Marx might be even more surprised that such a failed societal
and economic model would be resurrected in the 21st century in the least
likely society to accept Marx’s ideas, the United States, the beacon of freedom
for the rest of the world.
Marx’s 1848 pamphlet, The Communist Manifesto, has
been resuscitated today by brainwashed American generations who want socialism
but have no understanding of what it entails. They hear the word “free”
everything and that is enough for them to support such an oppressive form of
society and disastrous economic model.
Marx’s pamphlet was written as a critique against capitalism
even though he and his family shamelessly lived off his benefactors’ capitalist
income. His outrage against the exploitation of capitalism as he saw it, is reminiscent
of the youth of today who protest capitalism in the streets and want it
replaced with socialism, while holding electronic products and living a
lifestyle produced by an abundant capitalist economy.
Marx divided society into the ruling class and the working
class, describing the proletariat as an exploited and oppressed segment of
society by the ruling class. The working class is forced to sell their labor to
exist and survive. It would be hard for the proletariat to find rich supporters
like Marx had. He did not work a productive day in his life but lived off the
generosity of his friends, instead of honestly providing for his wife and numerous
children.
Marx talked about “eternal truths such as Freedom and
Justice,” hence the cries of today’s youth for Social Justice, concepts
they barely understand or can explain.
Marx wrote that communism would abolish these eternal truths
found in all states of society, “it abolishes all religion, and all morality,
instead of constituting them on a new basis; it therefore acts in contradiction
to all past historical experience.” (p. 92, The Communist Manifesto)
The evil “bourgeoisie” that owned the capital will be
dispossessed by its “political supremacy” in order that all instruments of
production will be centralized in the hands of the state and the proletariat
will be organized as the ruling class. At that time, the total productive forces
will be increased as quickly as possible. (p. 93, The Communist Manifesto)
As the old social order is being destroyed and class
distinctions disappeared, old conditions of production replaced with new ones, and
utopian “association” will emerge with “free development” of all.
What were the ten tenets of Marx’s Communist Manifesto?
1.
“Abolition of property in land and
application of all rents of land to public purposes.”
When the Bolsheviks marched in with the Soviet Army into
Romania, the society at large strongly opposed their idea of giving up land and
private property to the state for the “public good.” Romania had a thriving
economy under the monarchy and people were making an honest living on their own
farms, small factories, small businesses. Using coercion, torture, and murder,
the Bolsheviks wrested farms, houses, factories, hotels, private buildings, and
stores from their rightful owners and turned everything over to the state which
was now run by the Communist Party made up of a small group of revolutionaries.
As they gained more power, they used this newly acquired state property as
their fiefdom and awarded and rewarded their apparatchiks with other people’s
homes and wealth. In typical fashion, socialists steal by decrees until they
run out of other people’s wealth, money, and property.
2.
“A heavy progressive and graduated
income tax.”
The masses are taxed until there is nothing left to tax and
people have a bare minimum to exist on.
3.
“Abolition of all right of
inheritance.”
Nothing is yours; it belongs to the state. My grandparents
lost everything to the first round of Communist Party confiscation: land, the
farm, farm implements, gold coins, family jewelry, savings, and any cash on
hand or personal possessions in the home, including a mantel clock. When they
died, the home they had lived in became the property of the state, the six
children could not dispose of it as they wished.
4.
“Confiscation of the property of
all emigrants and rebels.”
When I emigrated legally to the U.S., everything I owned was
confiscated and I was only allowed to leave with two suitcases of clothes and
memorabilia.
When my father (a staunch anti-communist) died, all his
savings and possessions, including my books, were confiscated by the state.
When my mom defected to the U.S., all her savings and possessions were confiscated
by the socialist state as well. To add insult to injury, my parents, who worked
since they were 18 years old, 43 years for my dad and 30 years for my mom, never
received their pensions, it was also confiscated by the state. To this day, the
state has made no effort to redress the situation to my mom. And it was not for
lack of trying. I have even asked the prime minister in person.
5.
