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Posted: May 01, 2017 12:01 AM

Professor Ilya Somin called to designate May Day as the "Victims of Communism Day." I wholeheartedly support his idea with only one suggestion--let's call it the "Victims of Communism/Socialism Day."

According to Karl Max, socialism is the transition stage to communism. Communist countries such as the former Soviet Union and China under Mao, never claimed that they had achieved Communism. Instead, Lenin, Stalin, Mao, and their Communist cadre, committed crimes against humanity, which caused a total of 80-100 million death in the 20th century, under the banner of socialism. It's also important to remember that the full name of Nazi is National-Socialist German Workers' Party. Socialism and communism are similar shades of darkness and we need to condemn both of them in the same sentence. In the meantime, we ought to commemorate victims of communism/socialism on the same day.

On this day of commemoration, I'd like to share an excerpt from my book, Confucius Never Said.

In 1966, when Chairman Mao launched his most brutal political campaign: the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution. Millions of Chinese peoples lives were turned upside down, and this movement, unlike any other of Maos political campaigns, hit young people especially hard.

Mao declared young people should go to the countryside and learn from the poor peasants. Thus he gave birth to a new movement that came to be known as Up to the mountains and down to the village. From 1966 to 1968, nearly all high school students and young adults were forced out of cities. Some were sent to the countryside; many were sent to the most remote and most under-developed areas of China. Over 17 million young people were impacted including my mothers three younger siblingsAunt San, Aunt Er, and Uncle Tan.

Aunt San was only 15 when she and her siblings were sent to the countryside, but they werent allowed to stay in the same village. The communists wanted to sever family ties so people could devote themselves 100% to the Partys causes.

Transitioning from a city girl to a peasant wasnt an easy process. Chinese farm work was very primitive. Mao believed that he had millions of people at his disposal, so why invest in machinery? Therefore, everything was done by hand.

Every day, Aunt San marched to the fields with other young people, following the lead of the local farmers and singing cheerful revolutionary songs along the way. In the fields, she had to plough, sow, rake, and weed. With a pole across her shoulders with a basket at each end, she carried human waste fertilizer to the fields.

Local communist leaders didn't care if one worked hard or not. Anyone who showed up would earn a days work points, which were tied to a food ration. It turned out that the daily food ration wasnt enough even for a girl, so Aunt San suffered famine edema. She wasnt alone. Some other girls couldnt stand the hunger, so they traded their bodies to village leaders in exchange for extra food.

Aunt San couldnt rest much in the evenings either, because daily evening study meetings were held in the village. The routine was to first bow to Maos enlarged portrait on the wall and wish him to live forever. Then the groups would study books supposedly written by Mao (no other books were available). The most dreadful part of the meetings was when everyone confessed his bad thoughts or bad deeds. Sometimes these self-confessions turned into accusations of other peoples bad thoughts and bad deeds. This daily exercise ensured no one trusted anyone else with his or her most intimate thoughts.

A year after Aunt San came to the countryside, she caught an infection in her left eye. The clinic in the village had only one staff member. Because he only knew how to deal with basic cuts, Aunt San asked the team captain if she could return to the city to get treatment. The team captain accused her of being a spoiled Miss Bourgeois Aristocrat. If she left, the captain threatened, her action would be equivalent to defying Chairman Maos decree. The consequence would be very severe. Aunt San had witnessed one village woman being forced to parade around the village naked, with nothing but two well-worn shoes tied around her neck. Her crime was that her husband was a landlord. Aunt San knew that the captain wouldnt hesitate to use her as an example to intimidate other students. It was a well-known Chinese Communist Party scare tactic to Kill a chicken in order to scare the monkey. All these threats and accusations were too much for a 16-year-old girl, so Aunt San stayed in the village and continued to work. Due to lack of medical treatment, she lost the sight in that eye.

When I first met Aunt San, it was in the mid-1980s. She met my mom and I at the bus stop. She was nothing like I had imagined. Because she had been able to see with only one eye for so many years, her facial muscles seemed twisted, and I was scared to look at her. Her skin was dark and rough. Years of hard labor made her look like my mothers aunt rather than her younger sister.

