The 2012 election has many people on edge. Opinions and passions run deep. And well they should. It is the most important election in our lifetimes!
It comes down to this: what is your vision of America? Do you want the government to be involved in every aspect of your life or do you want to retain your rights as an individual?
Or to put it more bluntly, do you want Communism/Marxism/Socialism or to go back to the principles this country was founded upon: freedom, the Constitution, and free market capitalism?
Now some reading this may doubt my assessment of the choices, that this race is between socialism and capitalism.
Let me explain why that assessment is not correct.
A couple of weeks ago while visiting my parents, I noticed an old “Look” magazine from 1966. This magazine contained an interesting article about a defector to China during the Korean War--Pvt Morris R. Wills.
Why did he defect? As he says in the article, “before I was taken prisoner, I knew nothing about Karl Marx or about communism.”
After he was captured, he experienced extreme hunger. Life was about survival. “You are just at the line of existence. If you go under that, you die.” Finally, after months of being a prisoner, the Chinese moved him to a camp in North Korea. At first, they tried to train him and the other prisoners in a forceful manner. Then they got wise. They realized approaching it in a subtle way was a better means of convincing their prisoners.
Months of starvation and the war built a mountain of bitterness in Wills. He started listening to the propaganda.
“I had never heard of Marxism. Marx had never been mentioned in our school that I can remember. He should have been; we ought to have been given a basic idea of his theories. There ought to be a whole course on communism--intellectual discussions, not just fanatical discussions. There is no way of combating an argument in its favor unless you know something about it.”
After reading the books the Chinese spoon-fed him, Wills became convinced that Marxism and the Chinese system was superior to Western capitalism. His ideas changed slowly, idea after idea. He found that he could not argue with the Communists. He could not explain unemployment, poverty, and crime. “It breaks you down--bit by bit,” he said.
The more he accepted their ideas, the more he was treated like one of them. Eventually he decided to defect. “Before I went in the Army, I did not think the United States was such an awful place. I said the Pledge of Allegiance every morning in school. But by the time I entered China, I did believe that the U.S. was imperialistic, predatory, very corrupt, and that the Government was influenced, indirectly at least, by the rich.”
Here is more of what he became convinced of: “Well, by God, this is just the thing that is needed. Equality for everyone. Everything’s organized, planned, secure. On paper, it looks very nice, especially to someone who doesn’t know anything about it, and who is thoroughly disgusted with his own government.”
He goes on to say, “I felt I was a member of the Socialist community and felt very close to the rest of the group. I considered myself a peace fighter, and I wanted to do everything I could to keep peace in the world. I felt that socialism and eventually communism were higher stages of development than capitalism… Although I did not think so, I suppose you might say I was brainwashed.”
After arriving in China, he realized it was definitely not all that it was cracked up to be. If you read about Chinese atrocities and oppression under the Communist regime, you will understand why.
The Chinese used men like Wills and then discarded them. Eventually Wills came back to the U.S.
“Today,” he says in the article,” I am ashamed of that decision… What we call ‘brainwashing’ is a long, horrible process by which a man slowly--step by step, idea by idea--comes to be totally convinced, as I was, that the Chinese Communists have unlocked the secret to man’s happiness and that the United States is run by rich bankers, McCarthy-types and ‘imperialist aggressors.’ Perhaps my story will help those who may yet be captured.”
Sound familiar?
Step by step, idea by idea, for more than 60 years, progressives have been propagating Socialism under the guise of equality and fairness. How many times have you heard Obama talk about redistributing wealth or taxing the rich because it’s fair?
Oh these ideas sound so nice on paper. Nobody has to do without healthcare, everyone gets a college education, nobody starves, there is security, everyone has a home, taken care of from cradle to grave.
The problem is socialism--or central planning, a heavy-handed government dictating to its people--never works. It has failed everywhere it’s tried. It didn’t work in China. They have become more capitalistic. It didn’t work in the USSR. It is not working in Europe. It is not working in Greece and Spain.
Endless entitlements, a heavy tax burden, and excessive government control ends in loss of freedoms, wasted potential, tyranny, and bankruptcy.
A government that gives you things can take it away. Are you really so cheap that you are bought with a promise of the government taking care of you? Or do you want to be your own person, striving after self-actualization, becoming the best individual person you can be, in search of your pursuit of happiness?
