Years ago, a senior U.S. presidential advisor with a vast knowledge of Russian history wrote that Russia is in danger of having an unpredictable past. He was referring to the fact that every time there was a change in Russian leadership, revisions started coming out as to how horrible the previous Russian leader had been, and how wonderful the current Russian leader was by comparison (until he got replaced, and then his history got rewritten as well). Joe Stalin alternated from being a hero, to a tyrant, to a patriot, then an insane maniac, and I’m not sure what the current version of “Uncle Joe” is – but I’m sure it will soon change, again.
I thought of this recently when I watched television coverage of the riots and demonstrations consuming so many major U.S. cities. The demonstrations started in peaceful protests over police brutality toward minorities – an ugly truth that most reasonable people want ended now – but quickly changed into something else. Initially, statues of American founders who were slave owners came under attack (George Washington, Tom Jefferson, etc.) but then quickly spread into destruction of statues to such non-slave owners as Teddy Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln and others. Eventually, the violence escalated to the point that rioters destroyed the statue of Frederick Douglass, a black newspaper owner and American hero who fought for freedom for all slaves throughout his life and worked with Harriet Tubman to run the “Underground Railway” that transported slaves from the southern U.S. to freedom in the northern states. Obviously, the first victim of these riots has been common sense.
The original demonstrators have been replaced by individuals interested in overthrowing the U.S. government and replacing it with a socialistic regime that eliminates freedoms, destroys religion, free enterprise and personal choice, and taxes the wealthy into oblivion. Then, they spend this seized wealth on themselves and hare-brained social programs that destroy individual incentive and risk turning some citizens into poverty-ridden victims without money, without freedom and without hope. Despite these protestors condemning local police, secret police also becomes a mainstay of such regimes. Recall Nazi Germany, Italy under Mussolini, or current regimes in Russia, China, North Korea, Iran and Cuba. Winston Churchill described socialism brilliantly when he said capitalism is the unequal sharing of wealth; socialism is the equal sharing of poverty. I believe the U.S. is now involved in a civil war for the heart and soul of the nation, a war that will either destroy America’s history, economy, freedoms and social structure, or reinforce the traditional values of freedom, liberty, justice for all, and the pursuit of happiness that has dominated America for nearly 250 years. If the socialists win, I fear that freedoms and liberties that we have paid lip service to for so long will soon vanish, and the remaining “free” nations of the world (without U.S. support) will be unable to stop the flood of revolution spewing out of Russia, China, North Korea, Iran and countless others.
Yes, America has social problems, without question – difficult problems that are centuries old. However, since the 1960s, the U.S. has also made huge progress on correcting some of these problems. They don’t have all the issues resolved, but America is also incredibly wealthy and has the resources to pay to fix these problems. A socialistic America will be (like most socialistic countries) far too bankrupt to pay for anything except more secret police. God Bless America – but please do it quickly, Lord, before the damage is irreparable.
