The Communist Manifesto
I was listening to Mark Levin's radio show this afternoon while driving back from Bellingham. He is opening each show by reading a bit from the
Communist Manifesto. Today, he presented
this little list of Communist goals -- my comments inline:
1. Abolition of property in land and application of all rents of land to public purposes.
Hell no -- now get off my lawn! Eminent domain has been misused more often than it has been beneficial.
2. A heavy progressive or graduated income tax.
Don't we already have this? 2% of the population accounts for 40% of tax revenue and almost 50% of the population pays nothing.
3. Abolition of all rights of inheritance.
Being talked about as we speak. Thanks a lot Bill. Anything over two million is taxed at confiscatory rates and for a lifetime of work and thrift, $2M is not unusual.
4. Confiscation of the property of all emigrants and rebels.
This is already being talked about in a business sense -- from the
Wall Street Journal
5. Centralisation of credit in the hands of the state, by means of a national bank with State capital and an exclusive monopoly.
The Fed. Fannie Mae. Freddy Mac. Look at how well these institutions are doing...
6. Centralisation of the means of communication and transport in the hands of the State.
Oh -- like
Obama's Internet Kill bill? How about his
backdoor to social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc...)
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.
How about Government ownership to two of the three major automotive companies, how about Government ownership of many small and not so small financial institutions. As for ag -- look at what the EPA and FWS are doing to hurt our agricultural ability. They are manufacturing a crisis so they can step in and
save us.
8. Equal liability of all to work. Establishment of industrial armies, especially for agriculture.
And the pay is damn good -- public sector jobs pay a lot better than equivalent private sector ones; better benefits too. Only problem is who pays for all of this.
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.
Seeing this right now with clueless "urban planning" that fail to take into account people's preferences and lifestyle choices.
10. Free education for all children in public schools. Abolition of children�s factory labour in its present form. Combination of education with industrial production.
And we are seeing problems with this right now -- many schools are excellent but many are horrible and with unionized teachers, there is no way to fire bad ones.
Eerie how close we are to Marx's ideal society...
Posted by DaveH at September 28, 2010 8:08 PM