You cannot have both at the same time!
The founders of America fought against tyranny. They fought against taxation without representation. Our nation was built on inalienable rights given by God to pursue life, liberty, and happiness. Immigrants came from all over the world seeking a better life, and here they found the American dream. You could go from rags to riches if you worked hard. The work ethic was part of everyday life. Personal responsibility was a capstone of society.
Now I see these high morals in decay. Communism is at our door. Step by step, idea by idea, Americans have been beaten down. Those who are innovators are punished. The job creators are strapped by a heavy tax burden and overreaching regulations that kill jobs. And over dependence on government creates helpless people with little desire for personal responsibility.
My friends, life under communism is not pretty. Ask the Chinese, or the East German, the Russian, Hungarian, the Romanian who lived under Marxist rule.
Still doubt me? You don’t think that what we’re going to experience is socialism or we have a socialist president? Look at his actions, his beliefs that America is an imperialist society. Read his book, "Dreams of My Fathers." Think about how he refuses to mention God when he talks about the Constitution or the Declaration of Independence. In fact, as a Constitutional scholar, he believes that our rights are “negative.” That it only highlights what government can’t do. To him, it’s a roadblock to how he wants government to invade every part of our lives. And to top it off, at the Democratic Convention, both God and Israel were rejected three times!
What is socialism anyway? It’s collectivism. It’s believing that the government knows best how to run the lives of people, rather individuals knowing best. It is a religion unto itself and can tolerate no competitors, especially Christianity. According to the dictionary, It means that individuals do not own and exchange property and business, but everything goes through the state. In Marxist theory, it is “a transitional state between the overthrow of capitalism and the realization of communism.”
Think about it: government take over of healthcare, government take over of the auto industry: Obama wants to do more of this!
Why isn’t that a good thing?
You cannot have free healthcare for every citizen without rationing. Hospitals are already having to install “end of life care.” In England, over 100,000 senior citizens have been allowed to die prematurely to make room for new patients. The system is overburdened. There are too few doctors and too many patients. Remember the laws of supply and demand?
And similarly, you can’t force banks to loan people money who can’t afford it without the result being negative. Can you say housing bubble anyone? Just research what the Frank-Dodd bill did, who passed it, who benefited, who tried to reform it but was blocked, and who was hurt in the end.
And GM? Didn’t Obama save that? No! It is near bankruptcy despite the buy out. And so are other companies the administration invested in, like Solyndra. And when he and Biden talk about the rich? Well, on paper over $250,000 sounds so well off. But these are small business owners struggling to support their families and hire employees. I know this because my husband works for a small business and we have experienced many anxious times of lagging paychecks and cut hours.
In fact, after Obama started campaigning in 2008 and after he was installed as president, we lost our rental property to foreclosure. We were in the vacation industry--does anyone remember how he urged people not to take vacations? Our place sat empty for months and we were faced with paying two mortgages and mounting debt.
And now our country is $16 trillion in debt. Yes, Obama added $5 trillion of that in four years. It is a spending record! He goes on his spending binge while taking lavish vacations and playing round after round of golf.
Can you spend yourself out of debt? Can you keep borrowing from creditors for an unlimited time even though you can’t pay? Can you just go out and print more money?
Of course not! So neither should the government!
But isn’t Romney just a rich guy who only cares about his cronies?
That is a myth! Romney is a compassionate man, a leader in his church. He gave 33% to charity last year and he has stated that he will give his salary as president to charity. He cares deeply about people. Stories abound about him visiting the sick or paying for a student’s college tuition, or suspending business so he can help a friend search for a missing child in New York City.
He wants ALL people to succeed! He believes in a safety net for the poor and wants to help the middle class because he knows they have been buried over these last few years! He is also very passionate about helping small businesses and entrepreneurs. He knows they are the backbone of this country. He loves this country and wants to see it restored to greatness.
He is a can-do, positive person and very competent. He knows how to turn around a bankrupt business, a bankrupt bureaucracy. He did it at Bain Capital, the Olympics, and in Massachusetts.
And what about Romney’s math? How does that add up? Look, you can either have “trickle down government” or “trickle down economics.” Who hires employees? Is it poor people? The middle class? No, it is the rich, the job creators. The more they are taxed, the more you will be taxed, the less jobs there will be, and more people will be dependent on the government. Even if you taxed the rich at 100 percent, they would only sustain the government for a few months.
