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Thursday 13 - #6

Thirteen Things about Socialism and Communism

1. Socialism is defined as

   Any of various theories or systems of social organization in which the means of producing and distributing goods is owned collectively or by a centralized government that often plans and controls the economy.

2. Socialism is alternately defined as

   The stage in Marxist-Leninist theory intermediate between capitalism and communism, in which collective ownership of the economy under the dictatorship of the proletariat has not yet been successfully achieved.

3. The theory of the Communists may be summed up in the single sentence: Abolition of private property. — Karl Marx The Communist Manifesto
4. Many of the methods by which the Communists and the Socialists intent to take power are being implemented today, with some of the worst being championed by the left.
   • Abolition of property in land and application of all rents of land to public purposes. (i.e. eminent domain property seizures)
   • A heavy progressive or graduated income tax. (i.e. no more "tax cuts for the rich")
   • Centralisation of the means of communication and transport in the hands of the State (i.e. mass transit in favor of private tranport, and "the fairness doctrine" for the airwaves)
5. Communism wants to do away with the way the larger segment of the population lives. "The middle-class owner of property…must, indeed, be swept out of the way, and made impossible." — Karl Marx The Communist Manifesto
6. One of the things required for Socialism or Communism to work is the "Equal liability of all to work". However, when you take away a person's ability to work for personal gain, you take away their incentive to work. The alternative is forced labor, enforced by the heavy hand of the state.
7. "From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs." This is the basis upon which our progressive income tax is founded. It is also the basis upon which our social welfare programs are founded. Take from those that have worked to earn and give to those that cannot or will not using the heavy hand of the state.
8. Socialists prefer the equality of outcomes rather than the equality of opportunities. The problem with this is that this can only be the equality at the lowest common denominator. It prevents a rise in the overall social condition. Rather than building up society, it tears it down.
9. Communism seeks the destruction of the traditional family, assuming it is based upon capital and private gain. Throughout America today we can see the traditional family under attack.
10. Communism and socialism are amoral. Ultimately they do away with the ideas of religious liberty and freedom of consciousness, instead imposing a pure secularism.

    "Communism abolishes eternal truths, it abolishes all religion, and all morality" — Karl Marx The Communist Manifesto

    It might seem that this is taken out of context, since this is raised as an objection to communism to be answered, but the objection is never denied, and in fact is trumpeted as inevitable.
11. Class warfare and class envy are a constant tactic of socialism and communism. The idea is to continually emphasize the gap between the "rich and the poor", to increase the ire and the envy of the so-called "poor" to get them to rise up against their "oppressors". Never mind that the "poor" in today's societies are doing far better than the average person in past societies.
12. One argument in the immigration reform debate that I haven't seen is that it's a slow road to socialism. Legalizing 12 million illegal immigrants and giving them access to our social welfare programs will place a tremendous burden on those programs. The progressive taxes required to support them will have to be increased to avoid bankrupting them. The dependence upon those programs will be significantly larger, and their inevitable collapse could precipitate the chaos that would lead to revolution.
13. Socialists and Communists believe that a "pure democracy" will help them to achieve their ends. They declare that "Socialism is democracy". A socialist or communist revolution is a mob revolution. Only after the revolution succeeds does it turn out that the weaknesses of humanity pervert the communist ideal. After all, for communism to work, people must all work toward the common goal, and some will not. Because of this a ruling party must exist, to bring the heavy hand of the state to bear. Ultimately, both socialism and communism devolve into a dictatorship run by the party leaders. The goal of communism is the taking of power by the proletariat or wage-laborer, but in the end the result is the slavery of the masses.

Links to other Thursday Thirteens! (My trackback filter won't let you trackback unless you link to this post, so you can leave a comment I will add you as I get time today.):

1. Kristen
2. Gabrielle
3. JennieBoo
4. Your name here...

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Kristin responded with:

Oh that people really understood what was going on! Anytime I see the phrase "universal health care" I just cringe! Great list!

JennieBoo responded with:

My hubby would love to read this post. I have emailed him a link to your website. Thanks for sharing your 13! Happy Thursday!