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Socialism Fails: Why the Danish Model Won’t Work in the U.S.

Denmark is regularly held up in U.S. political debate as proof that socialism works, with the country’s high taxes, universal healthcare, and generous benefits cited as a model the United States could adopt if it were only willing to embrace socialism the way Denmark has. The comparison usually comes with a pointed question: if socialism produces this standard of living in Denmark, why can’t the United States do the same?

The record of countries that have actually implemented socialism answers that question on its own. China, Cuba, Laos, North Korea, and Venezuela have all organized their economies around state or Communist Party control of production. All five rank among the world’s most repressed economies and least free societies. Denmark’s nominal GDP per capita is high at $77,046, but it still trails the United States’ $89,991. The other five countries badly trail both: China sits at $13,968, Venezuela at $3,736, Laos at $2,288, and North Korea at just $640.

Cuba’s official GDP per capita is reported at more than $7,000 per year. That figure is calculated using the government’s official exchange rates, which bear little resemblance to the rate used in everyday transactions. At market exchange rates, the average state worker earns only about $15 to $25 per month.

On political rights and civil liberties, Freedom House’s 2026 report rates China at 9 out of 100 and North Korea at 3, both among the world’s least free states. Cuba, Laos, and Venezuela are all rated “Not Free” as well. Socialism, in its actual historical applications, has consistently produced restricted freedom and a low standard of living for the citizens living under it.

Denmark is frequently described as a socialist success story, but the label does not match how the Danish economy actually functions. Socialism, in its standard economic definition, means state or collective ownership of the means of production, with government directing investment, pricing, and output. Denmark does not operate this way. It is a capitalist market economy with private ownership of firms, competitive markets, and free trade. It carries a large tax-funded welfare and transfer system layered on top. That is the same market foundation the United States has, just carrying a much heavier tax load.

According to the OECD’s Revenue Statistics 2025, Denmark’s tax-to-GDP ratio reached 45.2% in 2024, the highest in the OECD for the second consecutive year, up from 44.0% in 2023. By comparison, the OECD average was 34.1% in 2024, and the United States collected roughly 25.6% of GDP in tax revenue, near the bottom of the OECD. That revenue funds redistribution and social insurance, not state-run enterprise.

Denmark’s private sector remains dominant, and government involvement is concentrated in financing benefits rather than owning production. The result is a market economy with a Gini coefficient of 28.6, among the lowest measures of income inequality globally, and a poverty rate of about 4% as of 2021.

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Key House Democrats Caught Flat Footed When Asked About Democratic Socialists’ Plan for America

Key House Democrats including Ilhan Omar, Ro Khanna, and Pete Aguilar were left fumbling this week when asked to comment on the latest radical proposal from the Democratic Socialists of America.

The DSA’s platform, called “Workers Deserve More,” openly calls for abolishing core pillars of the American government including the Senate, the presidency, and even the Supreme Court.

The plan would replace those institutions with a single legislature controlling both an elected executive branch and a judiciary directly answerable to Congress.

When questioned by Fox News Digital, Rep. Khanna quickly distanced himself from the proposal, saying, “I don’t support that. I haven’t read the proposal.”

It was an unsurprising response for a lawmaker trying to play both sides of the ideological split within his own party.

The socialist plan does not stop at dismantling the federal system.

It also seeks to erase U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, pardon all aliens regardless of criminal behavior, and defund the Department of War, the historical term for the Department of Defense.

To top it off, the DSA platform calls for granting full voting rights to felons and even noncitizens, while ending all deportations entirely.

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Russia Pounds Kiev With the Largest Missile Attack of the War

You’ve never seen Kiev like this.

While the Ukraine war is the bloodiest war fought in Europe since WW2, the capital Kiev has still lived a comparatively normal life.

The calls from the most extreme Russian segments to ‘turn Kiev into a parking lot’, ‘raze it to the ground’ etc. have been solemnly ignored by Vladimir Putin and his military commanders.

With last night’s massive Russian airstrikes on the Ukrainian capital, the ‘quality of life’ there may have started to take a change for the worse – but there’s a catch.

CBS called last night’s attack ‘deadly, massive’, while The Telegraph and the New York Times called the ‘largest’, and CNN the ‘biggest’ missile attack of the 5-year war.

It’s estimated that between 40 and 50 ballistic missiles were launched at the city – and so far, the estimates in the western papers say ‘one person is dead’.

This appears to vindicate the Russian claims of only striking military targets (empty at night).