“Centralization of credit in the hands
of the state, by means of a national bank with state capital and an exclusive
monopoly.”
People living in socialist societies had to save their money
to purchase anything of value. Credit was seldom given by the only bank and the
interest rates were confiscatory, as much as 50% in some cases to discourage
borrowing. People would borrow from family members and return the money over
time with an agreed upon but much lower interest rate.
6.
“Centralization of the means of
communication and transport in the hands of the state.”
State’s priorities involved the improvement of the lives of
those in control, the communist oligarchs, who had amassed vast wealth
confiscated from the population. Communication was state owned and controlled
and so was transportation. We could travel by rickety busses or trains; few
people owned cars as they were prohibitively expensive and the driving test
quite difficult to pass.
Few owned telephones, it took 14 years to install a phone
line from the time a petition was filed, and phones were tapped all the time. Letters
were always opened and read by the state. There were few newspapers and a
couple of magazines, all content controlled by the state. Rural residents used
the party newspaper for toilet paper as it was always difficult to find, even
though the country had vast forests. Nothing was published without the approval
of the Communist Party and its censors. In America today we have censorship by
a handful of tech giants, something nobody had envisioned in the country where
freedom of speech is guaranteed in the Constitution. But then we had a
Constitution under the socialist regime too, but the overlords thumbed their
noses at it and kept changing it to suit their rhetoric.
7.
“Extension of factories and
instruments of production owned by the state; the bringing into cultivation of
wastelands, and the improvement of the soil generally in accordance with a
common plan.”
The infamous Five-Year Plans issued by the Communist Party was
seldom fulfilled because it was irrational and unreasonable, not based on sound
economics. The Party concentrated on developing the country through heavy
industrial investments and projects at the expense of the proletariat’s living
standards who were pathetic when compared to other countries.
8.
“Equal liability of all to labor.
Establishment of industrial armies, especially for agriculture.”
Every able-bodied adult had a job with minimum pay
established by the state, nobody was idle and on welfare unless they were sick
or giving birth. People of all ages, including school children, were forced to
do volunteer labor in agriculture, planting or harvesting crops, cleaning
streets, and planting grass and flowers.
9.
“Combination of agriculture with manufacturing
industries; gradual abolition of the distinction between town and country, by a
more equable distribution of the population over the country.”
Farmers, whose land had been confiscated, had to commute to nearby
cities to find employment in factories, and their wives and children tended to
a small garden by their homes to eat. Some young but mostly old men and women
were left behind to farm the state’s co-operatives.
Farmers were crowded in homes next to each other in their
tightly packed villages or were forcefully moved into concrete bloc apartments
in the city so that state-owned co-operative farms could be established with
their joined lands.
10.
“Free education for all children in
public schools. Abolition of children’s factory labor in its present form.
Combination of education with industrial production, etc., etc.”
When I emigrated to the U.S., I had to reimburse the
omnipotent state for the education I had received up to that point even though
we were supposed to receive a free education, including college. But nothing
was free unless it benefited the mighty state.
As children we had to labor in the state’s fields to dig up
potatoes, onions, pick grapes, pears, apples, and plums. It was volunteer work,
and we were taken out of school two weeks in the fall and a few weeks in the
spring.
The retread Socialist Democrats of America today claim that
they “own the future.” The question remains, how dark is this future going to
be and how long are the other Americans going to accept this evil darkness?
Just a small correction.
ReplyDeleteGermans aren't lazy.
Penguins are.
Gilda, I did not say that Germans are lazy, on the contrary, they work very hard, but this German, Karl Heinrich Marx, was definitely lazy and his father-in-law sent investigators to his house to make sure his grandchildren and his daughter had food to eat since he did not have a job. They found the household in abhorrent condition.
DeleteUnfortunately, Communism always works for those who force it upon everyone else. It never works for those who are told it will work.
ReplyDeleteWell stated, A.J.
DeleteThank you Illeana for your efforts as a patriot and freedom fighter. Never give up.
ReplyDelete