This is the second part of a look at the goals of communism. To anyone with their eyes open, it is clear there is nothing Utopian about the Marxist theory. In the graphic below titled “20th Century Death from Information is Beautiful,” we can see communism killed 94 million people in the 20th century. This does not include the 28 million killed by fascism in the same century. Only Islamic extremists surpass communism in deaths caused, and they took 1400 years to accomplish that feat.With a track record like this, how can anyone possibly consider this deadly option? Simple. It is a combination of lies and deceit fostered by the ruling class, willing accomplice media, and an uneducated public. The Naked Communist is a 1958 book by an ex FBI agent, United States author and political theorist W. Cleon Skousen. It listed 45 goals of communists for the United States, those goals were read into the Congressional Register in 1963. The majority of those goals have been realized. The early 20th century progressives set the stage for much of the socialist movement in the US.
Communism requires a strong central government, and ultimately a dictator. The passage of the 17th amendment did much to take the states’ direct representation away, as senators became elected by the people, rather than serving at the pleasure of the legislature. The Great Depression set the stage for a strong president to put forth many big government policies for the “workers.” It is vital under Socialism and Communism that the people rely on the government.
Our constitution guarantees us equal opportunity. There is no doubt that over the years, certain groups of people, primarily women and blacks, were most certainly denied equal opportunity. Communism’s appeal is to have equal results, but it does not take long to see that as an impossible dream. The 94 million dead from the oppression of communist dictators, those thrown in Gulags or similar camps would disagree on equality of outcomes.
The Five Thousand Year Leap: Twenty-Eight Great Ideas That Are Changing the World is a book that was published in 1981 by author W. Cleon Skousen. Available free online and I encourage all to read how these ideas contrast with those of Marx and Engles. Our nation was founded on personal freedom and responsibility. Communism assumes you are unable to excel on your own…and if you do, it would not be fair to those who do not.
For thousands of years, up to about 200 years ago, 85-90% of the world’s population lived in abject poverty. The ruling class was the only group that did not have to worry about clothing, housing or food, and the common man had zero chance of ever moving to the ruling class. According to the World Bank, extreme poverty dropped below 10% for the first time ever, now at 9.6%. It is no coincidence that this happened since the US came into existence. Our founders were distrustful of all things big, not just government, whether a bank, a corporation or a King. They specifically enumerated the powers of government to keep it from having too much power, and we have ignored it. Whether by trust or apathy, we have allowed many of the tenets of Marx to creep in, and in so doing, we have lost more than we know.
Remember, Marxist policy requires the people to rely on the government. Aside from the federal programs, FDR set up Social Security assuring people for generations would depend on that program in their retirement years. LBJ ushered in the Great Society the gave us Medicare, Medicaid and federal funding of education- more government dependence for the poor and elderly. Nixon brought us OSHA, EPA, Clean Air Act, Noise Control Act, Marine Mammal Protection Act, Endangered Species Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act.
All this gave government tremendous power, and none of it falls within the enumerated powers. Public service jobs more than doubled under the Carter administration. It might have been a blessing the economy was bad at this time, or more might have been done. Under Clinton we passed the Family and Medical Leave Act, Motor Voter Act, Earned Income Credit, Head Start, Assault Weapons Ban, California Desert Protection Act, Child Tax Credit, Children’s Health Insurance Program, Child Care Initiative and Head Start Expansion. I don’t want to bore you with all the government expansion, but it continued at a very fast pace under both Bush and Obama, culminating in the Affordable Healthcare Act.
The key programs, agencies and acts are those that take control of property, regulate business, regulate behavior and create dependency. All of these things also redistribute wealth. Additionally, the “Everybody gets a trophy” and the victim class of people plays into the hands of the Marxist strategy. There were many factors in the failure of the USSR, but chief among those was a financial collapse. When government owns business there is no incentive to produce. Quantity and quality suffer, workers have no pride in their job or what they produce. There is little difference between government owning the business and using regulation to control every aspect of the business.
What of incentive under our current system? Of course we still have greater freedoms than most countries, but it is a relative thing. Liberties have become an endangered species in many ways. For every asset that is transferred, one person benefits at another’s expense…and in the end it destroys the incentive of both parties. If I work hard and make a good living, the more I make, the more taxes I pay.
Let’s look at a single mother, one that has never been married and has 3 children. The taxes we pay give her WIC, SNAP, welfare, housing assistance, EIC and more. I also read of a situation where a boyfriend buys a house and rents it to her. The the housing allowance pays him and he gets a free house paid for by you and me. What is the incentive for her to do anything for herself? What is the incentive for me to work harder and make more?
In economics there is a term, the Laffer Curve, coined by it’s author Art Laffer. It is the idea that there is a fine line between taxing too much and too little, maximum revenue is gained by hitting the balance between the two. So it is with government regulations. There is no doubt we do need regulations, however, most of them constitutionally should be passed and controlled by the states, not a central government. There is a point where the good provided by certain regulations begins to decline when too much regulation is put on the neck of a business owner.
However, we seem to be in a never ending march towards socialism. The regulations, mandates and taxes bring us down to a lower economic status and destroys our incentive to do more. It has been said that under current laws and regulations that Microsoft and Apple could not have been started as they were. What have we lost due to these restrictions? And what of the crony capitalism? I, personally, do not believe there is crony capitalism, it is communism. The likes of Solyndra where over $500 million of our tax dollars were wasted. According to the Washington Times, clean energy loans have cost the taxpayers $2.2 billion. Companies like GE get sweetheart deals and pay zero in taxes.
Obamacare will cost over $1.2 Trillion for the next 10 years, and that will go higher. Under communism, the people are slaves to the state. Our government has spent us to over $19 trillion in actual debt, over $100 trillion in unfunded liabilities, and controls our lives using taxes and regulations. We may not be in a communist nation, but we are slaves to the state, nevertheless. We do not have far to go should Bernie Sanders, or Hillary Clinton is elected. Bernie, the admitted Democratic Socialist and Hillary the “Progressive.” Call it what you want, Socialist or Progressive; the end result is the same.
By the way Vladimir Lenin, a Democratic Socialist, said, “Democracy is indispensable to socialism.” He also said, “Give us a child for 8 years and it will be Bolshevik (communist) forever”- an indictment of our public school system. We are at a tipping point, in fact beyond the tipping point, but I don’t believe we are past the point of no return. During this election cycle we hear cries from the people and promises by candidates to create jobs. It is not the president’s nor congress’ job to create jobs. It is their job to follow the Constitution they take an oath to protect and defend. Paul Harvey used to say, “With increased liberty comes increased responsibility.”
Our options are as follow: Do we want the government to make our decisions, tell us what we can and cannot do, assure we have housing, food and the essentials to survive? Or do we want the government to secure our God given rights and leave us free to succeed of fail? The former leads to equal outcome communism for the people led by the ruling class, the latter leads to prosperity for all who choose. Gone are the days we can trust our leaders, going about our days and voting on election day is a thing of the past. Do not think our leaders are not working the Cloward and Piven Strategy to overwhelm the system. A collapse is likely inevitable, and also intentional to shove us over the edge.
Our future is in your hands.