But in contrast, you ease the tax burden on everyone, you cut the corporate taxes so America is competitive with the world again, you encourage growth through energy production: More people have jobs. More people are paying income taxes. Fewer people are on welfare. The government receives more revenues and cuts expenses.
And how about EVERYONE paying their fair share? Is it fair that 47 percent do not pay ANY tax? I heard the other day that welfare recipients get an average of $100,000 per year in government benefits. That is far more than my family earns. Is that really fair? Think about it: what Obama has done is to pit one group of Americans against another: rich vs. poor, black vs white, religious vs secular.
Doubt me about the math? Look back into the Reagan years, after he inherited Carter’s recession. In many ways, those were worse economic times than now. Look at Bush. I know everyone wants to blame W. But think about after 9/11 happened. How we quickly rebounded from the recession because Bush gave the citizens back their own money, instead of stimulus after stimulus to banks who just hoarded the money! (I thought that was a huge mistake Bush did, advocating the first stimulus.)
Romney is a man of faith. He wants to restore the American ideals, the principles upon which we were founded, based on the Constitution and Declaration of Independence. In the first debate, he was very clear on that point!
Is he against women? Absolutely not! Listen to the reports of women who have worked with Romney. He treats them fairly and with a great deal of respect. In contrast, in Obama’s administration they are payed 18 percent less than their male counterparts, plus it is a horrible job culture to work in.
Romney is FOR life, that is true, and FOR traditional marriage, yes. But in some people’s minds, he probably will not go far enough on this issue because he does believe in exceptions to a woman’s choice in the case of rape, incest, or life endangerment. I know some voters who are supporting a third party because he doesn’t go far enough in his ideology.
He just happens to believe that a woman should not choose it on demand--say in the third trimester when the unborn child is viable. Nor does he believe in gender selection. Which, by the way, the female child is killed more often than the male. Nor, like Obama, does he believe that infants who survive abortion should be left alone to die without any kind of comfort whatsoever.
Romney is not going to take anyone’s right to contraceptives away--he just happens to believe that the government should not force religious organizations and businesses to pay for contraceptions and abortions when it is against their faith. He believes that should be handled by the private sector and it is up to personal and individual responsibility to provide this.
Is it mere coincidence that the Catholic church is suing the government and companies like Hobby Lobby are taking the healthcare mandate through the court system? Obama stated outright that when you go into business, you forfeit all your religious rights. Does that not scare you? It certainly scares me as a faith-based business owner!
Perhaps your objection is Romney’s Mormonism? We are electing a president, not a spiritual leader. If you are religious, who do you feel would best represent you? Obama who claims to be a Christian but sat under the radical teachings of Reverend Wright and seems to be sympathetic with Radical Muslims who are at war with us? Or Romney who lives out the tenants of Christianity, whatever his motives happen to be?
Look, Romney is not perfect. No man is. The only perfect ruler is Jesus Christ and He is not running for president! He already has a title of King of Kings and will come back soon! In my view, probably a lot sooner if Obama is re-elected!
And what about agenda? As Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, “Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.” So I must write this, even if people hate me.
At best, Obama’s goal is to turn us into a social democracy like Europe. At worst, it is to make our country into a third world, put it on a level playing field with developing countries. Take us into communism and dictate the government into every aspect of our lives.
If you don’t believe me, I am sad for you and I will be praying for you. If you are considering voting for a third party, think about the consequences of your choice. Can you afford four more years of Obama? Can any of us?
Please, do your own research and don’t rely on media filters. Don’t just regurgitate talking points! And most of all, bathe your decision in prayer!
I am praying fervently for our country and for a positive outcome of this election. After that, even if the outcome goes the way I hope it does, we have much work to do and much healing to do.
So will you join me in this fight for patriotism, this quest to restore America’s greatness?
What will you decide: Socialism or Freedom? It is, after all, your choice on November 6!
But whatever your choice, after the election, remember that as Abraham Lincoln said, it is government “of the people, by the people, for the people.”
Because WE are the people of the great United States of America!
And perhaps by writing this blog, like Pvt. Wills who realized his mistake about defecting to China, I will help those “who may yet be captured.”
Do you want hope for your future? Listen to my free audio that will show you how to have a dazzling one!
