The People's Republic Of The United States Of America

[2dogs]

http://www.etherzone.com/2003/beam101603.shtml

THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC
OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (I)

By: Roderick Beaman

During the Bicentennial of The Constitution, there were numerous celebrations across the country and many books were published with the text and comments from various politicians to the greatness of our guiding document. I have one with a tribute by, among others, Thomas (TIP) O'Neill whose voting record indicated only the most casual acquaintance with its principles.

Some pollsters tried an experiment and set up tables at shopping malls across the country where they asked people if they would sign a petition with the provisions of The Bill of Rights. Many wouldn't because they felt it was too vague. They must not have recognized their own fundamental rights. Many surveys have also shown that even college students do not recognize crucial phrases from The Constitution.




That is very alarming and I have written letters to my state and federal senators and representatives recommending that comprehensive testing of both The Constitution and Declaration of Independence be required for graduation. My state senator responded by thanking me for my interest in the state education budgetary problems. I think he proved the point about the, related, sorry state of education in this country.

I'm sure that everyone agrees that familiarity with our fundamental guiding documents would be a desirable goal for our educational system. I now have a more radical proposal. Every American student should be taught of The Communist Manifesto.

I say this because this country has now fulfilled, to at least some degree, all of the recommendations that Karl Marx made for his proletarian dictatorship. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, do not fool yourselves. By Marx's own measure, we now live in a communist country. If you have any doubt about it, I will now show and prove it.

I urge everyone to read The Manifesto, sometimes called The Communist Manifesto. The book is fairly short and not particularly interesting reading. It is instructive about the mind of its author. Marx railed against every institution that European civilization had developed but, interestingly, and was particularly hostile to the bourgeoisie, who included just about everyone. Everyone who got ahead became a member of the bourgeoisie and thus subject to his vitriol. I couldn't help but think as I read it that it explained the horrors of The Cultural Revolution and Pol Pot's Killing Fields. Anyone even slightly tainted, was an enemy.

At any rate, about 2/3rds of the way through the book, Marx gives the following list that progressive people should work for, until the revolution of the proletariat. The stated goal was to 'centralize all instruments of production in the hands of the State'. I will discuss them at greater length but even the most cursory examination should alarm anyone.

1. Abolition of property in land and application of all rents of land to public purposes.

2. A heavy progressive or graduated income tax.

3. Abolition of all rights of inheritance.

4. Confiscation of the property of all emigrants and rebels.

5. Centralization of credit in the banks of the state, by means of a national bank with state capital and an exclusive monopoly.

6. Centralization of the means of communication and transport in the hands of the state.

7. Extension of factories and instruments of production owned by the state; the bringing into cultivation of waste lands, and the improvement of the soil generally in accordance with a common plan.

8. Equal obligation of all to work. Establishment of industrial armies, especially for agriculture.

9. Combination of agriculture with manufacturing industries; gradual abolition of all the distinction between town and country by a more equable distribution of the populace over the country.

10. Free education for all children in public schools. Abolition of children's factory labor in its present form. Combination of education with industrial production, etc.

 

[2dogs]

THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC
OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (II)

By: Roderick Beaman

MANIFESTO - THE FIRST PLANK

Abolition of property in land and application of all rents of land to public purposes.

The abolition of property in land is consistent with the communist ideal and even the most uninformed knows that intuitively.

This nation was founded with the precept of the sacredness and inviolability of the rights of the individual against the state when it came to his own property. James Otis made the famous saying, ‘A man's home is his castle'. A land owner could point to his property line and say, that far and no further. Throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, property owners could and did have pig sties in their backyards and no one could do anything about it. 'If you don't like it, move', was the operative attitude.




It is natural that this is the very first Marxist goal. The assaults have been spearheaded with zoning laws and eminent domain. It has been decided that the state has overriding interests when it comes to the use of and entitlement to land. Zoning laws and eminent domain, combined with environmental laws and others, have been lethal for property rights which for most intents and purposes, no longer exist.

You can not open a shop, such as a bakery or clothing store in your home. In many locales, you are restricted from even having an office in your house. In Los Angeles, zoning laws are so strict that the city has stopped people from conducting internet businesses in their homes.

