By Eddie Howell
|
Whittaker Chambers Freebase/Public Domain |
Communist espionage and influence in
the U.S. Government were substantial as World War II was ending and
the Cold War beginning, and was a continuous problem. The communist
underground today is still there, functioning in various ways, such
as cyber war. Also, with the number of communist-related members of
Congress in sensitive committee positions, as documented in Trevor
Loudon's book
The Enemies Within: Communists, Socialists, and
P
rogressives in the U.S. Congress [1],
who can doubt that foreign communists have easy access to many
of our supposed secrets? Communism shows its ugly head above ground
also through the Communist Party USA (CPUSA), which strongly
influences many “progressive” Democrats and manifests itself more
directly through Black Lives Matter and Antifa, groups which should
be designated as terrorist organizations, along with their pals the
Muslim Brotherhood.
The Democratic Socialists of America
(DSA) is a companion organization to the CPUSA, and their functions
overlap and complement each other, and, along with labor unions which
are largely communist-controlled, virtually control the Democratic
party. (284) Despite its name, Antifa is a fascist group. It is a
mistake to think that Communists and fascists are somehow opposites.
They differ somewhat in structure, but they are essentially
socialists. The historical friction between them has occurred mainly
because they have competed, often violently, to recruit the same
types of people to their organizations.
The goal of these organizations in
America and other places is to bring down the United States as a
sovereign nation, to work toward a communist society and eventual
world government, and if and when necessary or opportune, to use
force to accomplish this. Meanwhile, they work against Christianity
and Judaism, support jihadist Islam, and support communist countries
such as Cuba, China, Venezuela, and North Korea.
We should be under no illusions that socialism is materially different from communism. Once
socialism takes hold, even in in a “free world” country, the
government becomes increasingly tyrannical and coercive, the economy
plummets, and traditional freedoms and customs are on their way out.
This is the trend in Canada and Europe, among other places.
So, whether a country calls itself
communist or socialist, the end result is communism. American
socialists, such as the DSA (formerly the Socialist Party of America)
and its associated organizations are Marxists, virtually
indistinguishable from communists, with whom they are closely
associated.
America believes in political freedom,
which extremists use against us. The aims of communism have not
changed since the days of Marx, Lenin, Stalin, and Mao. American
communists are often Cold War veteran Marxist-Leninists or their
children.
Today, George Soros and other communist
globalists are financing seditious and treasonous anti-American
activities, such as Antifa violence and anti-police activism. There
follows a list to summarize some of the communist-socialist goals and
beliefs. Fabian socialists may be considered part of this group also.
1. They claim to hate private profits
and private property.
2. They care nothing for the U. S,
Constitution or the freedoms it protects, despite the CPUSA's
deceptive promotion of “Bill of Rights socialism.” The
Constitution limits government, and therefore is disliked by
socialists.
3. The communists buy votes through
offers of “free stuff,” and enlist politicians by providing help
and finances for their political campaigns.
4. Where communism takes hold,
nations suffer economic catastrophes, and often mass starvation,
intentionally inflicted on some of the people by their rulers.
5. When socialism takes over, the
worst people are soon in charge. [2]
6. Many normal acts are criminalized
under socialism. Even in England, when the Labour Party succeeded in
establishing socialism in the 1940s, people could go to jail for
missing work. Further, as Flynn notes in
The Road Ahead, 1949,
Now England makes the experiment, blown up with promises of freedom. But already she has got around to the ways of the tyrant. She asserts over the worker the right to say where he shall or shall not work. She asserts the right to throw the farmer who does not meet her directives off his farm. And this English experiment would collapse tomorrow if the strong arm of American capitalism were withdrawn from its support. Indeed it is collapsing now even with that powerful arm around it. [3]
7. American communists are more loyal
to other countries or a globalist goal than to America. Central economic planning does not
work, and cannot be supported by any rational economic theory. In
practice it is very arbitrary and ultimately destroys prosperity
(except for the ruling elites).
8. The murders of millions by Adolph
Hitler, Joseph Stalin and Mao Zedong are natural outgrowths of
socialism and communism. Whittaker Chambers, who was an underground communist agent and later left the Communist Party, explains in his
autobiography Witness, that
he became a communist, thinking it was the
only hope for saving mankind after the disastrous World War and other problems.[4]
When Stalin initiated the
great purges, viciously murdering anyone he thought might be a
threat to his power, or who seemed to fit his conspiracy theories,
Chambers came to realize that Stalin's behavior showed the evil, not
only of Stalin, but of communism, and was the logical result of
communism. When he left communism, he remarked that he and his
family were leaving the winning side and going to the losing side,
but he could not do otherwise. [5]
(As Chambers continued working against communism, he found a lot of opposition in the government, largely due to communist influences. His testimony against Alger Hiss, who had been his close communist friend, was a difficult and bitter ordeal. President Truman called the Hiss case a “red herring.” Hiss was finally imprisoned for perjury.* Chambers was indicted for perjury, but when his claims were at last borne out, the charge was dropped.)
(*Update to clarify: Hiss was convicted of perjury for claiming he had not committed espionage. He could not be convicted of espionage at that time because the statute of limitations for it had expired.)
