Posted by
Boomer911 on Wednesday, May 28, 2008 6:00:00 PM
One cannot discuss socialism or communism without briefly discussing the "father of Communism", Karl Marx. Marx is most famously known for
The Communist Manifesto, written along with Freidrich Engels,
in which he lays out his assessment on sociological and political theories. His approach is indicated by the opening line of the
The Communist Manifesto (1848):
“The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles”. This line is very important as it sums up the lefts criticisms of capitalism and the American economy. In fact, one of the major precepts of defining struggle in the capitalist society by socialists (communists) is to always shape their argument from the view of the
oppressed vs. the oppressor. No one uses this method more effectively or deliberately than todays
Democratic party. You can see it every election cycle as they go out to the base of their party and proclaim..... You are being oppressed! Think about it.........If you're black, a woman, a homosexual, a Hispanic or any kind of ethnic minority, etc., chances are you're being oppressed and the usual culprit to the Democrats is conservative, white, Christian men, who run all the big corporations. Yes, this "party of the people" has used class struggle to keep them in positions of power for years, but I digress. The class struggle Marx refers to is synonymous with class conflict and it is this conflict that Democrats use to stir emotion and shirk responsibility for the empty promises made at election time by blaming their failures on the "oppressors".
No where is this more apparent than with the black turnout every election cycle for Democrats. It was estimated that 90% of all blacks who voted in the 2004 Presidential election, voted for John Kerry. And we see this trend continue to trickle down the lines to our local and municipal elections where in most large cities like Philadelphia and Chicago, there has been a heavy bureaucratic machine controlled by Democrats in place for generations. This idea of infusing race struggles with class struggles goes back to communist-Marxist ideology. In a letter to Friedrich Engels in 1882 Karl Marx wrote: "You know very well where we found our idea of class struggle; we found it in the work of the French historians who talked about the race struggle." Perhaps I will let the Democratic Socialists of America make my point for me. The following are direct quotes taken from their website:
"The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) is the largest socialist organization in the United States, and the principal U.S. affiliate of the Socialist International. DSA's members are building progressive movements for social change while establishing an openly socialist presence in American communities and politics.
"At the root of our socialism is a profound commitment to democracy, as means and end. We are activists committed not only to extending political democracy but to demanding democratic empowerment in the economy, in gender relations, and in culture. Democracy is not simply one of our political values but our means of restructuring society. Our vision is of a society in which people have a real voice in the choices and relationships that affect the entirety of our lives. We call this vision democratic socialism - a vision of a more free, democratic and humane society.
We are socialists because we reject an international economic order sustained by private profit, alienated labor, race and gender discrimination, environmental destruction, and brutality and violence in defense of the status quo.
We are socialists because we share a vision of a humane international social order based both on democratic planning and market mechanisms to achieve equitable distribution of resources, meaningful work, a healthy environment, sustainable growth, gender and racial equality, and non-oppressive relationships."
There is so much imporatant information in the preceeding paragraphs that I will refer to them quite often as I make my points. If you have to read them again, do so. It is important to understand what they are saying. Essentially, when they say they will use democracy as a "means and an end", they are saying they will use democracy itself to bring it down and implement their "socialist utopia". They will use our democratic principles of free press and expression and the right to assemble, among many others, to light the flame of "revolution". They know that in a true democracy, as long as the argument is put forth as a struggle, the means to destroy it lie within its freedoms. Also, notice how they continually refer to racial, gender and economic equality as struggles. Now think of how a government would go about implementing the changes necessary to promote so-called racial, gender, and economic equality. Perhaps they could support hiring quotas based on race and gender regardless of the qualifications of the applicant by continually lowering the standards of excellence. Perhaps they could redistribute wealth from the people who have, to the people who have not. Do these sound familiar? We already have them through "affirmative action" and a stifling tax policy that merely suffocates the free market principles that capitalism involves. It should be noted that I am all for equality. But how we achieve equality is through individual responsibility and the right to pursue a better life based on merit and achievement that the capitalist system thrives on. Success is always the reward for hard work. Democrats want to skip the hard work part and punish those who are successful by taking more of their money and giving it to their constiuents through "entitlement" programs. And the cycle of life continues for their people, the opressed, represented by the "party of the people", the Democrats.
Let me once again go to the source for their positions. Here is another exerpt from the Democratic Socialists of America:
"A democratic commitment to a vibrant pluralist life assumes the need for a democratic, responsive, and representative government to regulate the market, protect the environment, and ensure a basic level of equality and equity for each citizen. In the 21st century, such regulation will increasingly occur through international, multilateral action. But while a democratic state can protect individuals from domination by inordinately powerful, undemocratic transnational corporations, people develop the social bonds that render life meaningful only through cooperative, voluntary relationships. Promoting such bonds is the responsibility of socialists and the government alike."
It is amazing how wonderful the idea of equality sounds. But a closer look at the policies and the means to achieve this "utopia" begs a questioning of just how they hope to achieve their goals. And this is where an apathetic and un-informed electorate comes into play. The people of this nation are not interested in politics and ideologies. They see government interference into the marketplace to achieve equality as a constitutional mandate. And so the march to socialism goes on.