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Hawaiʻi Supreme Court Orders Office of Elections to Answer Petition Over Refusal to Support Elections Commission

The Hawaiʻi Supreme Court has ordered the State Office of Elections to respond, by Friday, July 24, 2026, to a petition alleging the agency unlawfully refused to provide administrative support to the Hawaiʻi Elections Commission — support the Commission needed to convene a meeting and elect a chairperson.

The July 17, 2026, order, issued in Cushnie & McKay v. Nago (SCPW-26-0000498), directs Respondents Scott T. Nago, Chief Election Officer, and the Office of Elections to address two questions:

  1. Whether the Office of Elections failed or refused to provide staff support to the Elections Commission as required under Hawaiʻi Revised Statutes § 11-1.5(b); and
  2. Whether that failure prevented the Elections Commission from meeting to elect a chairperson.

The order was signed by Acting Chief Justice Sabrina S. McKenna, Justices Todd W. Eddins and Lisa M. Ginoza, and Circuit Judges Peter T. Cahill and Dyan M. Medeiros, sitting by assignment.

Background

Petitioners Ralph S. Cushnie and Tamara McKay, Commissioners of the Hawaiʻi Elections Commission representing Kauaʻi and Maui counties respectively, filed an emergency petition for writ of mandamus on July 8, 2026. The petition states that the Commission — which has lacked a chairperson since June 30, 2026 — could not lawfully notice or convene a meeting because the Office of Elections declined to provide basic administrative support, including a remote-meeting link and distribution of meeting notices, despite HRS § 11-1.5(b)’s requirement that the Office “shall provide staff support to the elections commission, as requested by the elections commission.”

The petition further states that the Department of Accounting and General Services confirmed in writing that the statutory support obligation rests with the Office of Elections, and that the Department of the Attorney General is not authorized to convene Commission meetings on the agency’s behalf.

What Happens Next

Under the Court’s order, Respondents must file their answer by July 24, 2026. Petitioners may then file a reply of no more than ten pages by July 29, 2026.

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Woke U: University at Buffalo Funds Research on ‘Queer Theory,’ ‘Racial Capitalism’

In the latest example of DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) and wokeness at educational institutions, Campus Reform reports that the University of Buffalo is funding research on ‘queer theory’ and ‘racial capitalism.’

“The University at Buffalo’s Gender Institute will fund grant projects with up to $7,000 to advance scholarship related to women, gender, and sexuality.”

In January 2025, President Trump signed the Executive Order ‘Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity.’

It targets DEI and DEIA programs across the federal government, private sector, and institutions of higher education.

The University of Buffalo’s grants seem to fly in the face of the order.

“Funding, which ranges from $1,000 to $7,000, can support “data collection, archival research, fieldwork, research assistance, supplies, books, software, travel integral to the development of the project, and other forms of research support and curriculum development expenses.”

“A grant from fall 2025 supported a monograph about Shakespeare’s Macbeth and abortion. The project was titled “Queering Birth, Queering Death: The Problem of Life in Early Modern Literature.”

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Husband of Socialist Rep. Ayanna Pressley Responds to Dead Body Being Found on His Property

Boston police are investigating the discovery of a body at a property owned by Conan Harris, the husband of Rep. Ayanna Pressley.

Officers responded to a call at Harris’ property at 25 Malta Street in the Mattapan neighborhood on Saturday afternoon.

The call was later upgraded to a death investigation, with homicide detectives being brought in.

Newsweek reports, “The property, 25 Malta Street, has in the past been listed as the address of his business.”

The deceased has not yet been publicly identified.

Pressley and her husband reportedly do not reside at the Mattapan property, and it has been rented out.

A spokesperson for the congresswoman issued a statement on behalf of the family Saturday evening, saying, “The Congresswoman extends her deepest condolences to the impacted family.”

The Newsweek report adds:

Harris responded to the case in a post to Facebook on Saturday.

“Thank you Everyone for the care and concern, our family is safe,” he wrote. “My heart goes out to the family that lost a loved one today in Mattapan.”

Harris, Pressley’s husband since 2014, previously worked as a senior public safety adviser in Boston City Hall and now operates his own consulting firm.

He previously served ten years in prison for drug trafficking charges.

Details about the cause of death or any potential suspects have not been made public at the time of publishing.

Boston police have not released additional information beyond confirming the death investigation at the address.

