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.
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.