9. There are more socialists and
communists in responsible government positions at all levels of government than there were during the Cold War. There are no
background checks for elected officials, and many, including prominent leaders, could not pass a routine FBI background check. Yet they serve on such committees as Intelligence, Homeland Security, etc.
10. Globalist world government would
be communist. Generally, only Marxists support it, including some billionaire "capitalists," who are basically corporatist fascists.
11. “Free trade” agreements
currently in place (WTO, NAFTA, etc.) do not provide real free trade, but “managed trade,” subject to many onerous rules and
unfair results. Actual free trade would involve getting governments
out of the way, except for enforcing contracts, dealing with crime, etc.
12. Socialists and communists are
using government-supported social experiments to destroy traditional
family relationships, social structure, and education. Leftist
indoctrination is often the main content of school social studies
today. Leftist professors and administrators in the universities, leftist judges, and LGBTQ radicals are examples of some who
perpetrate abuses in America as socialists and communists.
13. Because of their desire for
worldwide socialist-communist government, the globalists don't mind,
and ultimately desire, putting the U.S. at an economic disadvantage
relative to other countries, and therefore promote endless debt,
unnecessary foreign aid, and high taxes.
14. By opposition to the military, and
promotion of unilateral or other unfair disarmament (in the name of “peace”), leftists work to undermine American national security.
15. By encouraging open borders and
massive “refugee” and other immigration, leftists hope to bring in millions of Democrat voters (since leftist activism is mainly
focused on the Democratic Party). .
Thus far, I have, for the most part,
merely stated the problem. But many people are unable to see that it
is a problem, and that freedom is steadily, if somewhat slowly, being
taken from us. But we may not be too far from complete tyranny,
enforced at gunpoint, and the loss of our constitutional freedoms. We
still have rights, but we could be forcibly stopped from exercising
them if we allow current socialist and communist advances to
continue. These trends must be reversed if we are to keep our
Republic.
All forms of collectivism should be
abhorrent to anyone who values the rights of individuals. But
politicians and others who identify as liberals, progressives,
socialists, or communists believe or claim to believe that concern
for “social justice” and “the common good” outweighs
individual considerations, and, ultimately, that the end justifies
the means.
As Ayn Rand pointed out in her essay,
“The Establishing of an Establishment” (1972),
Two world wars, three monstrous dictatorships -- in Soviet Russia, Nazi Germany, Red China -- plus every lesser variant of devastating socialist experimentation in a global spread of brutality and despair, have not prompted modern intellectuals to question or revise their dogma. They still think it is daring, idealistic, and unconventional to denounce the rich. They still believe that money is the root of all evil -- except government money, which is the solution to all problems. [6]
The Communist Party USA today praises
and promotes communist and socialist countries, such as Venezuela,
Cuba, Vietnam, etc. For them, the “imperialist” U.S. and West are
the bad guys and are largely responsible for these countries'
troubles. (See an example
here.)
Also, for them,
Lenin is still a great
hero, and the Russian Revolution is something to be celebrated in
observance of its 100
th anniversary.
An
article in the CPUSA official newspaper, Peoples World,
lamenting the collapse of the Soviet Union, states,
...Finally,
no criticism of Soviet socialism can be seriously presented by
Communists that does not explicitly recognize that the destruction of
the USSR has been an unmitigated disaster for humanity. Not only was
socialism uprooted in Eastern Europe with the establishment of
right-wing capitalist governments, but millions of lives have been
lost, far more than ever killed by Stalin, in the horrific mass
slaughters and ethnic genocide, committed with the support and
instigation of western imperialism, in the dismemberment and
destruction of Yugoslavia and several former Soviet republics, and in
the never-ending neocon wars in Iraq and Afghanistan which continue
to spread throughout the Middle East. None of this would have
occurred if the Soviet Union had not been destroyed.
In
the former Soviet republics, a few thousand people died, and more
thousands were injured mostly in conflicts between different ethnic
groups. In the Yugoslav wars after the Soviet collapse, perhaps as
many as 140,000 people died and up to 3 million people became
refugees or were displaced in their homeland. These things are
tragic, but nothing like the 20 million or so killed by Stalin. It is
quite a stretch to say that the Mideast wars of the 1990s and
following would not have happened had the Soviet Union remained in
place. Also, the “uprooting of socialism” in Eastern Europe was a
liberating benefit to people who had long suffered under Soviet
control.
Considering
the shameful and murderous history of the Soviet Union, with its ongoing terror,
the Gulag, bad economic management, and general oppressiveness, the
revolution of 1989-1991 was a welcome and beneficial change.
An
article by Professor Archie Brown “Reform, Coup and Collapse: The End of the
Soviet State” on the BBC
website dated 02/17/2011 gives a positive view:
Not
a shot was fired by a Soviet soldier as the Central and East
Europeans took their countries' destinies into their own hands. In
Western capitals it had been an axiom prior to Gorbachev's coming to
power that Soviet control over Eastern Europe was non-negotiable and
that the most that could be achieved would be an amelioration of
oppressive regimes...