My mother told me that Aunt Sans childhood dream was to be a performing artist. If the Cultural Revolution hadnt taken place, Aunt San could have been a dancer or learned to play piano with her tender fingers. Harsh life in the village had turned this delicate city girl into an ordinary farmer.

After Maos passing in 1976, the youth who had been forced to the countryside started returning to the city. Aunt San finally was able to move back to her home town in late 1980s. Since she never finished high school, she initially had a hard time finding a job. Eventually, she took a job as a city sanitization worker, which was one of the dirtiest, lowest paying jobs available.

Aunt San was considered a lucky one. Many young girls of her generation who went to either the countryside or to the northwest wildness were raped, starved, or even murdered. Many of them never saw their families again. If these girls lived in a free society, they could be teachers, doctors, dancers, or any professionals they wanted to be. A dictators decree altered their lives forever. They were Chinas lost generation. Todays Chinese history books gloss over this period as if these women never existed.

We should never forget these women and millions of other victims of communism/socialism, in Professor Ilya Somin's words, "both for their sake and for our own."

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Victims of Communism/Socialism Day - Townhall

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Recently, Pope Francisreleased a statement to members of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences. The statement, broadly, was about work in society, and how social bonds are incredibly important. At the end of it, however, the Pope levied a harsh attack at what he referred to as libertarian individualism. This, in turn, has been met with harsh criticism by both Reason and Breitbart. This is the latest in a string of statements that has led to one disheartening conclusion,the Pope has two ideologies. Catholicism and Socialism.

Below is the relevant portion of the statement:

Finally, I cannot but speak of the serious risks associated with the invasion, at high levels of culture and education in both universities and in schools, of positions of libertarian individualism. A common feature of this fallacious paradigm is that it minimizes the common good, that is, living well, a good life in the community framework, and exalts the selfish ideal that deceptively proposes a beautiful life. If individualism affirms that it is only the individual who gives value to things and interpersonal relationships, and so it is only the individual who decides what is good and what is bad, then libertarianism, today in fashion, preaches that to establish freedom and individual responsibility, it is necessary to resort to the idea of self-causation. Thus, libertarian individualism denies the validity of the common good because on the one hand it supposes that the very idea of common implies the constriction of at least some individuals, and the other that the notion of good deprives freedom of its essence.

The radicalization of individualism in libertarian and therefore anti-social terms leads to the conclusion that everyone has the right to expand as far as his power allows, even at the expense of the exclusion and marginalization of the most vulnerable majority. Bonds would have to be cut inasmuch as they would limit freedom. By mistakenly matching the concept of bond to that of constraint, one ends up confusing what may condition freedom the constraints with the essence of created freedom, that is, bonds or relations, family and interpersonal, with the excluded and marginalized, with the common good, and finally with God.

The Popes explanation of libertarianism is incredibly flawed. Libertarianism is none of these things, it is simply the belief that government coercion on personal actions should be as limited as possible. It is not a rejection of social bonds, or a denial of the common good. It is, to most, the opposite. Most libertarians believe wholeheartedly that by lifting the threat of force and letting people interact freely, we will have a more prosperous and more pro-social society.

Notice, however, that I said most.

This is where Pope Francis finds an element of truth. There is a very sizable minority of libertarians who are not pro-social. This minority does not care about the freedom and well-beingof all people. They are simply libertarians because they believe that they should be able to do what the Pope has described. They actually want to expand their power at the expense of the majority. These are Brutalists. This is, however, where thetruth of the Popes statement ends.

The Pope does not seem to understand libertarian philosophy, and this statement shows his ignorance. He has associated the simple desire for less coercion to good deeds, to be a rejection of doing good deeds. The Papacy has shown this ignorance before. This backward view that only coerced wealth redistribution can aid the poor has shown to be folly, time and time again. This mistake isnt simply ignorance however, it is, unfortunately, the Popes ideology.

Looking to the Popes past statements and actions, it is likely that he is allowing his politics to bias his moral teachings, and not just about libertarianism. Pope Francis has consistently handled socialist dictatorships like China andVenezuelawith kid gloves. He has instead saved his ire for free market capitalism. When the head of the Catholic Church is more kind towards dictators than those that espouse liberty, we have a serious problem.

