From Stalin to Sequestration
Scînteia went bankrupt, and Newsweek was sold for one dollar. But a member of the Democratic nomenklatura representing the economically ruined state of California in the U.S. Congress — who is incidentally a stout admirer of and visitor to Fidel Castro’s Cuba — is preaching that the future of the U.S. oil industry is “all about socializing,” all about “the government taking over and running all our oil companies.”
In 1948, when the Romanian nomenklatura nationalized the oil industry, that country was the second greatest oil exporter in Europe. Thirty years later, when I broke with Marxism, Romania was a heavy importer of oil, gasoline was rationed, the temperature in public places had to be kept under 63 degrees Fahrenheit, and all shops had to close no later than 5:30 pm to save energy.
I have used these examples before, but I believe we should use them over and over, and over, because they contain our current drama in a nutshell. The sequestration imposed on the United States a couple of days ago shows that the Democratic Party’s socialist attitude toward money and its addiction to the illusory socialist recipe of “to each according to his need” can generate economic havoc even in a country as wealthy as the United States.
The fact that the Democratic Party’s nomenklatura believes it can solve our economic difficulties by again raising taxes reminds me of my old days in communist Romania. I used to repeatedly warn Ceausescu that Romania could not afford to keep losing $1 on every thousand eggs it was exporting to the West. My former boss always assured me, “We’ll make it up in quantity.”
American essayist George Santayana, an immigrant like me, used to say that those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.
[i] Stéphane Courtois, Le Livre Noir du communisme: Crimes, terreur, répression (Ėdition Robert Laffont, Paris, 1997), pp. 258-264.
[ii] Doug Mainwaring, “We are all Tea Partiers now,” The Washington Times,, September 30, 2010, p.1.
Unrestrained power is like the one ring. The progressives would use it to good, but the result would be great evil. We have already seen that evil in the hundreds of millions murdered by other statists. Lets dedicate ourselves to preventing the "fundamental change" the progressive fascists... (show more)
Unrestrained power is like the one ring. The progressives would use it to good, but the result would be great evil. We have already seen that evil in the hundreds of millions murdered by other statists. Lets dedicate ourselves to preventing the "fundamental change" the progressive fascists want to inflict on our country.
We can already see that tyrant emerging in Obama. He as undoubtedly violated the constitution repeatedly. 4 recess appointments when the Senate was not in recess is 4 violations of the constitution. Modifying US immigration law to create his "Dream Act" is another. Then there is giving himself the power to grant states waivers to the work requirements of US welfare law which is another violation of the Constitution. These illegal acts make Obama a tyrant and make me wonder what other evil can we expect from him. Maybe we will see him persecuting his enemies like Hitler. (show less)
Unfortunately, we've been so prosperous and protected (geographically) for so long that most Americans really do feel like "it can't happen here." Besides, if we don't wriggle too much, we won't feel our chains. . . .
I'm afraid it's going to get a whole lot worse before the Useful Idiots will wise up.
Unfortunately, we've been so prosperous and protected (geographically) for so long that most Americans really do feel like "it can't happen here." Besides, if we don't wriggle too much, we won't feel our chains. . . .
I'm afraid it's going to get a whole lot worse before the Useful Idiots will wise up.
Do we really want to follow down the economic examples of Russia and China? We have witnessed that Socialism actually institutionalizes envy and self-sacrifice. We all remember the famous Hermann Goering quote, “Common good comes before private good.” Well, we have seen that axiom played out the world over,... (show more)
Do we really want to follow down the economic examples of Russia and China? We have witnessed that Socialism actually institutionalizes envy and self-sacrifice. We all remember the famous Hermann Goering quote, “Common good comes before private good.” Well, we have seen that axiom played out the world over, and it doesn’t end good. In fact, some of those former fascist states looked to the American bicameral system and capitalism to rebuild their ruined governments.
America is the first nation to be founded on the idea that sovereignty rests with its citizens and not with their government. Furthermore, the United States functions (or should) on the premise that the State is the tool and servant of the individual. For over 200 years, this premise has been tested, redefined and enriched by the countless immigrants, who left their mother countries to find greater social, political and economic opportunities here under a capitalist system.
The worst era of Congressional infighting was after our Civil War, and we find ourselves here again. The ideological battle will continue to intensify, I’m afraid. We can’t live on borrowed money forever. The founders principles and ideals will continue to be pressured and tested, and it is our voices that must continue to be heard against the rising tide of turning America into a recycled Russia or China.
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Sequestration, the Pyromaniac-in-Chief's baby, was designed to unleash more economic pain than most even realize. Yes, he devised it!
Sequestration, the Pyromaniac-in-Chief's baby, was designed to unleash more economic pain than most even realize. Yes, he devised it!