As we listened to the extravagant promises of the new socialist NYC Mayor, our own state also voted in a leftist governor, Mikie Sherrill. Her vague social promises don’t reveal concrete policies and her slanders toward her opponent and our president were unseemly.
Perhaps we can take a moment to review exactly what socialism/communism has done to the countries that practice it. Before adopting socialism, freedoms are subverted. This is done by convincing almost everyone that they are victims of: the state; social inequalities; billionaires; law enforcement; wage disparity; healthcare, and any other problem people perceive as hurtful. Making the masses feel victimhood is the first step to using their angry envy to bring down a political system.
Think of the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia or the ill-conceived French Revolution that unleashed the “reign of Terror” that ended only when Napoleon took over France. People were so relieved to have order restored, they made him Emperor. The signs of this breakdown of civilization vary: from breaking windows, burning stuff, and robbing stores to attacking law enforcement and assassinations. Faceless mob rule was what our founding fathers feared would be the end of a fragile law-ordered democracy.
The Whiskey Rebellion of 1791-1794 was the first mob-incited rebellion that pushed George Washington to send the military to western Pennsylvania. It was incited by an admirer of the French revolution who hadn’t experienced the bloody results of it. We forget the bare grocery shelves in the USSR, the stagnation of communist East Germany, and the tyranny in Cuba. A new generation needs to study the effects of a system that does not reward hard work with commensurate benefits.
Looking for a great gift for a teenager? Try Heaven on Earth: The Rise and Fall of Socialism by Joshua Muravchik—a very readable story of the concept that looks so good on paper but ignores human motivation and ends in tyranny. Communism and socialism have always resulted in oligarchic rule. The elites who convince people they are victims end up holding the wealth and power. Government ownership of property and production squelches creativity and the desire to work harder for more benefits.
Forced dependency on the state for food and money (and free bus rides) is a not-so-subtle form of slavery. Demonizing the rich and corporations looks past the fact that those businesses are where jobs are created, including the follow-on jobs that surround them. In NYC the top 1 percent of earners already pay 48 percent of the taxes while the bottom 50% pay 3%. Fair?? Maybe?? but when they leave with their companies they’ll pay 0 tax.
We are now going to have to wait 4 more years to change course. By then, they may “run out of other people’s money”. Hopefully, the damage will not be too great, but don’t expect lower taxes.
Luann Byrne
Byram