To be frank, I am a Protestant. Despite this, I had high hopes for Pope Francis. I was encouraged by his apparent rejection of Papal decadence and a shift in focus to charity and aiding the poor. I was also heartened by his more socially tolerant statements.

This is why my disappointment is all the greater. The Pope has rejected freedom and proven methods of bettering society. He has instead chosen a failed ideology that has been used to oppress our Christian brothers and sisters all over the world.

That stings.

capitalismcatholiclibertarianismLibertyPopePope FrancisSocialism

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The Problem of the Pope and Socialism - The Libertarian Republic

Its May 1 - May Day - and the workers of the world are uniting. Wait, no, the workers of the world are mostly working, because its Monday and stuff needs to get done.

But socialists of the world will march today, in honor of what theyve designated International Workers Day. Theyll be on the streets in Cuba, in Venezuela, and in San Francisco, where theyll attempt a Day Without Immigrants march.

According to Mother Jones magazine, Donald Trump has made socialism cool again.

The magazine added, Socialisms hipster makeover has been accelerated by a flowering of leftist media and culture.

Thats certainly true, but whats the truth about socialism? We need only look to Venezuela to see.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said he will expand the number of civilians involved in armed militias, providing guns to as many as 400,000 loyalists, Fox News reported on April 18. The announcement came as Maduro's opponents are gearing up for what they pledge will be the largest rally yet to press for elections and a host of other demands Wednesday. The Bolivarian militias, currently at approximately 100,000, were created by the late Hugo Chavez to assist the armed forces in the defense of his revolution from external and domestic attacks.

The country is now a failed state, with widespread hunger, looting and lawlessness. Its the textbook example of socialism. The government took control of the economy of the wealthiest and most oil-rich country in South America - and wrecked it through mismanagement and corruption.

You wont hear anything about starvation in Venezuela at any of the more fashionable May Day rallies.

This is just the tip of an iceberg of insensitivity, ignorance, and denial about socialisms ongoing and historical track record, notes The Federalists Robert Tracinski. The bodies keep piling up, but the ideology that produced those bodies always gets a free pass.

What we always hear is that socialism hasnt failed because socialism - true socialism - has never been tried.

As Tracinski points out, this is known as the No True Scotsman fallacy in logic. If I tell you no Scotsman puts sugar on his porridge, and you point out that your Uncle Hamish puts sugar on his porridge, I need only respond, Yes, but no true Scotsman puts sugar on his porridge.

The problem with this fallacy, as it applies to socialism, is that socialism always does - and always must - lead to the dictatorships and government thuggery that it always has.

These crimes follow inevitably from the basic idea behind socialism: the idea that the good of society as a collective is more important the rights or even the life of the individual, Tracinski writes. Thats the social in socialism, and by throwing out the rights and liberty of the individual, it serves as a rationalization for an endless amount of carnage. Who cares if this particular person - or a few million people - suffer, so long as you can claim that mankind collectively benefits?

Those marching for May Day wont acknowledge this, of course. But history will.

See the article here:
Editorial: On this May Day, remember what socialism always leads to - Tyler Morning Telegraph

Recently, I heard popular host Glenn Beck state that he had eliminated the word evil from his vocabulary, the rationale being that he believed it would thwart efforts for conservatives to come together with their political opponents to solve the problems facing our nation.

I acknowledge the fact that Beck has done a lot over the years toward educating his audience concerning the machinations of global socialists, first on Fox News television and later through his online network, The Blaze. However, as Ive indicated previously, sometimes the host goes too far in his self-styled Mormon flower-child modality with regard to the reality of dealing with said political opponents, their ruthlessness, lack of ethics and intractability.

Even though it has not always been a pervasive belief among Western Christians, as a Christian, I can certainly concur with Becks belief that love is the highest ideal a person can have. That said, notions of brotherly love and coming together are nave at best when it comes to political opponents who are wholly dedicated to eradicating an opponents system of belief, governance or population, whether by attrition or by the sword.

