I submit the following:
Philosophy Verses Reality
Fundamentally, Socialism is the complete discarding of the institution of private property by transforming it to public property. The resulting public income is to be, then, equally and indiscriminately distributed to the population (Liberals strive toward this end through the levying of taxes and tight governmental controls). In Socialism, private property is anathema to this objective.
The main tenets of Socialism are:
2. Equality of income (From each according to his ability, to each according to his need Karl Marx)
3. Class interests oppose each other (class struggle)
4. Government is, or should be the progressive representation of the interests of the working class
Modern Socialism also contends that Capitalism must be exported to where new land can be appropriated and workers exploited to sustain its insatiable gluttony.
The problem for the Left is that the doctrine they hold so dear has all been proven false by history and reality and they dont want to let go. After a century and a half of tyranny and catastrophic economic failures, along with the inarguable benefits to the human condition wrought by Capitalism, the Left is now forced to re-package their convictions, revise history, identify new victims and champion new causes in order to sustain the orthodoxy. As Daniel J. Flynn establishes, in his book Why the Left Hates America, the Left has substituted their overt hysterics regarding the evils of Capitalism, with the new hysterics of racism, sexism, xenophobia, homophobia, etc., etc. However, the enemy remains the same. America, as the globes preeminent cultural, political (Democratic), economic (Capitalist) and military power, is now decried as a cultural oppressor propagating inequality both inside and outside of its borders. Government is again to be the final distributor of cultural equality as well as economic equality. Liberal causes now collectively rally around the banner of this nefarious new notion of American repressive cultural hegemony that is proliferated by intolerant rednecks and imposed by American military and economic might. Nearly all contemporary Liberal causes and policy can be traced back to any one or more of these (and/or the aforementioned) basic tenets of Socialism, or Neo-Socialism.
Environmentalists contend that U.S. industry (big business) is indiscriminately exploiting the land and people for economic gain, and that this evil is being exported. This subscribes to their contention that the US has had to export capitalist hegemony to sustain growth to the detriment of the environment, and on the backs of the underclass. Environmentalists are, however conspicuous in their exaggerated claims and selective criticisms which are nearly all exclusively targeted at the U.S. - Thereby exposing their political, rather than environmental agenda.
Relativism/Multi-Culturalism/ Racism/ Homophobia/ Xenophobia
These class-isms allow for the invention of multiple victim classes that can be established as the new proletariat. By fostering, contriving, or otherwise promoting notions of injustice and inequality, the Left can progress their Socialist doctrine of the new class struggle while allowing them to cling to the original foundations of their faith. This fact is perhaps most plainly represented by the group, International A.N.S.W.E.R. (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism). The name evokes racism as an issue, yet the organization is a known front group for the World Workers Party, a Marxist-Leninist political party.
Anti-Business/Anti-Prosperity
This too, is rooted in the Socialist/Marxist notion of the exploitation of the working class, opposition to private ownership and their desire to redistribute peoples wealth. Business owners, though they create jobs and wealth, are vilified as greedy parasites taking advantage of the underclass. Sound familiar? Wealth to the left is inherently bad or unfair and should be redistributed to others in the form of taxes and government programs to foster economic parity. Conversely, tax reduction programs are reflexively condemned as initiatives to further prop up the rich at the expense of the poor.
Anti-Globalization
Again, the Left resists the globalization of economies as it represents the exportation of Capitalism and all its associated evils. It appears that, to the die hard Left, equally applied poverty is preferable to unequally applied prosperity.
Atheism has deep roots in Socialism (as religion is regarded as a threat to Socialist evolution) and its remnants clearly exist in modern day Liberalism. The examples are ever increasing and undeniable. These tendencies manifest themselves in anti-religion, (with particular animus toward Christianity) speech, discrimination, legislation and other repressive actions. Pro-abortion advocacy is also partially rooted in anti-religion sentiments as much as it is about anxiety over freedom and choice. Abortion has been politicized for use as tool to promote the notion of women as an oppressed class. The oppressor class is presumed to be men and people of faith. The Left can then feel free to promote actions that restrict the freedom of religion in the name of protecting this oppressed class. In other words, they seek the oppression of religion in the name of freedom, while presuming to take the moral high ground.
