Socialism's back

"He who is not angry when there is just cause for anger is immoral. Why? Because anger looks to the good of justice. And if you can live amid injustice without anger, you are immoral as well as unjust." --Thomas Aquinas


Socialism marches on in America, despite the wishes of our citizenry expressed at the ballot box, despite the results of opinion polls too numerous to mention, and despite the vivid lessons of history.

Karl Heinrich Marx was a well educated German philosopher (and budding communist revolutionary), whose ideas played a significant role in the development of modern communism and socialism. Marx published his thoughts in 1848, and summarized his approach to society, the economy, and politics in the first line of chapter one of The Communist Manifesto. It reads: "The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles”. Marx argued that capitalism, like all previous socioeconomic systems, would inevitably produce internal tensions which would lead to its destruction. As capitalism replaced feudalism, he believed socialism would eventually replace capitalism. The end result would be a stateless, classless society called communism. In his characteristic turgid prose, Marx determined that the means of production and exchange owned by the middle classes was highly unfair to the working classes. From this, he concluded that revolution was inevitable, and from that, once everything was owned by the people and that all work would be evenly shared, world-wide peace and niceness would result. (I wonder what he thought when, instead of armed rebellion against the “bosses”, labor unions arose, and started getting a fair shake for the working stiff.)

Unfortunately for us, Lenin, Stalin, Mao, and a lot of other wanna-be communists decided that Karl’s theoretically necessary revolution would need some assistance, and the world was soon faced with the problems brought about by the rise of the USSR. Under Lenin the USSR was an interesting (although somewhat bloody) social experiment and a minor annoyance to the rest of the world. When Stalin assumed power, things changed. The planned (and command) economy did, with a lot of help from the despised capitalist world, turn Russia into an industrial economy of sorts. But “supply” (the basis of every successful economy in history) never kept up with “demand”. As I understand it, by 1960 the Soviet standard of living had yet to reach the level Russians enjoyed in 1916, the eve of the Russian revolution! Stalin demanded heavy industry as a demonstration of Soviet Power, forgetting that heavy industry is a luxury of the economically well developed nations… there’s little nutritional value in armored combat vehicles and battleships, and they make lousy agricultural tractors. The mad effort to catch up with and surpass the capitalist west cost the USSR millions of lives and untold human suffering. Eventually it also brought about the downfall of socialism’s showpiece. Now the showpiece of capitalism is trying to become a socialist nation.

Apparently our home-grown intellectuals don’t believe what they can see with their own eyes. Marxism and its associated government control of every part of social, economic, and industrial life has failed miserably everywhere it’s been tried, and still our countries progressive “leaders” insist that “government can do a better job”! Hey guys, every socialist nation in history has collapsed, changed their ways, or wound up in abject poverty! But the folks in Washington are, unfortunately, still trying to follow the game plan found in The Communist Manifesto. So far they’ve made a mockery of civil law unless they can use it to enforce “their” will on the rest of us. They are trying to convert our Constitution into so much waste paper. The Bill of Rights is completely ignored, and with the Dept. of Homeland Security they’ve turned us into a police state. The practice of one’s religion (unless it’s Islamic), has nearly become a violation of federal law. We’re taxed unmercifully, and “who knows where the money goes”. Now we have ObamaCare, and we’re taxed… “Fined” if we fail to purchase government approved medical insurance. Cap-and-trade is dead and buried I’m told… but I’ll bet a dollar to a stale donut that version 2 is waiting in the wings.

Within the notorious “individual mandate” of ObamaCare lies a grand opportunity for government. As it now stands, anyone can be forced to buy any specified product for any reason. Corporations can quit wasting their money on advertising and political fund raising while the Federal Government could balance the budget on the fines people would have to pay to get out of a purchase they don't want.

According to the Wall Street Journal, we may have to start paying for grossly inefficient wind or solar energy schemes, even if we don't have access to them! The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission apparently has a plan to spread out the costs for the transmission lines to bring wind and solar projects to the national grid. A price likely to top $160 billion, and US residents will have to pay the utility bills even if they don't even use the lines! Since Mr. Edison’s magic lamp first went commercial, users would pay for the service, and if you didn’t use it, you didn’t pay for it. But that is changing under socialism. The individual mandate removes “any meaningful limit on Congress’ power to regulate its citizens under the Commerce Clause.” The clause has already been used to capture any activity that might conceivably involve a transfer of power across state lines. Forcing individuals to buy anything inflates Congressional power to “a general police power, all but eliminating the constitutional distinction between federal and state regulatory authority in our federal union.”

Yet another gem from the dank, dark chambers of the Federal Department of Nefarious Plots and Plans… a secret Bureau of Land Management discussion paper leaked to Senator Jim DeMint and Rep. Rob Bishop labeled “Internal Draft — NOT FOR RELEASE,” confirms the federal government’s desire for physical enlargement. BLM advocates enlarging federal landholdings, and “acquiring parcels adjacent to its current holdings…” This mob of environuts argue “Should the legislative process not prove fruitful… BLM would recommend that the Administration consider using the Antiquities Act to designate new National Monuments by Presidential Proclamation.” Which means that if Congress fails to grab even more federal acreage, Mr. Obama should grab it by decree. The BLM lists “Treasured Landscapes” representing approximately 12.85 million federal acres that would shift from mixed-use to virtually untouchable status. They also cite prospective “land-rationalization” efforts to nationalize at least 1.8 million acres. And what do “we the people” get? Even more high dollar failed federal stewardship, and even less access to OUR federal lands.

Is it time to start screaming at our congressional representatives yet?