Posted on 08/01/2005 1:48:30 PM PDT by txgirl4Bush
One of the greatest anti-nationalists of modern times was Karl Marx, the father of the political philosophy of Marxism. One of his more revealing, but less famous quotes was the following: "My object in life is to dethrone God and destroy capitalism."
Karl Marx taught that the world was divided into two powerful classes, the "'proletariat" (working class) and the "bourgeoisie" (wealthy ruling class).
Marxism sees the proletariat and bourgeoisie as directly waging an ongoing competition, in that capitalists exploit workers and workers try to resist exploitation. (This is the foundational principle behind modern US organized labor)
Marx's scientific socialism combined his economics and philosophy — including his theory of value and the concept of alienation—to demonstrate that throughout the course of human history, a profound struggle has developed between the "haves" and the "have-nots."
Marx claimed he had discovered the laws of history, laws that expose the contradictions of capitalism and the necessity of the class struggle. The more advanced the capitalist economy becomes, Marx argued, the greater these contradictions and conflicts. The more capitalism creates wealth, the more it sows the seeds of its own destruction.
Ultimately, Marx believed, the proletariat would realize that it has the collective power to overthrow the few remaining capitalists and, with them, the whole system.
Marx, together with Frederich Engels, penned the ten-point Communist Manifesto that a half-century later became the guiding philosophy of Vladimir Lenin, leader of the 1917 October Revolution and founder of Russian Communism.
The Communist Manifesto can be distilled down to its ten major points:
1. Abolition of private property.
2. Progressive income tax.
3. Abolition of inheritance rights
4. Confiscation of property
5. A central banking system
6. Government control over communications and transportation.
7. Government ownership of factories and agriculture
8. Government control of labor.
9. Corporate farms and regional planning.
10. Free education for children in government-controlled schools.
If one were to remove the title, 'Communist Manifesto' from the top of the list, one could replace it with the ten major planks in the Democratic national platform.
The Democrats have elevated class warfare to an art form. The Democrats substitute the terms 'the people' for the 'proletariat' and 'big business' for the bourgeoisie, but other than that, every time a national Democrat makes a speech, you can count on hearing some variation on the same theme.
It was the Democrats who campaigned against tax cuts, arguing that it was an unfair burden on 'the working poor' (proletariat) and an unfair advantage for 'the rich' (bourgeoisie) (Communist Manifesto points 1 and 2)
The Democrats fought tooth and nail against the GOP plan to eliminate the inheritance tax, endorsed the Supreme Court's recent eminent domain ruling, and is reeling from the recently announced split in organized labor that threatens its power base. (Communist Manifesto points 3, 8)
The Federal Reserve Banking system (central banking) was introduced by Democrat Woodrow Wilson, and the Banking Act of 1933 and the confiscation of privately owned gold was during the administration of Democrat Franklin Roosevelt. (Communist Manifesto points 4-5)
One of the most powerful lobbies within the Democratic establishment is the National Education Association. Democrats abhor the idea of parents choosing where their kids go to school, oppose home-schooling, school vouchers or parental input into school curriculums. (Point 10)
During his campaign, John Kerry thundered, "You don't value families by kicking kids out of after school programs and taking cops off our streets, so that Enron can get another tax break."
In another speech, Kerry told America, "You don't value families... if you deny veterans health care, or if you tell middle class families to wait for a tax cut, so that the wealthiest among us can get even more." (proletariat vs. bourgeoisie)
Hillary Clinton said in 1993, during her early co-presidency, "We must stop thinking of the individual and start thinking about what is best for society."
The title of today's Omega Letter is a direct quote from Karl Marx, "Proletariats Have No Fatherland" -- reflecting Marx's worldview of a global socialist government in which the workers are 'citizens of the world'.
A major point of contention during the last two presidential elections has been over how much sovereignty the United States should surrender to the United Nations -- with John Kerry campaigning on a promise never to take the US to war without United Nations approval and support.
There is an organization called the 'Democratic Socialists of America' who have isolated seven principles that together form the DSA's 'Progressive Challenge'.
Those seven principles are, at a glance, a distillation of the ten points of Marx and Engel's 'Communist Manifesto' reworded for American consumption.
1. Dignified Work
2. Environmental Justice
3. Economic Redistribution
4. Democratic Participation
5. Community Empowerment
6. Global Non-Violence
7. Social Justice
At last count, there were some sixty-one members of the House and Senate, Democrats all, who are members of the Democratic Socialists of America, under the banner of the 'Progressive Democratic Caucus -- (the largest single caucus in the House). Six of those DSA members sit on the Judiciary Committee.