Today, we have the results of zoning laws typified by the architectural achievements of suburban shopping malls. Like boxes they squat on and deface the landscape in Stalinist glory, monuments to the old saw that the camel was a horse designed by committee.

Eminent domain used to be applied for public projects such as roads, dams, etc. Today, in Rhode Island and Ohio, governments are trying to seize properties from private citizens for other private use such as malls and industrial parks. They may be rebuffed, at first, but just like zoning laws and the tobacco suits, one will likely be successful which will open the floodgates. The politicians proposing these seizures are having their election campaigns financed by the same developers.

To be able to use land in a manner different from the currently approved, you have to go through zoning laws variances as well as, often, submit an environmental impact statement. To assist you, there are consultants and attorneys available for hire for the appropriate fees. All of this is obstructionist and just adds to the costs of providing goods and services which in turn generates another round of clamor for more controls in the various economic sectors, which is exactly what the collectivists want.

Fat cat land developers lament the regulations while they have their behind the scenes relationships with the zoning board members and the attorneys who represent both 'the people' and the people. Your Yellow Pages are filled with consultants and attorneys who advertise for zoning problems. They all grow rich while they laugh at the big scam that they've pulled off on the public. Like Lenin said, 'When it comes time to hang the last capitalist, there will be another one waiting to sell you the rope'. Eliminate zoning laws and these 'free market Republicans' will squawk the loudest. Your local Wal-Mart or McDonald's might find its land worth one tenth of what it was.

Meanwhile, with land the first source of wealth, zoning laws are the first significant step in the direction of the 'planned economy'. Think Politburo disguised as freedom. 'Arbeit macht frei' and all that.

The gradual change of land use under full property rights is sacrificed on the altar of suburban uniformity. From Maine to California, chain stores reign supreme. As far as this plank goes, Marx is the winner.

The second part of this plank, 'the application of all rents of land to public purposes' is one with some strong backing from free market disciples. Henry George was a nineteenth century economist who proposed a single tax on the value of land. He felt that the value of land only devolved from the value that community conferred upon it. So therefore, there should be a confiscatory tax on its unimproved value.

The theory has generated interest over the years and it is attractive. George was an ardent supporter of capitalism and free trade. He believed firmly in the private ownership of land and property rights which is counter to Marx. He wrote a classic, highly readable, book on it, called 'Progress and Poverty'.

The tax, if applied correctly, would not penalize production, a bane of every other tax system. The catch is in applying it correctly. How can one truly assess the value of land?

Economic land is essentially natural resources, such as a virgin forest. If a man goes and cuts down one tree, he has applied labor to it and it has some kind of changed value. How can you determine the difference in value of the tree before it was chopped down and after? As someone once remarked the theory is beautiful in its simplicity and almost impossible in practice.

At any rate, with regard to the first part, Marx has succeeded in this country. Overall, especially if you consider the federally owned land, give him a 60% in his assault on property rights.

MANIFESTO - THE SECOND PLANK

A heavy progressive or graduated income tax.

About this one, there can be no dispute. The only question is just how heavily progressive the tax itself is.

For its part, income taxes have opened the door for the greatest amount of intrusive government in history. These taxes are so obnoxious and hated that I hazard a guess that in the event of an armed overthrow of this government, it would be IRS personnel and property that would be in the greatest danger.

It is also the one plank that defines Marxism and collectivism, essentially the central tenet of the Democratic Party today. It's insidious but nevertheless an inescapable conclusion; income taxes are slavery.

Marx wins, hands down, on this one - 100%.

MANIFESTO - THE THIRD PLANK

Abolition of all rights of inheritance.

Once more there can be no argument here. To the extent that estates are taxed, this plank is in effect. Once more, it is the central tenet of the Democratic Party with the republicans being little better. Both the second and third planks spring from the presumptive core belief; that we belong to the government.

Marx, again, is a winner here and I'd give him 40%.

MANIFESTO - THE FOURTH PLANK

Confiscation of the property of all emigrants and rebels.

This is a one that has been a total failure. Rebels and emigrants are permitted to keep their earnings and take them with them when they leave. In this one, and this is the only one, Marx has been a failure in this country.