Seldom,
if ever, has a highly authoritarian political system, deploying
military means sufficient to destroy life on earth, been dismantled
so peacefully. Never has an empire disintegrated with so little
bloodshed. Although huge difficulties remained for the successor
states, the way Soviet communism came to an end was one of the great
success stories of 20th century politics.
Of
course, it remains to be seen what the future may hold under Vladimir
Putin, since it seems he wants to restore the Russian empire.
|
Retiring Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), official portrait |
The
Democrats' socialist-communist base is calling the shots these days
for the party, and the American political left now represents the
most significant threat to America today, short of a nuclear attack.
The Democrat leaders such as Nancy Pelosi, Elizabeth Warren, and
Bernie Sanders are all socialists, with ties to the Communist Party
USA. “Iconic” Rep. John Conyers has a long history with
the Communist Party (7287) and the DSA. Hillary Clinton, and Barack
Obama were mentored by communists, whose interests are much the same
as their own: socialism, anti-capitalism, and far left society with
government running as many things as possible, to one day lead to a
world communist government. America itself doesn't matter – only
the revolution matters, a
la
Saul Alinsky.
That
is why the left is so viciously attacking and persecuting Donald
Trump and anyone associated with him. Their loyalty is not to
America, but to socialism. Their goal is not American well-being, but
socialism. They do not care about economic prosperity, and if in
power, they will deliver the opposite. They claim to be the party of
the “workers,” opposing capitalist “wage-slavery,” but
whenever the socialists-communists have been in power, the norm
becomes widespread poverty, and a fear-driven way of life. Communists
have murdered
tens of millions of their own citizens in the 20th
century, and in places like Cuba, Venezuela, and North Korea the
murders continue, though not in such great numbers.
Communism
is an evil system, and it must be strenuously opposed. Socialism and
communism are practically synonymous. It's not far wrong to say that
America is in a political civil war, but, up to now, it is perhaps
better understood as a continuation of the Cold War. The collapse of
the Soviet Union tends to obscure the fact that communism in America
still poses a serious danger today. Communists like George Soros and
others are financing violence, sedition, and treason. Communists
today are no more loyal to the United States than the Soviet agents
of the old Cold War. American communists over the years have greatly
admired the Soviets, and practically idolized any actual Russians
they knew.[7] The CPUSA today is supportive of communism and
socialism wherever it is found, and against any American foreign
policy that is unfavorable to communism. This is a step beyond
divided loyalty.
The
anti-Trump movement in some ways has crossed the line of common
decency into sedition and treason through violent “protests,”
etc. The Mueller Witch Hunt seems to have its goal the impeachment of
President Trump, and has far exceeded its mandate, with no letup in
sight. I hope Mueller will soon be fired and a new special prosecutor
appointed to investigate the crimes of Hillary Clinton and others.
As
Whittaker Chambers emphasizes in his excellent book Witness, the
underlying evil of communism is its rejection of God.[8] It is this
broad rejection which opens the way to promoting dissolution of the
family, sexual immorality, and the radical LGBTQ agenda, while
promoting government control of as many things as possible. Under
that system, it is understood that the end justifies the means,
whatever the means may be.
The
“swamp” contains the participants and enablers of this
destructive movement. The draining of the swamp can be realized in
part by putting political pressure on politicians to change their
ways, and partly by replacing the ones who won't. Education is key,
but in the current atmosphere, change is going to be a difficult
struggle.
The
election of Donald Trump has given us a window of opportunity to make
improvements along these lines. This window may not remain open very
long. We must indeed pray that God will bless America, and restore
her to real greatness. The situation calls for knowledge of and
participation in politics, even by people who have had little to no
interest in politics before. Politics has an interest in all of us.
[1] Trevor
Loudon, The Enemies Within: Communists, Socialists, and
Progressives in the U.S. Congress, 2013-2015 Edition. Las
Vegas: Pacific Freedom Foundation, a Nevada Not for Profit
Corporation, 2013. I read this in Kindle format without page
numbers. Numbers in parentheses, bold, and italics are Location
numbers for the Kindle ebook.
[2] F.A. Hayek, The Road to Serfdom: Text and Documents, The Definitive Edition. Bruce Campbell, ed., Routledge, London: The University of Chicago Press, 2007. Original text, 1944, Chapter Ten, "Why the Worst Get on Top."
[3] John
T. Flynn, The Road
Ahead: America's Creeping Revolution. New
York: The Devin-Adair Company, 1949. This is an earlier book, written
around the time socialism was threatening the collapse of Britain,
and warned that socialism was making such headway in America as to be
a very serious threat. Also available free at Mises.org in PDF
format. Page 149.
[4] Whittaker Chambers.
Witness. Washington, D.C.: Regnery History, an imprint of Regnery Publishing, ebook, 2014. First edition published 1952. page 156.
[5] Ibid., page 1.
[6] Quoted in a comment by “RS” at economist Robert P. Murphy's Free Advice blog article “The Fairest Keynesian in the Land,” 10/14/2011.
[7] Chambers, page 293.
[8] For example, see Chambers. page 386.