My inbox just presented me with a remarkable letter condemning socialism. Written by an American who had obviously studied some unvarnished history, it provided a glimpse into socialism’s “accomplishments” during the 20th Century. In simple terms, the writer (who shall remain anonymous) told of the many consequences of a “failed” governmental system.
Rather than share his thoughts with only a few like-minded friends, he took copies to a meeting of his area’s local Democratic Party and passed out a few until he was stopped by a few of the party faithful.
While I admire his courage and applaud what he wrote, I question his labeling of what he wrote “Socialism Kills.” It would have been far better to start his wake-up call with something like “Have You Considered…?” Or “Are you Aware?” Then, whoever had a copy might begin to read what he had produced. Maybe, just maybe, a few might have begun to question the platform of the Democrats.
Nevertheless, here in part is what his one-page message actually stated:
The promised high ideals of socialist and communist societies have never materialized. They’ve been tried and they’ve failed in Yugoslavia, North Korea, USSR, Cambodia, Cuba, Vietnam, Venezuela and numerous other places.
Socialism always ends up the same way: oppression of the people, power and concentration of wealth by a tiny minority, and eventual economic collapse. Socialism has caused more deaths and human misery than all other systems combined. But, thanks to our mainstream media and public schools, the death toll of 120 million from socialism in the 20th Century is ignored. (See 1994 book by R.J. Rummel Death by Government.)
This year, the Communist Party USA (CPUSA) is celebrating its 100th anniversary. You haven’t heard anything about it because the CPUSA has morphed into the Democratic Party. To disguise their Communist beliefs, they call themselves “Democratic Socialists.” The last time the CPUSA ran a candidate for president was 1984. Since then, the CPUSA has increasingly joined with the Democrats.
There’s enough in those three paragraphs to induce any American worthy of the name to wonder why he or she is attending a Democratic gathering. Maybe, the newly adopted label “progressive” attracted some. And maybe some in that audience never caught on to this letter-writer’s final comment. He wrote, “Hitler was a socialist. Look up the word Nazi on Wikipedia.” And he’s correct about that as well.
We live in an age where too many fellow Americans never learned some basic facts about the history of dangerous movements. The schools most attended didn’t do a very good job and they’ve even gotten worse. They have even convinced many who were mis-educated that our nation should now give socialism a try. The truth, as the writer of the remarkable letter stated in its closing comment, is that “Socialism has never delivered on its promises — not once with anyone, in any nation, at any time in history.”
To this courageous letter-writer, I send thanks for trying to get some good sense into a few more heads. To others, I say, “Keep trying. Truth will prevail if enough effort is expended with the many whose minds are still open.”
Oh, I forgot to mention that a few of the Democrats at this gathering, who always claim that their opponents are closed-minded bigots while they ooze with syrupy but false good fellowship, forcibly removed the author of the truth about socialism. No surprise there. They aren’t interested in truth. They want power. If they aren’t stopped with truth about socialism, they’ll succeed and the USA will be added to the list of its victims.
John F. McManus is president emeritus of The John Birch Society.
