Are We Doomed to Make the Same Mistakes?

Socialism has taken the country by storm. What once was an outright condemnation of character, a slander upon someone’s name, is now a badge of honor in the minds of those who support it. According to a Gallup Poll taken in May of this year, 43 percent of Americans say socialism would be a good thing for this country.

Society is seeing a rise in socialism because many people don’t understand the history behind some of the socialist and communist countries’ history of the world. The masses are told only about the good things and never about the bad.

Socialism is a radical Left wing set of policies that can vary on a spectrum. The more state ownership you go with via socialism, the closer you are to scratching up the communism tree. For most of history, socialism and communism were interchangeable.

Hitler and Social Democrats

Many countries, like Russia, Italy, Germany, and China spread the awareness and thought of socialist/communist ideology. These ideologies led to the biggest stains on humanity’s history.

In Germany, one of the grossest human beings of all time, Adolf Hitler, was the leader of the National Socialist German Workers’ Party. The short term for that was Nazi. In Hitler’s youth he didn’t partake in politics, but followed the ideas of Social Democrats, Christian Socialists, and the Pan German Neonationalist parties, according to William Shirer’s “The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich.”

Shirer states that even Hitler believed the Social Democrats cloaked themselves as virtuous to gain power from the working class, but he used their message to gain favor among them. Hitler studied the Social Democrats and realized why they were successful. According to Hitler, the Social Democrats knew how to create a mass movement, used propaganda among the masses, and attacked whoever disagreed with them with slander and lies to invoke “physical and spiritual terror.” Sound familiar?

Hitler used these tactics through means of propaganda to destroy any opposition to his rule. Hitler also took ideas from the Pan-German Neo-nationalists. Many people argue that Hitler wasn’t a socialist, even though his party was named National Socialists, because of his nationalist and anti-Semitic approach. I argue he was exactly what the party’s name was. Hitler formed a social national approach. He mixed both radical ideas from the Pan-German Neo-nationalists, Social Democrats, and his own warped ideology of what they meant.

Socialism in Russia

Russia had Lenin and Stalin who were responsible for millions of deaths. Lenin was a communist who violently overthrew the government. Lenin advocated for direct rule by the working class, but in order for him to take power in Russia he needed to enact War Communism. This nationalized all industries. The state ownership of these industries caused a near collapse of the Soviet Union causing around five million deaths from famine due to lack of economic and agricultural failure. Lenin then proposed his New Economic Policy where there would be a free market and capitalism, both subject to state control. The economy still did not work.

After Lenin died, Stalin came to power. Stalin wanted a classless system but argued that government be given more control before a socialist system could be implemented. Stalin claimed those against socialism needed to be thwarted. Stalin was given more power and used it to slaughter his political rivals. An estimated 20 million people died under Stalin’s rule from famine, forced-labor camps, collectives, executions, and forced relocation.

China and Italy

In China, they had a ruler named Mao Zedong who was a communist dictator. He studied Marxism and Leninism. Mao advocated for an equal wage system, but the Chinese would have to give up their private ownership of land and join communes in which he called “The Great Leap Forward.” Because of these massive changes, the economy tanked, and the entire country was in chaos. This led to 45 million deaths over four years.

In Italy they had a fascist dictator by the name of Benito Mussolini. Mussolini studied socialism in Switzerland in his early adult life and wrote for a socialist newspaper. He then became a fascist and started his own newspaper that called for violence. He formed a party for all the fascist groups across Italy.

The party was ordered to wear black shirts and march in “squads.” All party members were considered “squad members.” Mussolini used these squads to take control of cities, and they burned down rivaling political offices. Mussolini eventually became Prime Minister by doing so.

The majority of newspapers were fascist, which was used to spread propaganda. Mussolini didn’t support the Church until aligning with Hitler and was responsible for at least 400,000 deaths.

Let’s Be Honest

Some of us may have family, friends, or co-workers who support socialism to some extent. Most people nowadays fail to sit down and have a civil discussion about rational ideas, so the irrational gets accepted by some.

American socialists are just like Trump supporters in a way. Both parties want a better America, they both recognize the corruption and enrichment of politicians and those who cozy up to them. They both just want an end to it, and they both just want to see everyday Americans succeed, and their own lives improve.

We have gotten to 43 percent of Americans supporting socialism because of the broken system of government we have had for so long. Not many good people go into politics anymore. Many of them are there for political power or to profit off of their office, and those who want socialism for America see that also. That’s why these very radical ideas for America have surfaced, because our once sacred system of governing has become tainted with greed of power and wealth, and people want to see a change. That’s why Trump is president. That’s partially why people have become violent, along with taking the word of one news anchor, news network, or newspaper.

Be Careful What You Wish For

Sure, there are always things America can improve on, but it doesn’t mean we have to take the most radical approach first. There are people who need a helping hand in life, there are those struggling with student debt, there are those who cannot afford the prescription medication they need to survive etc., but that means we need extensive reform and a partisan approach to these things.

It’s not capitalism’s fault that the two-party system can’t agree on anything or work with each other to provide bills that will help Americans who really need it. If the parties can’t agree and put their differences aside to help their constituents, what makes you think giving those very people more power and overreach will change something?

This is not an attack on any of the Democratic candidates, it’s a warning to Americans. Be careful what you wish for. Once you give up your liberties, you won’t get them back.