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US-Israeli Bombing Has Harmed Iran’s Wildlife, Farms, and Water Supply

ust a few days before Tehran and Washington signed a now-defunct ceasefire agreement, local media in Iran reported that 25 goitered gazelles were killed in U.S. airstrikes on Kharg Island in the northern Persian Gulf. The small coral island is a key terminal for Iran’s oil exports and its unique wildlife includes white-headed seagulls, hawksbill sea turtles, and ospreys. It also hosts the ruins of a Dutch fort built in 1753. On multiple occasions, U.S. President Donald Trump has brandished the possibility of invading the island of 8,000 people.

The U.S.-Israeli war on Iran opened with the most intensive bombing campaign in modern history. Some 23,800 airstrikes were carried out in a span of 39 days, and one of its most consequential impacts was the environmental damage inflicted on Iran’s ecosystems. A June 17 memorandum of understanding halted the hostilities, but Trump notified Congress last week that he was resuming military action. Bombings are becoming a new norm, damaging Iran’s land, air, and water.

From toxic acid rain blanketing the Tehran metro area after Israel bombed the Iranian capital’s oil depots on March 7, to the emission of a substantial volume of greenhouse gases in the early phases of the campaign, the war has caused serious environmental degradation in a country reeling from a range of climate-related crises, water stress, and air quality issues. While international media have failed to consistently cover the negative environmental impacts of the war, environmental nonprofits, academic institutions, and climate advocates have documented extensive damage, only a portion of which has been understood to date.

According to a study by the Climate and Community Institute, 5 million metric tonnes of greenhouse gases were emitted due to the attacks on Iran in first 14 days of the war, which the nonprofit estimated exceeded Iceland’s carbon pollution over an entire year.

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Jarring Video: South African Reveals What’s Actually Believed About Whites, And It Is Horrific

There’s an increasingly open and unapologetic brand of racism coming out of South Africa targeting white people, and it’s being espoused by prominent cultural figures.

In February 2025, South African rapper, music producer, and commentator Nota Baloyi made an appearance on “The Hustler’s Corner Podcast” with host DJ Sbu. The duo discussed a number of topics, including rapper Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl Halftime Show performance and other rappers like Ye and Drake.

Just over the halfway mark of the episode, Baloyi went into a bizarre racist and pseudoscientific rant about the inferiority of the white race.

“The problem that South Africans have right now is that we don’t understand white people. White people are [an] inferior species to us. We are Homo sapiens. They’ve got Neanderthal blood in them.

“This is the science, and this is not science that was done by black people. It was done by them,” he told Sbu.

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‘Quality decays exponentially following AI arrival’: Research shows experts and contributors leaving online communities amidst silent ‘knowledge reset’

Research from the University of Auckland on Stack Overflow’s demise over the last few years points to an increasingly worrying trend in the software community: the best, or highest-skill, contributors are leaving in droves.

AI, which arguably bridges the gap between most entry-level and mid-range coders and some of the best in the business, might actually be accelerating the latter’s exit from online communities, as they feel their efforts are no longer as valued as they once were.

Stack Overflow has seen a nearly 76% decline in monthly questions posted since ChatGPT’s advent in 2022, indicating that both new and existing users are abandoning the site.

A much broader problem than just Stack Overflow?

Stack Overflow’s problems and the reason for its decline were multi-faceted; however, many users felt that the site and some of its most talented contributors engaged in a certain degree of hubris.

This, coupled with heavy-handed moderation that many called ‘self-righteous,’ meant that users finding a viable option would inevitably leave the platform.

ChatGPT and its AI alternatives became considerably more pliable and, over time, doubled as search engines for many coders with routine, repeatable queries, even as AI increasingly handled questions such as syntax issues better than before.

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Finally! Court Rules Texas Can Bar Illegals From Getting In-State Tuition

As reported many times here at The Gateway Pundit, many schools have offered in-state tuition to illegal aliens in violation of federal law.

Now, according to The College Fix ,”Texas can continue to prohibit illegal immigrants from receiving in-state tuition rates at public universities, a federal court affirmed.”

“The ruling last Thursday by a three-judge panel of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upholds an agreement between Trump administration and Texas, which ended the Lone Star State’s program. Federal law prohibits illegal immigrants from receiving better tuition rates than out-of-state American citizens.”

Surprisingly, illegal aliens, even in Texas, have been getting better rates of tuition than other Americans from out of state.

This law fell apart following a lawsuit. “Texas quickly settled as part of a coordinated effort with the Department of Justice.”

The Trump administration has targeted these laws, which give tuition breaks to illegals in both red and blue states.

It is clearly wrong to give lawbreakers an advantage over law-abiding American citizens.

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