President Ronald Reagan’s famous warning that “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction; it has to be fought for and defended by each generation” is even more relevant today than when he first said it.

He correctly identified that prosperity is not a predetermined outcome. It is created and sustained by culture, institutions, and economic freedom, and it must therefore be the responsibility of every generation to protect and preserve it.

The comforting but misguided belief in economic determinism—holding that prosperity is determined by geography, natural resources, or historical circumstances—must be rejected. By this logic, the United States was destined to be a superpower simply because it occupies a resource-rich continent and is protected by two oceans.

Natural resources and geography may create opportunities, but they do not guarantee prosperity. History shows that Americans have intentionally pursued free enterprise, transparent institutions, and a limited federal government system that transformed opportunity into prosperity and allowed the nation to flourish.

The myth of economic determinism can be revealed by one of history’s most compelling natural experiments: North Korea and South Korea. The stark development trajectories between the two is evidence that political choices impact national outcomes. After World War II, North and South shared a common culture, language, geography, and history, yet chose dramatically different political and economic systems.

South Korea embraced free enterprise, international trade, and economic liberation. North Korea adopted central planning, state ownership, and authoritarian rule. One developed into one of the world’s most advanced economies with residents enjoying personal freedoms and prosperity, while the other remains impoverished and isolated.

This contrast is even visible from space. Satellite photographs show South Korea illuminated at night by extensive infrastructure and a vibrant city, while North Korea remains dark due to an undeveloped power grid, poor infrastructure, and political factors that prioritize military needs over civilian energy consumption.

Geography didn’t create that divergence—communist policies did.

Similarly, Venezuela was among the wealthiest nations in Latin America for much of the 20th century, driven by large oil reserves. If natural resources guaranteed prosperity, it would be among the richest countries today. Instead, Venezuela fell from one of the most prosperous South American countries to one of the least prosperous in the world, with the Fraser Institute’s Economic Freedom Index ranking Venezuela number 22nd globally in 1980 and number 165th in 2021.

In less than half a century, empty promises made by socialist policymakers and enacted big-government policies undermined Venezuela’s economic foundation. The Manhattan Institute finds three policies implemented by dictator Hugo Chavez responsible for the nation’s widespread economic and humanitarian crisis: “nationalization of private industry, currency and price controls, and the fiscally irresponsible expansion of welfare programs.”

Chavez first nationalized agriculture by taking wealth and property from landowners and giving it to workers—leading to mismanagement and destruction of those resources. He then implemented controls to keep prices artificially low, which pushed out remaining firms and led to nationalized central authority. Finally, he expanded welfare programs purported to address poverty, educational shortcomings, and healthcare; all financed through high taxation and currency printing to the point of hyperinflation.

Inflation spiked, shortages of food and medicine became commonplace, government dependence increased, investment collapsed, and millions emigrated out of the country in search of better opportunities.

But remember, in 1998 Chavez was democratically elected president. He campaigned on providing relief to poor- and middle-class populations by redistributing oil wealth in the form of social services—awfully similar to the “tax the rich” slogans of American socialists today. What starts with government programs, free buses, and artificially lower grocery prices ends with centralized authority, overreach, and the very socialist regimes that have killed citizens and destroyed entire countries in practice.

The lesson is that prosperity depends on policy—and this fact is increasingly relevant in the United States.

Socialist ideology has already made its way to America’s blue cities, with the youth driving this ideological shift from capitalism to socialism. Their affordability grievances are real, yet history repeatedly demonstrates that concentrated power in the hands of the state risks liberty, innovation, and long-term prosperity.

America’s future is not guaranteed. It depends on whether future generations defend and renew the principles and economic systems that historically made America great. Individual freedoms, economic mobility, and national prosperity should not be considered expectations, but rather privileges of ordered policies and culture.

That’s why policymakers and citizens must constantly, intentionally agitate for limited and constitutional government, a strong rule of law, and free enterprise to secure America’s future—because as Reagan reminded us, economic destiny is not guaranteed. It’s fought for and won time and time again.

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Nicole Huyer is a Senior Research Associate in The Heritage Foundation’s Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies.

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