(Old editorial from Belgrade News, Tuesday, May 8, 2007)
Too often, when people warn about Communism or Marxism, they are dismissed as conspiracy theorists or kooks. But if we would take some time to study history, we might start to realize the great strides America has made toward becoming a Marxist country.
Since change is commonly incremental, the average person would hardly notice the gradual slide toward Communism we have been experiencing over the last few decades. Without a frame of reference, we might be pursuaded that we still live in a country of unfettered capitalism, protected personal rights, and limited government.
But this is hardly the case. Allow me to quote from the “Communist Manifesto.” Marx writes, “The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.”
This is an increasingly common perspective in our society, where the rich are the source of all our troubles, they are keeping us down, they prevent us from getting our fair share, they hoard their wealth at the expense of the poor and downtrodden.
This is the stuggle between classes, rich vs. poor, workers vs. business. How to alleviate this problem? Well, tax the wealthy. Our government, via the tax code, decides who deserves money and who doesn’t by redistributing wealth.
This practice requires the unstated assumption that a person’s property isn’t really theirs at all. Remember the Kelo decision, where the Supreme Court ruled that a local government can take a person’s home and give it to a private developer who will generate more tax revenue than the homeowner?
Indeed, see what happens if you fail to pay your property taxes for too long. The government will take “your” house and sell it to pay off your tax bill. Marx backs this up: “...the theory of the Communists may be summed up in the single sentence: Abolition of private property.”
We see evidence of this everywhere. Wetlands laws prevent a landowner from developing his property. Anti-smoking laws presume to tell private citizens what he can do in his business. Helmet laws force motorcycle riders to protect themselves. Building codes force businesses to install handicapped parking and ADA bathrooms. Minimum wage/living wage laws force private parties to pay their employees according to someone’s idea of adequate pay.
Marx likes the idea of a living wage. He writes, “The average price of wage-labour is the minimum wage, i.e. ... the means of subsistence which is absolutely requisite to keep the labourer in bare existence as a labourer... We by no means intend to abolish this... All that we want to do away with is the miserable character of this appropriation...”
Clearly a living wage law is a Marxist concept.
So what else would Marx want? This is summed up in ten points from the “Communist Manifesto” (edited for brevity).
• Abolition of property in land and application of all rents of land to public purposes.
• A heavy progressive or graduated income tax.
• Abolition of all rights of inheritance.
• Confiscation of the property of all emigrants and rebels.
• Centralisation of credit in the banks of the state, by means of a national bank with State capital and an exclusive monopoly.
• Centralisation of the means of communication and transport in the hands of the State.
• Extension of factories and instruments of production owned by the State...
• Equal liability of all to work.
• Combination of agriculture with manufacturing industries; gradual abolition of all the distinction between town and country by a more equable distribution of the populace over the country.
• Free education for all children in public schools.
Interestingly, Marx makes his plea for communism on the basis of the common good, but like most political systems that advocate central governmental control, this can only lead to tyranny and despotism. Surprisingly, this is why some rich people want more government control, because it centralizes power. And power in government can be bought.
The Founders tried to limit the federal government and divide its powers, but they have failed. But Marx is getting his wish, isn’t he?
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