Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Man's Greatest Enemy

I recently completed reading a book entitled "The Naked Communist" by W. Cleon Skousen. Yeah, kind of a funny name, but the book is excellent. The book was first published in 1958 and at first glance at the title one might think, "Hey, isn't communism dead? Cold war is over right?" er, well, not exactly. Communism is a philosophy, and it is exactly counter to our creator's endowment of inalienable rights. On the flip side of the same coin as communism, is "Socialism", which takes the stance that the Government or the "State" should control the means of production and distribution of all goods and that this is to be accomplished by force. Force or deception...deception is the worst type of force as the deceived are robbed without knowing it and as such puts up no fight. The founders of communism were Karl Marks and Friedrich Engels. They laid down an elaborate doctrine for the origin and motivation of the species. This doctrine was termed "dialectical materialism". Which in a nut shell meant that man advances through "conflict", specifically the conflict between classes. "Classes" meaning the "labor or working class" and the "bourgeois" or affluent class. Marx and Engels believed that a violent revolution of the working class over the affluent class would allow certain enlightened men (dictators) such as themselves to "plan" society and dictate by force once the conflict degenerated into full anarchy. Their mantra was "Each will produce according to his ability, each will receive according to his need". On the surface it sounds right eh? Cleon Skousen used the following example to put this mantra in the proper context. He proposed the following to one of his university classes: "To get a passing grade in this class you must receive 75 points. Therefore, if any of you get 95, I will take off 20 points and give it to a student who only gets 55 points. If a student gets 90 points I will take off 15 points and give it to a student who only makes 60. In this way every one will get by" Well as you can imagine his class revolted particularly the hard working students...curiously the slackers in the class rather liked the idea...humm, I wonder why? Perhaps that is why Communism and Socialism are so appealing to some...hey, I can slack off and still get grub. What a gig! In the end socialism fails completely as it fails to consider the universal lesson of life that man's greatest enemy is inertia and that the "mainspring" of action to combat inertia is not force but the opportunity for self improvement. Or as Adam Smith put it, "the invisible hand" or "elightened self interest". I will save the topic of the "invisible hand" for another post, but suffice to say that when man is free and he has private property he will work with great enthusiasm to serve his fellow man as he will be compensated in like for his efforts. It is freedom and the "invisible hand" that led the USA to prosper like no other land or people in history (with exception of the City of Enoch...but even they applied these same principles...that is for another post, another day). So it is that man's greatest enemy is inertia compelled by force and deception. Sorry to say, that Marx's philosophy of communism/socialism lives on strong and well. If you care to view the communist manifesto it can be found here. I have posted the summarized points here:

1. Abolition of property in land and application of all rents of land to public purposes. (er, can you say Property taxes and eminent domain?)

2. A heavy progressive or graduated income tax. (er...can you say Federal and state income tax!?)

3. Abolition of all rights of inheritance. (take a look at what happens to property today outside of trusts...it all goes to the state...CHECK!)

4. Confiscation of the property of all emigrants and rebels.

5. Centralization of credit in the banks of the state, by means of a national bank with state capital and an exclusive monopoly. (so...what is that "Federal" Reserve bank!?)

6. Centralization of the means of communication and transport in the hands of the state. (hmmm public highways...what is the name of that governing entity for communication....oh yeah FCC?!)

7. Extension of factories and instruments of production owned by the state; the bringing into cultivation of waste lands, and the improvement of the soil generally in accordance with a common plan. (what is that called, oh yeah Bureau of land management?)

8. Equal obligation of all to work. Establishment of industrial armies, especially for agriculture.

9. 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.

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. (public education in the US?!)

In summary, Marx advocated taking from the "have's and giving to the have nots"... by force. The inspired plan of government established by the founding fathers of this country is still in tact and in effect...however it is compromised. What can we do? First of all is become informed. Watch this blog as I will point to books, links and other materials that I have encountered. Feel free to forward this blog to anyone you might think would take interest in freedom.