All of the above
It is a reality that the American governmental and economic system has improved the lives of its people and those around the world to a level unparalleled in human history. Its profound and positive contributions to culture, science, medicine and freedom, are undeniable to any reasonably objective and discerning mind. No past or present Socialist venture can even remotely claim to have achieved the levels of economic prosperity (at all stratums of society), racial equality, womens rights and equal protections for all its citizens regardless of sex, faith, cultural, racial, or social background. A quick check of your Encyclopedia Britannica will bear this out. These truths are a testament to the benevolence and inherent morality of this great and successful American experiment. Is America perfect? No. Do we have many historical shames and societal ills that need to be resolved? Of course ... What country doesnt? But, there exists no other nation that is as willing or capable of identifying and fairly addressing the problems with which it is confronted.
By contrast, not a Single Socialist or Communist state has ever existed that has been popularly elected or otherwise sustained by the will of its people. Socialist-Communist regimes have, throughout history, maintained power solely through the strict imposition of personal, cultural and intellectual martial law. The media, schools, arts and literature have all been strictly controlled to manage thought and freedom of ideas. It should be no surprise then that the liberal establishment maintains a covetous and disproportionate control over our educational institutions, media (with the exception of radio) and the arts. The packaging may be slightly different today, but the tactics are largely the same and quite plain to see. You need only review the statements and policies espoused by civil rights groups, anti-war organizations, the ACLU, Teachers Unions and the curricula of our institutions of higher education (indoctrination?) to quickly assess that our most basic American freedoms are at risk from the Left. Oppression (factual, intellectual, or otherwise) is the only means by which the Socialist agenda can succeed.
So, the next time you bear witness to the mindless sloganeering, claims of injustice and inequality, hysterics regarding business, the environment, anti-war, abortion, anti-religion and the blame America crowd know where theyre coming from and where they want to go.
Gary Schneider is the President and founder of TheRealityCheck.Org, Inc., a Conservative policy advocacy group established to promote and defend conservative social, political and economic principles nationally, through the origination and dissemination of commentary, analysis, news and research tools via the public Internet and other channels. TheRealityCheck.Org, Inc. is located in Fairfield County, CT.
Schneider received his degree in Government and Russian Studies at Norwich Universitys Military College of Vermont, the nations oldest private military academy. At Norwich he held numerous leadership positions within the Corp of Cadets. In 1989 Schneider moved to New York, where he initially conducted financial research for various on-line and print publications used by Wall Street investors. Since that time, he has built and led research teams and oversaw the creation of global financial research and news products for some of the largest media organizations in the world to include Thomson Financial and Reuters, the worlds largest news and television agency. Schneider has also attended executive leadership training at the University of Michigan and received a certificate in e-Commerce from New York University. His articles have most recently appeared in America's Voices, IntellectualConservative.com, TheRightWing.com, CommonConservative.com, The Patriotist, American Daily and EnterStageRight.
During his 14 year career, Schneider has traveled extensively to Europe and throughout the United States. In addition to Politics and Finance, his hobbies include fitness, mountain-biking and is actively involved in his Church.
It's a faulty assumption, that all individuals who profess belief in partial or entirely leftist political ideals, are as utterly idealogically hardened as Gary Scneider's Reality Check would imply... he is describing the indoctrinators. There is no hope of changing them. I am, more or less, talking about day to day people, who have accepted the marketing hype, who just want to appear intelligent, who want to be cool, who really haven't gone to such lengths to acquire their opinions. To turn their little status display around, to make it sound ill considered, and to make them choose between two conflicting ideals that they've unquestioningly accepted, is a very solid approach, and one that has been successful for me, personally, in dealing with similar situations as experienced by the woman who called into Rush Limbaugh. If you actually accept what you've posted as being applicable to every person on the political left, well... we really don't need to be having this discussion, now, do we?