From: Bob Valek
Columbus
Recently I defined four major groups who are “the left”: a) the elites; b) the sexual revolutionaries; c) people trapped in poverty; and d) the deceived. This letter will discuss the deception: socialism.
Socialism is generally defined as an economic system in which “the state” owns the means of production. Often there is an increase in control of many other economic dimensions, including health care, wages, speech and even the people.
Despite its lofty claims about helping people, it considers the individual as simply another cog in the system, only of value when it is of use. When people think they possess the secret of a perfect social organization they also think they can use any means, including violence and deceit, to bring that organization into being.
The violence of the left began with riots the day after the election and continues to this day, including Maxine Waters publicly encouraging harassment. Left politics has become a “secular religion” operating under the illusion of creating a paradise. (This paragraph draws on an analysis by Michael Novak of The Catholic University, based on “Centtsimus Annus, the May 2, 1991 Encyclical by Pope John Paul II.) The fulfillment of that 25-year-old prophecy of these men has been recognized by John Armstrong. They are all wiser than I.
Being compassionate and wanting to help people is admirable. Unfortunately, many of the progressive left focus totally on what feels good to them. If they can get the government to provide some added welfare, they can sit back and feel good that they have done something. If it proves ineffective, they look to get the government to spend even more. Conservatives, on the other hand, will ask if the action does good.
Here is the “paradise” being delivered today. The excess spending on welfare has avoided the typical inflation by clamping down interest rates, resulting in stifling growth. Coupled with crippling regulations of all kinds and high taxes, the lack of jobs created by this socialism has destroyed the middle class. For further evidence of the failure of socialism, I recommend “Hillbilly Elegy” by J.D. Vance, which recounts how it devastated Appalachia.
In his recent film “Death of a Nation,” Dinesh D’Souza describes how the socialist tactics create a new form of slavery, the remaking of the plantation this time for the poor. Being captured in welfare does not provide dignity or encourage trying to rise out of poverty. Faced on one hand without good jobs, and with all kinds of welfare on the other, it is easy to not recognize the state is the cause of the problems.
The “feel good” activists of the left and many poor are major parts of the deceived.
While it is true that there are handicapped and other disadvantaged people that cannot work their way out of poverty, many can. If they can reject the deception of the left politicians, a new life of self-supporting dignity is possible.