Typically, this sort of political opponent is referred to as an enemy.

The half-billion people murdered, maimed and enslaved by socialists of varied stripes during the last century ought to be sufficient proof of their ruthlessness, lack of ethics and intractability. Likewise, Islams 1,400 years of blind zealotry, as well as the murder and mayhem perpetrated by Islamists during that time (to say nothing of the same perpetrated by Islamists over the last couple of decades alone) ought to be sufficient proof of their inability to come to accords with their opponents.

Over the last couple of years, we have seen key indicators that citizens of Western nations whove had socialism and its attendant social engineering devices rammed down their throats over the last 50 years have had enough.

With regard to immigration, for example: Europe is obviously further along than America with respect to the machinations of international socialist politicos. Now, we are seeing a strong response to the doctrine of European leaders having welcomed millions of individuals from culturally bankrupt nations over the last 50 years. Those who have refused to assimilate and treat the largesse of Europeans as their birthright have become a poisonous, indigestible mass in the European body politic.

This isnt an instance of Westerners being bigoted, creepy Christian dogmatists, particularly in the case of Europeans. Europe accounted for 66.3 percent of the worlds Christian population in 1910. Today, it represents 25.9 percent. The proportion of European Christians has dropped from 94.5 percent of the population to 76.2 percent in 100 years.

Over time, Westerners, whether Europeans, Canadians or Americans, have begun to find the insidious aspects of socialism that were dramatically misrepresented to them by politicians, akin to having ingested spoiled food. One doesnt get sick right away, but when it sets in, its something one never forgets.

These people are not ideological conservatives either, nor have they identified socialism as the name of their pain yet. They just know that their paychecks dont go nearly as far as they used to, theyre far less safe, their entertainment media has become shameless left-wing propaganda, and their children are being indoctrinated in school rather than educated.

Other than the election of Donald Trump to the presidency (the most notable byproduct of this phenomenon), there are myriad examples of plain folk expressing their disgust with socialist encroachment. Brexit, the United Kingdoms effort to extricate itself from the European Union is certainly one of these. Citizens expulsion of their government in Iceland a few years ago is another.

In the corporate world, the shrinking coffers of the NFL and ESPN followed those companies tolerance of anti-American expression among certain pro football players and sportscasters, respectively. Big-box giant Target is currently hemorrhaging top executives and cash, the result of that organization becoming a corporate activist for the homosexual agenda.

It was one thing for Westerners to view from afar the desolation of Soviet Russia, Cuba and other nations that went socialist during the last century, or to muse over oil-rich Venezuela being flat broke due to hard-line socialist policies but the foregoing declines have struck too close to home for comfort.

With regard to the opening paragraphs and concepts of evil and enmity: Most people can recognize evil when they see it; obviously, this holds true even among societies in which leftist moral relativism abounds. There is a danger to the excising and modification of language in that it smacks of the Orwellian the politically correct moral relativism, social engineering and borderline mind control so often employed by socialists. Theyve even gone so far as to modify or negate such terms as good and evil to advance amorality and secure political gains.

Increasing numbers of those who have known liberty under Western constitutions and democratic republics are coming to realize that a chief consequence of this strategy has been an erosion of their liberties and a decline in their quality of life which I suppose breathes new life into the axiom referencing not being able to fool all of the people all of the time.

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THE OTHER RUSH - WND.com

April 25 Public Pulse writer Virgil Patlan Sr. (Mello should be ashamed about Bernie) made the incorrect claim that Many U. S. veterans died fighting socialism all over the world. I would like to know, what wars we have fought against socialism?

People are often all too quick to lump socialism and communism together and have this knee-jerk negative reaction toward anything that remotely reminds them of some movie they saw where some American hero was kicking butt against some Commie menace.

Some of our greatest achievements are examples of socialism. The list is exhaustive but consider Social Security, public education and the Interstate Highway System, to name a few.

The idea of working together as a society to fund programs and solve problems is not what our brave soldiers were fighting against. This oversimplification of history is a dangerous misread of truth.

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The Public Pulse: Don't confuse socialism with communism - Omaha World-Herald