MANIFESTO - THE FIFTH PLANK

Centralization of credit in the banks of the state, by means of a national bank with state capital and an exclusive monopoly.

Marx is a slam dunk winner on this one. The Federal Reserve Board has an exclusive monopoly on credit and once again it is under the precept of protecting the people. In actuality, it's a surrender of our monetary system that places our entire economy at the mercy of an international plutocracy. It was started by the messianic Woodrow Wilson, the first avowed internationalist president.

The current chairman, Alan Greenspan, advocated its disbandment years ago. It persists despite its obvious failure to end economic cycles. In fact, the evidence is that it made them worse. As usual with government, its failures are used as examples of why it needs to have its power expanded.

MANIFESTO - THE SIXTH PLANK

Centralization of the means of communication and transport in the hands of the state.

In communication, only the press and part of the mail system escapes government control. All broadcasting media operate under permission of the government with the only possible exception being the internet but elements in the government want to close that loophole too.

With regard to transport, almost every road in the country is government built. Air travel is under the control of the government. Busses, trains and automobiles must be government approved to operate.

I'd score this one an 85% victory for collectivism.

 

[2dogs]

THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC
OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (III)

By: Roderick Beaman

MANIFESTO - THE SEVENTH PLANK

Extension of factories and instruments of production owned by the state; the bringing into cultivation of waste lands, and the improvement of the soil generally in accordance with a common plan.

This is a mouthful. The whole plank dovetails with land use control but expands the scope to include manufacturing. The wording indicates that some manufacturing was already government owned which it is here in The United States. Government influence is pervasive in every sector of manufacturing. Any loans are used as a wedge to further the influence. Overall, this would be a hard one to score but I'd have to give Marx 40%.




MANIFESTO - THE EIGHTH PLANK

Equal obligation of all to work. Establishment of industrial armies, especially for agriculture.

This is among the most interesting of Marx's planks since Marx had a great aversion to work and there is very little evidence that he ever did any. He spent most of his life freeloading off others by impressing them with his formidable intellect. This enabled him to hold court in the cafes of Europe, expounding on his own theories and greatness and undermining other philosophers in socialism, of which there were many at the time, assuring that no one else could grab the spotlight. Like all great left wing ideologues, Marx had a huge ego that would brook no competition and he would never stoop to something so low as manual labor. Marx meant the obligation of everyone else to work.

As far as industrial armies go, including for agriculture, they were and are present as the Peace Corps, Americorps, and during The New Deal and under German National Socialism with the National Recovery Administration, The Civil Conservation Corps, The Works Progress Administration and Hitler's Youth Corps. They have produced little of worth but are presented as monuments to their founders.

Today, they have little in the way of presence however, in the many government-private industry partnerships, they have the potential for a resurgence. Also, under the Leftism of this country, a lot of people don't work.

All in all, I'd score this one 10% successful but boosted to 15% when you consider the military.

MANIFESTO - THE NINTH PLANK

Combination of agriculture with manufacturing industries; gradual abolition of all the distinction between town and country by a more equable distribution of the populace over the country.

The first part of this one is a repeat of the eighth plank. The second part is simply the result of the zoning laws that have been enacted. The stricter the zoning laws have become, the worse the sprawl has become with the population spread further over the country, 'equably' as Marx desires. In most metropolitan areas there is no longer any distinction between town and country. Score the first part a 10% success and the second 100%. Overall, give him a 60%.

MANIFESTO - THE TENTH PLANK

Free education for all children in public schools. Abolition of children's factory labor in its present form. Combination of education with industrial production, etc.

'Free education for all children in public schools' has been completely realized, as long as you consider what is being offered today education. At its most basic, this violates the economic tenet that there is no such thing as a free lunch. Marx was nothing if not consistent in his desire to assault tradition. He must have felt that he could repeal the law of supply and demand. And of course, there is the old saw that 'you get what you pay for'.

'Abolition of children's factory labor in its present form' is an idea that no one would dismiss as a valid goal. It likely goes hand in hand with the first and third of this plank, both of which are central to the planned state and evil.