The DSA includes among its members; Rep. Bernie Sanders (D- Vt.) Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-Ga) Rep. Peter Defazio, (D-Or) Rep. Maxine Waters, (D-Ca), House Minority leader Nancy Pelosi, (D-Ca), Rep Henry Waxman (D-Ca), Rep Barney Frank (D-Ma)Rep Jerrold Nadler, (D-NY) Rep Charles Rangel, (D-NY), Rep Dennis Kucinich (D-Oh) and Rep James A McDermott (D-Wa), just to name a few.
Other powerful members of the DSA include AFL-CIO president John Sweeney, feminist Gloria Steinham, actor Ed Asner and libertarian socialist writer Noam Chomsky.
None of this is my opinion. This is documented fact.
Assessment:
Are you getting all this? For years, I've been accused of being a 'Republican flack' for the simple reason that I oppose all things emanating from the Democratic Party.
Just as it was possible to oppose the Communists without being a Nazi, it is possible to oppose the Democrats without being a Republican.
Former president Jimmy Carter, one of the most openly Marxist Democrats of our generation, traveled to England recently take another swipe at the United States, calling the Iraq War 'unnecessary and unjust' before opining to yet another foreign audience, "I think what's going on in Guantanamo Bay and other places is a disgrace to the U.S.A."
According to Jimmy Carter, terrorism is mostly America's own fault. While he didn't go so far as to blame Gitmo for terrorism, he did say "it has given impetus and excuses to potential terrorists to lash out at our country and justify their despicable acts."
Carter didn't mention that it also provided HIM with impetus and excuses to lash out at his own country and condemn AMERICA'S despicable acts.
Adding insult to injury, Carter made his comments while addressing the Baptist World Alliance centenary conference in Birmingham, England, making it appear that even Christians are opposed to America.
Then Jimmy Carter, one of the worst presidents in US history, a politician whose political party has lost both Houses of Congress AND the Oval Office, spoke 'on behalf of the American people', saying, "What has happened at Guantanamo Bay ... does not represent the will of the American people. . . I'm embarrassed about it, I think it's wrong."
On the heels of claiming the administration doesn't represent America and declaring himself 'embarrassed' to be an American and declaring America 'wrong' went on in his comments to reassure the world that they were right -- America is a big, fat liar.
"I thought then and I think now that the invasion of Iraq was unnecessary and unjust. And I think the premises on which it was launched were false."
Naturally, al Jazeera ran its coverage of Jimmy Carter's comments under the headline, "Jimmy Carter: Guantanamo Is a Disgrace to America."
Carter didn't explain how locking away some of the evil and vile murderers on Planet Earth disgraced America. Neither did al-Jazeera. Just that former president Carter said that America is, in the view of a former US president, both 'disgraceful' and embarrassing.'
Carter's comments were echoed under similar headlines in the People's Daily (Communist China) the CBC (Canada) and pretty much every newspaper in the EU. (Marxists tend to stick together.)
The goal of Marxism, in Marx's own words, is to "dethrone God and destroy capitalism." The main planks in the leftist Democratic platform echo the same goals.
"And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand:" (Matthew 12:25)
We often address the question of where America is in Bible prophecy. Listening to the Marxist propaganda masquerading as 'progressive' US political agenda, it makes one wonder, "Where is America NOW?"
LOL. I think you're right. It works with property taxes when they are not included in your mortgage payments. Those (insert bad words here) goernment officials sure are good at hiding their activities.
Duh...goernment = government.
I think Adam Smith had it right. Position in class has nothing to do with happiness, yet people perceive it that way and will attempt to move up in class.
The contradiction of the bourgeois is in holding power with limiting bloodshed as a principle, first for sensible moral reasons, but later on as a phobia of blood and money shed that contradicts Christ's work on the cross.
Thus while the Proletaria is gradualy calling for bloodshed for his or her own welfare, the bourgeois is gradualy bending over backward (or forward!) to avoid it and make it unPC. Attempts at pacifying the US proletariat through liberal bourgeois policies against the shedding of blood have been like AIDS cocktails: the disease spreads while subdued in impotence for now, the low potency making its spread in fact more acceptable, with Americans throughout society becoming more and more irresponsible at all levels..
