Many of the things Everyone Knows are in fact, false. We are told time and again that socialism is shared misery. Misery is hard to measure, but the assumption is that workers are less productive in a socialist economy. The everybody-knows explanation is that socialism rewards slackers.

That is an assertion that can be tested, given enough data. The theorem is, then, that productivity is lower in socialist economies. Anecdotal evidence abounds. Many socialist nations have crashed in horrific failure. Need we look any further?

Well, yes, because the burning question is, “was it socialism that killed them?”

Let me tell you, when I started reading up on this stuff, the water got deep, fast, so there’s a pretty good chance my summary of economics is even less precise than Carl Sagan’s parables about physics. But here’s what I managed to glean:

1. All things being equal, socialist societies are more productive.
2. Corruption is the soul-sucker of an economy.
3. Socialist societies are more likely to be corrupt.

So if you can create a nation where workers can work, confident that their families will be cared for, knowing they are secure and need not fear catastrophic medical bills, things can go really well. IF (and this is the giant IF) the government doesn’t siphon off the fruits of their labors to cronies, or undermine the rule of law. If, in other words, the government isn’t organized crime. Russia’s socialism was pretty much organized crime, and cratered. The former socialist republics of Eastern Europe are all examples of horrible socialism.

But walk with me here, as we explore the idea that corruption is the soul-killer of a society. Corrupt socialist nations fall. But so do corrupt capitalist nations.

Here in the United States, we have already grown the corruption of a socialist nation, without any of the benefits.

Exhibit A: Boston’s “Big Dig”

Let’s compare the Big Dig in Boston, a fine city in a fine capitalist nation, to the Big Dig in Barcelona, where socialism runs wild in the streets. While it’s impossible to say the projects are equivalent, they were both giant public-works projects that involved tunneling under cities. They both cost a shit-ton of money. The estimated cost before ground was broken for both projects was similar.

Both went over budget, but the Boston project went way, way over budget. And then required remedial construction. In the end, the Barcelona project cost a lot less.

Why did the Boston’s big dig cost so much? Let’s round up the usual suspects. Unions? Ahem. We’re comparing ourselves to Spain, here. Environmental regulations? Again: Spain. They’re pretty tough about that stuff, too.

Corruption? Bingo. The way public works projects in the United States are bid and managed is an open invitation for grift. Building a simple bridge now costs taxpayers ten times what it used to. Our tax money just vanishes into the dark unknown. Since ALL public projects are ridiculously inflated, they all seem normal. Barcelona’s cost overruns were about half Boston’s. Corruption there too, but less.

Exhibit B: The F-35 Flying Turd

Mention this weapon to any senior military man in the US and listen to his teeth grind. It is a terrible airplane, designed by politicians; the only mission it does well is to cost money. My money. Your money. Money that could be spent on airplanes that don’t suck. The men in Washington who keep this project alive are criminals, and they profit handsomely.

Exhibit C: Health care

While we argue endlessly about how expensive it would be to provide health care to everyone, a lot of other countries in the world manage to do it for a fraction of the cost. How? In our country, where does all that money go? There are some reasonable answers for some of that cost (we are not willing to accept any failure rate; our costs fund research that would not happen otherwise), but let’s face it, we could do almost as well for a fraction of the cost. Masses of money just disappear in a health-care black hole of bureaucrats and malpractice premiums.

I’m sad. Socialist nations fail because they invite corruption. We are already corrupt, and we’re not even socialist yet.