Plato: We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.
Bernie Sanders, and people of his ilk, know that fear underpins many of our decisions. Socialists prey on that fear to keep us in the dark.
We are tribal by nature, like pack animals. Safety in numbers. Fear is one emotion that keeps us together. But fear limits one’s horizons, inhibits free speech, diminishes independent thought, enabling politically correct behavior and group think that makes the cancel culture possible. There is a plethora of stories, myths, legends, fables, and parables about fear. But there is one in particular that truly speaks to our innate fear of the unknown, and freedom, possibly the greatest of fears.
There is a very old story about a people enslaved for four hundred years who are finally led to freedom: the freedom “to be.” That freedom was paralyzing; so strong that they yearned to go back to enslavement. Suddenly, slavery wasn’t all that bad. There had been food and shelter and clothing and the work; well it could have been worse! It had to be better than the unknown, despite the fact that their leader was prepared to help them become accustomed to caring for themselves. Food and shelter and clothing were provided, but yet, that fear of freedom, of caring for oneself, and the unknown future, were too much.
Yes, I am telling the story of the Exodus, the Jews being brought out of Egypt with so much hope, only to succumb to fear; of freedom and independence. It was for that reason, that the people wandered in the desert for 40 years until the generations born into slavery had died and the new generation, born into freedom, would take over. It is in this same book that we are told “Do not fear.”
That story is as true today as it was thousands of years ago. While for generations freedom was valued, millions dying for the right to be free of overarching governments and attacks on free speech, the past two generations have been raised to be fearful of freedom. We are devolving, back to the desert. We are failing our children because we have raised fearful children. We have protected our children from the freedom to fail and pick oneself up and start, again. We have not only allowed, but encouraged safe spaces at university. Safe from what? Freedom of thought? Freedom from hurt feelings? Freedom from facts?
We have raised entitled young people who have been given freedom on a silver platter. They have no idea that the one thing in life that is not free is freedom, itself.
Karl Marx declared that socialism is inevitable. He has been proven correct, over and over again. Socialism has shown its face in far too many countries because people fear freedom. And that fear is a call back to the safety of the womb, the Garden, where all was provided.
Freedom in the World has recorded global declines in political rights and civil liberties for an alarming 13 consecutive years, from 2005 to 2018. The global average score has declined each year, and countries with net score declines have consistently outnumbered those with net improvements.
With the assistance of professors, our young people have sacrificed their minds on the altar of political correctness and group think. And group think is just a hop, skip and a jump away from socialism. Socialism feeds into, and on that innate, repressed, suppressed fear of the unknown, and of individual freedom itself, because socialism offers to be your mother and father forever. A recent YouGov survey reported that given a choice, 44 percent of young people between the ages of 16 and 29 would prefer to live in a socialist nation rather than a capitalist country. And why not?
Socialism is sold as free stuff. One never has to worry about holding down a full time job. Or being responsible for their children. From cradle to grave, the government will take care of you. Now, think about that. When you are a child, your parents take care of you and tell you what to do for the first 16 to 18 years. Remember taking marching orders from your parents – often with phrases like – while you live under my roof…?
Socialism is the continuation of living with your parents telling you what to do because they are paying for you: FREE STUFF; for your health care, your education, your housing, child care. And it is so seductive. And so you succumb, little by little, like the lobster in the pot of water, slowly warming, until you have swallowed the bait and give up every last drop of freedom, becoming beholden to government for everything, including your thoughts.
Socialism is the doctrine that man has no right to exist for his own sake, that his life and his work do not belong to him, but belong to society, that the only justification of his existence is his service to society, and that society may dispose of him in any way it pleases for the sake of whatever it deems to be its own tribal, collective good.
Socialism denigrates the dignity of the individual and the dignity of work. It is a giant step backward, away from the hard fought freedom of the individual within the state. And the fearful eat it up.
Democracy and socialism have nothing in common but one word, equality. But notice the difference: while democracy seeks equality in liberty, socialism seeks equality in restraint and servitude.~ Alexis de Tocqueville
From the Ethics of the Fathers: “Rabbi Tarfon used to say, it is not incumbent upon you to complete the task, but you are not exempt from undertaking it.”