Note also that while the bourgeois withhold bloodshed even more, the Proletariat seem to encourage it, with the MSM supporting implicitly terrorists during attacks on fundamental US structures and calls for lack of blood. Worse the bourgeois becomes stingy. RINOs pop left and right, being conservative only because it helps them enrich themselves, look more "appropriate" (to use Judge Greer's strange style obsessions) and "conserve" themselves from auto destruction and needless spending.
Worse, Christians believing in self sacrifice are loped together with Proletarians, getting even more burden of proof for their religion with the concerted attack of proletarians and the selfish disregard new conservatives have dor them (illegal immigrants are not called vigilante).
Thus the bourgeois has power but refuse to assuming in its bloodshed necessities, voting for zero tolerance policies against any hard thought or work on guns and what not. The bourgeois is indeed in a state of contradiction, brought in part by its proletarianization, yet also in part to distance itself from it.
Thus while the enemy now has a tendency to vote for bloodshed of innocent, the bourgeois votes against bloodshed volunteered for consolidating their own structures (hard work, self defense etc).
If you add all state, local, federal taxes and include health insurance premiums which subsidize everyone that does not pay - and then include mandatory car insurance that is also a means of wealth redistribution, you have the govt controlling 60-70% of the economy.
Does not sound like capitalism to me.
"Here's what Karl Marx did: he gave totalitarians a great story line to enslave people."
You got that right and his usefull idiots are still busy at work - the left won't be happy until they have ruined everything that made this country great.
A gross oversimplification. K.C. Burke has already dealt with the origins of that much-misunderstood term "proletariat," and the bourgeoisie weren't actually the "wealthy ruling class" but a beneficiary of that class that was the principal obstacle, in Marx's view, to the accession of the proletariat to power.
That does not invalidate the author's claims, but it does make it seem that he hasn't done the homework necessary to really understand the enemy.
The real reason that the Marx of the Manifesto was not the same as that of Capital is that in the intervening 20 years much that was grandly predicted in the former never came to pass. The proletariat - the real one in Germany - faded away. It did NOT experience increasing poverty, increasing illiteracy, increasing unemployment and "alientation." By the time that Marx died this "imminent" development had been put off first years, then decades, and now resides in some mythical future toward which all good little Marxists are supposed to work.
Losers.
Good post!
At the start of WWI all the good Marxist Socialist parties of Europe were caught up in nationalistic fervor.
Marx's theories require a totalitarian, utopian society, because it looks on man as being a hive creature, no different than a worker ant or bee. And if you don't want to participate in the utopia, you must be eliminated.
Mark
Please define Fee Simple for me . If it is your property,why is it taxed ecery year.
bttt
I won't comment negatively on Marx. There are some about who might be upset so as to lose their composure.
One thing that rarely comes up in discussions abou Marx is that he was such a complete loser, never worked, never did anything, except blame society for his supreme loserness.
He was relentless,hopeless depair.
His anti-God, anti-capitalist
Anti-society,anti-anything good
antitheticalness derived from
relentless misery.
His solution? Get a job?
No. Heh.
To fix the mess that he was,merely the entire society needed to be reformed.
Take away the winners , voila...no more losers. Like him.
*****
Anyone that starts on this, just start mentioning names.
Names you know. Famous is okay, but personal will wake em up.
Your Grandfather. Both Grandfathers. Your uncle who got his arm blowed off in Nam, and well he got a house on a lake and a nice boat...
My father for example, started with squat, ended up pretty good, anyone give anything to your family?
Invariably they will know an example of someone who got it done, someone they are proud to know. Someone they secretly fear is much better than them. Well they can do it too.
Use this to get on message that it is attitude and hard work. Attitude and hard work.
They will nod in agreement, it never fails.
Then buy em a beer. Ya know? Hope and faith and a positive attitude will just knock em out. They will get it by osmosis.
Can't fail.
Read a little, when you have the opportunity, about Cordell Hull.
worth reading - thanks
Mostly because he wasn't actually a economist, but a philospher who thought of himself as an economist.
Ironically, he wasn't even the smarter of the duo (the other being Engels).
He stole some previous writings from others, through his own spin on it, daydreamed, and created what essentially is just class warfare rhetoric.
The chinese communists (Mao in particular) read his stuff, knew he was a crackpot, and deviated from it but still imposed harsh and brutal results and methods that were still insane.
Maos version of communism, while still tragic in its effects, did deviate from tradional marxism while still maintaining its communist identity.
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