The Inner Monologue

The Soviet Union had Gosplan, a central committee that decided how many shoes, tractors, and lightbulbs 200 million people needed. The results were legendary: factories produced record tons of steel while store shelves sat empty. Central planning may have looked good on paper, but in reality it produced waste, shortages, and a whole lot of gray misery.

The United States, one might think, had escaped that fate. Ours is the land of markets, competition, and bottom-up innovation. Yet in 2025, we find ourselves inching toward a familiar mistake—this time draped in stars and stripes. The culprit is what lawmakers proudly call “one big beautiful bill,” a massive piece of legislation that promises to fix everything from healthcare and housing to climate, childcare, and industrial policy.

It sounds efficient: one law, one vote, one sweeping solution. In practice, it looks uncomfortably like a Soviet Five-Year Plan.

Centralization by Another Name

When a handful of Washington policymakers and lobbyists dictate national priorities across dozens of sectors, it’s not all that different from Soviet ministries deciding output quotas. Millions of decentralized choices are replaced by a few hundred pages of federal mandates. The theory is neat; the reality is clumsy.

Politics Over Performance

The Soviets rewarded loyalty to the Party; America rewards access to the right subcommittee. Entire industries now thrive or wither not on efficiency but on their ability to secure carve-outs and subsidies. The game is no longer “who builds the best product” but “who hires the best lobbyist.”

One Size, No Fits

The Soviet Union imagined one farming plan could serve both Ukraine and Siberia. America now imagines that one legislative template can work for Maine and Texas alike. The mismatch is as predictable as it is destructive. Federal uniformity crushes local experimentation—the very ingredient that has historically fueled American growth.

The Numbers Always Add Up

The Soviet Union touted “record harvests” even as citizens stood in breadlines. Today, Washington trumpets “millions of jobs created or saved” while families watch grocery bills climb and housing grow out of reach. The rhetoric of success remains as creative as ever, even when reality lags behind.

A Familiar Ending?

No, America is not about to become the USSR. Private ownership still exists; innovation still thrives. But every time we stuff more of the nation’s economy into one giant, centrally planned legislative package, we flirt with the same mistake: believing that big government can outthink millions of adaptive, independent actors.

The Soviet Union collapsed under the weight of its plans. America won’t follow that exact path—but we should recognize the rhyme. A “beautiful bill” may look grand in the Capitol dome’s light, but it is still a plan built on the conceit that one set of politicians can chart the course for 330 million people.

That’s not beauty. That’s hubris.