Dixie - In Memoriam
New member
I can remember when I was a young boy in elementary school, studying about the rest of the world in World History class. I guess, up until then, I assumed everyone lived basically the same kind of life as me, and we all had the same kind of democratic government, with liberty and justice for all. The thing that puzzled me, when we began to study about Communism, Socialism, Fascism, Totalitarianism, etc., was how did the people ever come to adopt such governments? It was always easy to see that American government was superior to, say... Nazi Germany, or the Ottoman Empire... but American government seemed to be such a simple concept, and I couldn't imagine how people managed to adopt other philosophies of government. Later, I would learn that many people simply never had a choice in the matter, these other forms of government had existed for centuries, and the people had very little power to control it or effect a change. Some were ruled by Kings, others by Dictators, and these rulers governed what laws the people lived by. Still, I couldn't understand, why would they not prefer freedom and liberty? I finally decided it must be, because they had never known freedom and liberty, so they had no idea of what they were missing. If you lived your entire life serving a master, do you know freedom? And isn't it much easier to lack desire for something you don't know and never have? I also realized there were places where the people never were allowed to see how Americans lived in freedom, they were kept isolated from this by their rulers. But I never could understand how places which had known some kind of freedom, could fall to Communism, Socialism, and Fascist Dictatorships... how did that happen? How could humans who had tasted freedom and liberty in some form, ever succumb to these barbaric forms of oppressive government? It never made any sense to me, and I have struggled with an answer my whole life.
Thanks to the past 40 years of watching the liberal progressive movement in America, I am suddenly starting to realize some answers to these questions. It occurs to me, some people are not comfortable being free, and actually have a desire to be taken care of by someone else in exchange for their freedom. It's easier that way, there are no decisions or tough choices to make, someone else will do that for them, they just want to follow and have the security of knowing they are being cared for. This is how Socialist movements always begin. It is sold as a means to provide for the people, things they are unwilling to do for themselves individually. The premise being, the society as a whole, will be a much better place. People actually cede their freedom and liberty, for the promise of something better. It is rooted in greed, because they are giving up one of the most precious human rights for the hope of greater things.
I could run down the long list of Socialist regimes which have failed, the history book is full of them. In fact, most of them fail within a few decades or generations, because they all seem to follow the same pattern of demise. They start off sounding lovely, but result in dividing society into two classes, without a middle class. You have the State, the elites... living in lavish luxury... and you have the Peasants. This happens every time, because Socialism doesn't reward individual accomplishment and effort, it stifles it. Any time you destroy human creativity and imagination, you also destroy motivation to achieve and accomplish. The people become mired in hopeless despair, and never bother trying to succeed... because, what is the point? If the State is going to take it from you and you are destined to remain in poverty, why would you want to do anything more than what the State required you to do?
With Obama's Socialist transformation of America, we can see the makings of what will become the Elitist State. We already had the Labor Unions and Teachers, as well as Congress and Government workers, and now we have added the Financial sector, the Automotive sector, and soon to be, the Health Care sector and Insurance sector. Later, they will add the Energy sector, the Media, and a few other key components, and there will be no turning back. For the next 40-60 years, we will see those who control State power, get much wealthier, live much more luxuriously than ever before, while those of us not fortunate enough to be part of the Elite, struggle for our very survival. And the problem will be, there is no America to come save us from this.
Thanks to the past 40 years of watching the liberal progressive movement in America, I am suddenly starting to realize some answers to these questions. It occurs to me, some people are not comfortable being free, and actually have a desire to be taken care of by someone else in exchange for their freedom. It's easier that way, there are no decisions or tough choices to make, someone else will do that for them, they just want to follow and have the security of knowing they are being cared for. This is how Socialist movements always begin. It is sold as a means to provide for the people, things they are unwilling to do for themselves individually. The premise being, the society as a whole, will be a much better place. People actually cede their freedom and liberty, for the promise of something better. It is rooted in greed, because they are giving up one of the most precious human rights for the hope of greater things.
I could run down the long list of Socialist regimes which have failed, the history book is full of them. In fact, most of them fail within a few decades or generations, because they all seem to follow the same pattern of demise. They start off sounding lovely, but result in dividing society into two classes, without a middle class. You have the State, the elites... living in lavish luxury... and you have the Peasants. This happens every time, because Socialism doesn't reward individual accomplishment and effort, it stifles it. Any time you destroy human creativity and imagination, you also destroy motivation to achieve and accomplish. The people become mired in hopeless despair, and never bother trying to succeed... because, what is the point? If the State is going to take it from you and you are destined to remain in poverty, why would you want to do anything more than what the State required you to do?
With Obama's Socialist transformation of America, we can see the makings of what will become the Elitist State. We already had the Labor Unions and Teachers, as well as Congress and Government workers, and now we have added the Financial sector, the Automotive sector, and soon to be, the Health Care sector and Insurance sector. Later, they will add the Energy sector, the Media, and a few other key components, and there will be no turning back. For the next 40-60 years, we will see those who control State power, get much wealthier, live much more luxuriously than ever before, while those of us not fortunate enough to be part of the Elite, struggle for our very survival. And the problem will be, there is no America to come save us from this.
