Free Republic

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt) went on NBC's "Late Night" to explained that "having 60% of the population living paycheck-to-paycheck is not the economic calamity that Republicans claim it is. It is a step in the right direction toward true socialism. Ideally, 100% of us should be living a lifestyle compatible with the collective well-being. Eventually, the capitalists and the bourgeoisie need to be eliminated. This would end the class struggle because all that were left would be members of the proletariat." "Then the dictatorship of the proletariat would make all the investment decisions," Sanders said. "No longer would capitalists be...

When a new book came out, the great C. S. Lewis would first seek out an old one on the same subject. That’s good advice for embattled Americans. In fact, two old books address what is happening today with rare perception. Regent College Publishing has reissued The Green Stick and The Infernal Grove, the two volumes of Chronicles of Wasted Time by Malcolm Muggeridge. Paul Johnson called it one of the great autobiographies of our time, which might be an understatement. Wisdom and wit leap off the pages, and there’s even a news hook: Russia has invaded Ukraine and that...

Democrats in Congress are advancing the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act of 2021. If enacted, this bill would ban state right-to-work laws and severely curtail the "gig" economy. In right-to-work states workers are not required to be union members in order to be employed. The "gig" economy consists of individuals working as independent contractors. Co-sponsor of the bill, House Committee on Education and Labor Chairman Robert Scott (D-VA) pointed out that "both the right-to-work and the 'gig' economy impede a union's efforts to organize an employer's workforce. Allowing people to work without belonging to a union undermines socialist...

I recently read the new biography of Trotsky by Oxford don Robert Service, published in 2009 by Pan Books. It is well-written and surprisingly interesting. The book does a great public service in describing the life of the actual Trotsky, whose previous “biographies” were little more than hagiographies written by his toady worshippers (people like Isaac Deutscher). The last time that I had taken any interest in Trotsky was when I was a teenager and had fleeting delusions of believing in “socialism.” Reading the new book as an adult and as an economist, I found it a useful opportunity to...

The Circle of Protection radio advertisements being broadcast in three states right now make their arguments, such as they are, from a quotation of the Bible and a federal poverty program that might be cut in a debt ceiling compromise. But the scriptural quotation is a serious misuse of the Book of Proverbs, and the claims about heating assistance programs are at best overblown: the ads are really not better than their goofy contemporary piano track.The Circle of Protection, of which the group Sojourners that produced the ads is a founding member, enjoyed the high honor of a meeting at...

USSR, 1959: I am a "young pioneer" in school. History classes remind us that there is a higher authority than their parents and teachers: the leaders of the Communist Party. The story of young pioneer Pavlik Morozov is required reading. Pavlik reported his father to the secret police for disobeying government regulations. His life exemplified the duty of all good Soviet citizens to serve their government. From the first year in school, all of us are made aware of our ethnicity (ethnic Russian, Jewish, Asian, etc.) and class (proletariat, intelligentsia), around which society is structured. This inherent divisiveness makes it...

This is the authoritative text on Marxist Pants. The general thesis of this article is that Marxist Pants have a potent influence on Americans class-identification and that this influence, furthermore, is degrading the American Way of Life. Marxism is a volatile pseudo-philosophy which attempts to subordinate all other possible modes of existence to itself. It is especially hostile to the American Way of Life. The insertion of Marxist Pants into our sanguine society is something every American citizen should be concerned about. Without the knowledge contained below, any attempt to fight against this scourge of seductive socialist pants will be...

Please note this short video interview with Joe Biden. The key question the interviewer asks is whether Barack Obama is a Marxist with his spread the wealth idea--an idea that Biden embraces. Apparently the interview so infuriated Biden that he cancelled another interview on this program: http://www.wftv.com/video/17790025/index.html The interviewer quotes Karl Marx, comparing Marx’s views to BO and Joe Biden’s views. Here is a link to the quote she uses along with other info about Karl Marx: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/From_each_according_to_his_ability_to_each_according_to_his_need There is plenty of evidence that Barack Obama has Marxist ideas. Jerome Corsi details in his book OBAMANATION a life-long series of...

AUGUSTA, Maine — On Monday, Maine joins other U.S. states and Canadian provinces that have made it illegal to smoke in a car while children are present. But for the first year the law's in effect, violators will only get warnings. A law passed by the state legislature earlier this year outlaws smoking in cars while youths under 16 are present. It's modelled after a tougher ordinance in the city of Bangor, Maine. California, Arkansas and Louisiana have passed similar laws, as have Puerto Rico and some Canadian provinces. Other states have also looked at the proposal. When he signed...

Religion is the opiate of the masses. -- Karl Marx, 1843 It's not surprising that they get bitter, they cling to . . . religion . . . as a way to explain their frustrations. -- Barack Obama, 2008 Has anyone else pointed out the striking similarity between Barack Obama's recent statement about tough economic times driving people to religion and that of another person who preached change: Karl Marx? Obama added guns and xenophobia to his list of proletarian elixirs for bitterness. But the fundamental point remains: Barack apparently doesn't take religion, his own or anyone else's, too seriously....

Russia has suffered terribly at the hands of Islamic terrorism over the centuries and continues suffer today. Yet, Russia is the best friend of the terrorism-exporting Muslim countries. Russia is actively helping Iran towards its ambition to extiprate Israel. Will Russia learn a lesson?

HAVANA - Over the past 10 years I've crossed Cuba many times -- by train, bus, motorcycle and '57 Chevy, transported on the backs of produce wagons and horse-drawn carts, standing in peso trucks shoulder-to-shoulder with locals, and squeezed atop water carriers. Along the central motorway, down dusty trails that pass obscure rural villages, through seemingly impassible roads after torrents of rain, my drivers took a foreigner aboard, even if it was forbidden. Some even took me into their homes and allowed me to witness their lives. Their kindness will stay with me always. So will their terrible plight. When...

This morning President Bush signed the Central American Free Trade Act-Dominican Republic (CAFTA) a trade agreement between the United States, and El Salvador, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Honduras, Costa Rica, and the Dominican Republic. Last week the bill narrowly passed the Senate after midnight-hour wrangling, threats and bribery by the Republic Party. The Communist Party, USA denounces this agreement and believes it bodes ill for the working people of the U.S. and Central America. CAFTA is modeled on the North American Free Trade Act (NAFTA) that has destroyed communities, labor and environmental standards, and jobs for over a decade. CAFTA will bring...

Okay, celebration's over. Now it's time to get serious. Republicans did good. That's true. But they had help from some very unexpected quarters. Any victory message from the Republican National Committee should certainly attribute at least part of the GOP's success to the Clintons. After all, Hillary's wicked divisiveness raised many eyebrows these past few weeks. Still, she's just a bit player in this. One very interesting part of the story is quite subtle to most of us: Democrats actually allowed the disgraced Bill Clinton to go out and campaign for candidates. But, the soccer moms who once supported Clinton...