Special to WorldTribune, November 26, 2020
by Cheryl K. Chumley
The author has written a new book, ‘Socialists Don’t Sleep‘. Following is the first of three excerpts.
Socialism is not the same as big government.
But the Left has taken the word socialism and reshaped, redefined, and reworked it to suit its needs, so that it’s nearly impossible to reach consensus on what’s socialist, what’s not — what’s democratic socialism versus social democracy versus social justice versus progressivism versus communism versus all the rest. This confusion is not without its benefits for the Left. After all, what better way for a socialist to disguise socialist intent than by pretending not to be a socialist?
By loosest definition, socialism means force — a forced government taking, a forced government redistribution, a forced government takeover of the means of production. That’s different from big government — from a government that grows big on the entitlement-minded wings of entitlement-minded politicians and people. But big government and socialism are linked. Big government can oh-so-easily tip into socialism. And America’s actually been tip, tip, tipping that way for some time now.
Today’s socialists are yesterday’s progressives are last week’s Democrats are last month’s democratic socialists are last year’s communists — are last decade’s socialists. It’s a constant morphing, a constant redefining, a constant convoluting, and conflating of policies, platforms, and politics, designed to constantly change so as to avoid detection. But let’s not get caught in the weeds. Here’s the real enemy: collectivism.
Let’s not get hung up on the ever-changing definitions, and in so doing, play right into the Left’s hands. Instead, let’s keep it simple.
- There’s freedom — and there’s not.
- There’s sovereignty — and there’s globalism.
- There’s the Constitution — and there’s unconstitutional.
- There’s the notion of God-given rights — and there’s a government that treads on those rights.
Socialism may be the latest attention grabber for today’s youth. Socialism may be perceived as today’s biggest threat in America, and to America’s system of capitalism and free market and freedom. But really, it’s the seeds of socialism we need to beware. It’s the change of mindset that comes from a nation of people who are taught in public schools that America is not exceptional; who are told by politicians that hard work means nothing and that if you live, if you breathe, you are owed; who are trained to believe that absolutes are the chains that enslave and that boys can be girls, and girls, boys, simply by trading clothing; who are brainwashed into scorning once-admired traits like self-rule, self-governance, and self-sufficiency; and who are raised without God, or with a god that can be whatever is wished at the time — so that courteous culture crashes, polite society falters, and voilà, government whisks into the picture to instill control.
Want an up-front and close encounter with seeds of socialism as they grow and spread? Look at the video of Black Lives Matter riots in the streets at the police killing of black suspect George Floyd, right around the summer of 2020. Scour the YouTubes of Antifa thugs as they smashed windows, burned up cars, destroyed and defaced monuments and memorials and statues of America’s history — all sparked by the death of George Floyd. Watch the news feeds of the militants and anarchists who took over the city streets of Seattle, Washington, and set up a Capitol Hill “Autonomous Zone,” or CHAZ area, barricaded and patrolled by armed guards who kept out police, shook down residents and businesses for cash and protection money, and facilitated the distribution of a myriad of demands to local and state political leaders — all due to the horrible white officers’ handling of George Floyd. …
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These are all seeds of socialism — ignorance, entitlement and victimhood mentalities, secularism and immorality, jealousies and frustrations born of lies, indoctrination of the greatness of government and weakness of the individual.
And it’s all these seeds and more that grow cultural socialism, then political socialism, then a government of socialism led by card-carrying socialists. It’s all these seeds and more that sprout, spread, stifle, and choke all concepts of freedom.
When it comes to socialism in America, it’s not socialism, it’s collectivism that must be fought. It’s collectivism that must be stomped and killed and eradicated from US soil. It’s anything that’s not freedom. To do that, we must recognize the seeds of socialism when they’re planted, where they’re planted, how they’re planted — so we can rip them from the soil before they sprout. It’s the seeds of socialism we want to pluck.
And we need to do it quickly, with bold determination and fearless focus. Why? Because socialists don’t sleep. Socialists don’t quit. Socialists don’t abandon the battlefield.
Cheryl K. Chumley, author of ‘Socialists Don’t Sleep‘, is Online Opinion Editor at The Washington Times, a U.S. Army veteran and a licensed private investigator.