Poilievre Warns That Socialist View of Human Nature Reduces Freedom

In a recent appearance on a leading podcast, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre warned that supporters of socialism have a contradictory view of human nature that can eventually lead to a reduction in individual freedoms.

Supporters of socialism believe humans are “wretched, self-interested, greedy” when they’re in the private economy, but are “angels” when they work on behalf of the government, Poilievre said April 2 on “The Diary of a CEO” podcast, which has 15.6 million subscribers on YouTube.

Poilievre said this belief leads socialists to believe the government should have more control, “because then we have all these angels that will decide for us—decide … how our money is spent, what we’re supposed to believe in the modernist day, what kind of vehicles we drive, what we should think.”

The Tory leader said too much power in the hands of a small group leads “the worst vices in human nature” to show themselves. He said he believes in a “bottom-up” system where power is dispersed and freedom is promoted, adding that the purpose of government should be to “do only those things people cannot do for themselves.”

When podcast host Steven Bartlett said some listeners might believe that capitalism has led to greater inequality, Poilievre said many countries now have “socialism for the very rich.” He said some governments are redistributing wealth from the working class to the “very wealthy.”

“There are countless examples of it. When they block home building with heavy regulations, they limit the supply of homes. Those who have mansions, therefore, are richer because their houses are worth more. But young people, newcomers, working-class people, can’t actually get a home,” he said.

However, Poilievre said he was not suggesting that governments have no role. He said there should be a “basic social safety net” that provides less-advantaged Canadians with services they cannot otherwise obtain, such as health care and schooling.

“But what happens is that once you get beyond providing those basics and government starts to metastasize into all kinds of other things that are not its core responsibility, each dollar spent has less and less return, and then it turns into a negative return, where the more they spend, the more damage they do,” he said.

Poilievre said he believes China is potentially the largest threat to Canada and to world peace. He said that while China is a “spectacular and brilliant civilization” that could work with other countries to advance trade and contribute to world “harmony,” the ruling communist regime could lead it in a different direction.

“If it [takes] a very aggressive, bellicose approach—using technology for espionage, interference in foreign countries, as they have done in Canada, invading Taiwan—then China and Beijing, in particular, the regime, could become the biggest risk and threat to our country and our world,” he said.

On the topic of Iran, Poilievre called the Tehran regime the “leading world sponsor of terrorism,” and said it has been enriching uranium to levels beyond what is needed for civilian nuclear power.

“The Iranian government cannot be allowed to develop nuclear weapons, and any action to stop them from doing that is necessary for world peace,” he said when asked by Bartlett if the United States had made the right decision by launching a war with Iran.

The episode has been viewed about 1.6 million times since it aired.