w/ Jason Hickel
• Walter Rodney, Marxism, and Underdevelopment with D. Musa Springer & Charisse Burden-Stelly
• The Spirit Level with Richard Wilkinson & Kate Pickett
• Suburban Hell and Ugly Cities
• Debunking the Myth of Homo economicus (documentary)
• Socialism Betrayed w/ Roger Keeran and Joe Jamison

Cover artwork: Carolyn Raider
Intermission music: "Invisible Rain" by Stick To Your Guns

Upstream is a labor of love—we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Subscribe to our Patreon at patreon.com/upstreampodcast or please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support

If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at  upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship

For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Bluesky.

You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.