The reasons for child labor were complex and it was a solution, but not a good one to a tremendous demand for the products that became available during the age of industrialization of the nineteenth century. This demand was, I think, a result of the excessive power which government had invested in corporations which, I believe, are also evil in that they remove a large element of responsibility from the producers of goods. That is a necessity for true capitalism.

This is a viewpoint which was also shared by Adam Smith and I refer the reader to his work for a far better treatment of this matter. Suffice it to say that I think the horrors of sweat shops and child labor would have been avoided without corporations.

The 'combination of education with industrial production, etc.' has occurred to some extent and there are many American educators who advocate more of it. John Dewey, the socialist man whose philosophy dominates American education, believed strongly that preparation for entry into the workplace was the function of education, and emphatically not education for its own sake. It is important to realize that the latter had been the viewed as the function of education throughout history. Dewey's and Marx's ideas were radical breaks with this tradition and were embraced by Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolin, Josip Stalin and Mao Tse-Tung.

I would score this one as a 75% victory for Marxism.

This averages out to a 57.5% communization of American society.

Now, I've only given estimates. Others are free to disagree but there is no doubt that our country has been communized to a large degree. I have used only rough estimates and I think I have erred on the low side but once again, others are free to disagree.

Norman Thomas, the turn of the twentieth century socialist, said that socialism wouldn't come in the United States other than stepwise. He also identified the instrument as the Democratic Party. That is exactly what has happened.

Cry for the beloved country.

 

[Tamara]

Confiscation of the property of all emigrants and rebels.

This is a one that has been a total failure. Rebels and emigrants are permitted to keep their earnings and take them with them when they leave. In this one, and this is the only one, Marx has been a failure in this country.

Somebody needs to bring this cat up to speed on asset forfeiture laws.

 

[tyme]

But the lack of confiscation of property of expats is a serious problem! Something must be done right away! We can't have wealth streaming out of the country!

Or we could just make it illegal to permanently leave the U.S. tee hee.

One related way to eliminate a substantial portion of the national debt would be to tax international withdrawls (i.e. withdrawls of U.S. investments by foreigners) at extremely high rates (approaching 100%). If nobody can withdraw their investments without giving nearly all of it to the U.S. in taxes, we never have to worry about repaying most of it.

 

[BHPshooter]

very interesting; very thought-provoking.

I must say I agree, the U.S. has been communized to a great degree.

Thanks for posting this.
Wes

 

[Art Eatman]

In 1964, Norman Thomas gave an interview to the press wherein he announced he would not again run for President of the United States on the Socialist ticket.

When asked why, he replied that the 1932 platform of the Party had been enacted into law, in its entirety.

Art

 

[Sodbuster]

A heavy progressive or graduated income tax

Declared unconstitutional in 1874. Regained life as the 16th Amendment to the Constitution, after being ratified by the proper number of states. Big supporters were Sen. Prescott Bush, grandfather of Dubya, and Sen. Nelsen Aldrich, who was married into the Rockefeller family. The tax rates were 0% if making under $4000 per year, exempting almost all workers and farmers. Next rate was 1%, and the highestrate was 6% if making over $500,000 per year. I'd say the income tax has become progressively heavy.

 

[4v50 Gary]

Small as my lot is, I would make it a HazMat dump before I left it. Scorch & burn ala Kutuzov comes to mind.

BTW, abolishing inheritance rights seriously undermines one's motivation to work. Parents will work hard so that their children will have a better life than their own. Once it is known that the "fruits of their labor" belong to the community and not their children, the incentive is removed and they will produce an "average" amount as opposed to realizing full potential. This experiment was tried by the Pilgrims and they nearly starved to death.

 

[Glock Glockler]

If nobody can withdraw their investments without giving nearly all of it to the U.S. in taxes, we never have to worry about repaying most of it.

Congradulations. You've just destroyed any incentive for a foreigner to invest in the US. I'm sure the massive govt spending coupled with a devestated economy will do wonders in paying that debt. All these welfare schemes to profit on the backs of others are the same, it will fail for the same reason domestic welfare failed.

 

[Tamara]

Once it is known that the "fruits of their labor" belong to the community and not their children, the incentive is removed and they will produce an "average" amount as opposed to realizing full potential.

"Shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in three generations" does seem to be the goal, nicht wahr?