What brought about the question – from MSNBC’s Chris Matthews, of all people – was the fact that the other Democrat contender in the Presidential race, Bernie Sanders is an avowed socialist.
This deserves more in-depth examination. In 2009, the Socialist Part of America proudly announced there were 70 members of congress belonging to the party. Today, beliefnet.com said:
The 75-member Congressional Progressive Caucus, co-chaired by Reps. Raul Grijalva and Keith Ellison, is closely allied with the Democratic Socialists of America. The Communist Party USA identifies Progressive Caucus members as its “allies in Congress.”
Okay, it is settled, Sanders is a socialist, as apparently are a huge number of members of congress – all Democrats. Just what is a socialist and why should we be wary of them?
Socialism wasn’t invented by Karl Marx. Frenchmen Saint-Simon and Fourier advanced the idea of a socialist society long before Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels collaborated on this aberrant philosophy. Europeans, in particular, the French experimented with various forms of socialism well before the Lenin brought the Marxist ideals to notoriety.
The Russian revolution came about because of the excesses of the Tsarist monarchy. It was not intended to be a socialist or Marxist revolution. The people simply wanted to be free of the Tsar and his henchmen. What they wound up with was the dictator Lenin and his Bolshevik henchmen. When Lenin died during the formative stages of the Soviet Union, Joe Stalin stepped into his shoes, ruled with an iron fist, and allowed only a single party, the Bolsheviks, to dominate the political scene. The name Bolshevik was changed to Communist but maintained the same Marxist philosophy of socialism.
Socialism isn’t new in America. The Socialist Party of America was founded in 1897 and dissolved in 1972. No fewer than four socialist organizations succeeded the SPA. One of those organizations was the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC), founded in 1991 by Bernie Sanders, a self-identified socialist.
Is there a difference between socialists and communists? Not much. Communists are Marxist socialists who advocate transition from a capitalist economy to a regulated socialist economy. Communists believe that transition should be achieved through a violent revolution. The Bolsheviks found out the revolution would not accept socialism without the force of a dictator.
Do socialists work for the “working class” aka., the little people. Again, that would be no. It is the big lie. Lenin called the proletariat, “useful idiots.” Workers unions were controlled by Bolsheviks and peasants were forced into collective farming. Individualism was outlawed – except for the elites of the administration. If you like slavery, you will love socialism.
And what of mere socialists? Well, in the ‘60s and ‘70s the American Socialists and Communist party advocated the same transition through revolution. Today these communists/socialists are members of our congress and reign throughout our government. Most are registered Democrats.
It is no coincidence that the recession brought out the socialist call for wealth redistribution. Of course, as Margaret Thatcher once said, “The trouble with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people’s money.” The fall of the Soviet Union appeared to eliminate communism, but in actuality, it merely renamed itself – again – to “Progressive” and “Democratic Socialist”.
Is there a difference between socialists and Democrats? Well, Chris, apparently not for many Dems. The question he should have asked is, can a socialist leopard change its spots? Not likely! As the Russians tragically realized, socialism is elitism wrapped in a lie.
