01 Sep 2011 How Well Do You Know Socialism? by Richard Dimery

Barack Obama promised to transform America. Unfortunately, he is manipulating it toward European-style socialism.

American society has been dumbed-down for decades. Too many now ignore the ramifications of current events on their lives and to our future.

Much historical evidence of what free-market capitalism delivered to this nation, fostering the greatest prosperity the world likely will ever know, has been lost from our collective consciousness.

Responding to charismatic leaders, Americans evidently are willing to condone an increasing rush toward tyranny without showing skepticism or requiring any rationale for radical change.

Many Americans lack a working knowledge of how a switch to socialism will alter our everyday lives. This should be of particular interest to — and cause great concern among — black Americans.

All socialist systems can essentially be boiled down to some form of a two-class system: slavemasters and slaves.  The outcome is the same — whether it’s the master of the plantation who owns, takes and redistributes his slaves’ output at will or, correspondingly, Washington exacting tax without predictable limits or controls while making the public more and more dependent on the government for its existence.

With this understanding, the slavemaster-slave system of socialism should be anathema to Americans of African descent. Considering that the bondage suffered by our ancestors is still a painful issue to many today, it is alarming that the governmental shift toward socialism is not more reviled in the black community.

That’s why, as our nation lurches left, education about the long-term effects of socialism is a necessity. As President Ronald Reagan said:  “A socialist is someone who has read Lenin and Marx.  An anti-socialist is someone who understands Lenin and Marx.”

Only when enough Americans can absorb that or similar messages about socialism can the danger be realized and faced.

With social unrest and outright violence growing in Europe as socialist governments there are forced to enact austerity programs to curtail the out-of-control costs of services and benefits, and the rise of “flash mob” violence and union protests here over efforts to reign in exorbitant spending, it’s clear that big, controlling government does not work.

A now-defunct web site attributed to the Democratic Socialists of America claimed that 70 members of the 111th Congress (2007-2009) were socialists. The list is the membership of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. While the Caucus does not openly proclaim itself socialist, the policies it promotes are far from free-market capitalism. And, with true, out-of-the-closet socialists seemingly eager to embrace them, their intent appears clear.

In the current 112th Congress, there are 75 openly-named members of the CPC. Of them, 31 — over 40 percent — are also members of the Congressional Black Caucus. That means 72 percent of the CBC members are members of the CPC!

CBC members are now touring the nation, alleging the pro-capitalist, pro-small government tea party movement wants to enslave black America and demanding that the Obama Administration create jobs. It’s unlikely they will openly say that they want to make their constituents wards of an all-powerful government. It’s possible some don’t realize it themselves. But the agenda they want will do exactly that — create a socialist state here in the United States.

If history is any guide, such “useful idiots” are just pawns to be discarded after they have served their purpose.

But what will happen to the rest of us? What will happen to those who chose to learn too late about the perils of socialism and the benefits of the free market?

Let’s do some studying so we don’t find out too late!

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Richard Dimery is a member of the Project 21 black leadership network. Comments may be sent to [email protected].

Published by the National Center for Public Policy Research. Reprints permitted provided source is credited. New Visions Commentaries reflect the views of their author, and not necessarily those of Project 21, other Project 21 members, or the National Center for Public Policy Research, its board or staff.