America Tried Socialism and Did Not Like It
The illusory ideas of socialism transcend time and appeal to people of all colors and races. No lessons of history will dampen the magic of a socialist’s divine providence.
Hence, is socialism in America inevitable?
In 2008 the United States elected a socialist government committed to the transformation of the American free-enterprise system into an egalitarian society. And with it, Barack Obama brought to the White House what Harvard historian James T. Kloppenberg described as “A refreshing new way of thinking about the role of democracy.”
The aftermath of his new role of democracy resulted in an immense transfer of power away from the democratically elected representatives of Congress to the executive branch, thereby increasing its authority above and beyond constitutional limits. This power shift produced an extraordinary imbalance between power and legitimacy. Power founded on principles was replaced by the principles founded on power.
The President and his party were "fundamentally transforming" the country in pursuit of an eminently ideological objective -- a form of socialism intrinsic to the United States.
As we know from history, the building of socialism is an organized and disruptive artificial process associated with ideological polarization, cultural and political confrontations, and violation of the existing moral order. The construction of this unnatural social organization requires a deliberate approach and enforcement.
It is therefore not surprising that the series of recent revelations of wrongdoing validated a notion that the Obama administration was subduing freedom, persecuting political opponents, spying on the American people, and disrespecting the Constitution all combined within an authoritarian polity.
In a brazen display of the coalescence of tyranny and lawfulness, the Congress, controlled by the President’s party, became an accessory to the presidential misconduct and blocked investigations into alleged financial, ethical, and criminal violations by the President and members of his administration. The ideologically driven prosecutors would not bring criminal charges for the most evident and outrageous violations of the law. The exultant desperadoes were acting like a cartel rather than a political party, consistently supporting the administration's unlawful conduct and ferociously defending the cover-ups.
By the 2016 presidential elections, the major components of the transformation -- increased spending, enactment of the Affordable Care Act, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, and tons of environmental and financial regulations -- were in place. The government, for the most part, had taken control of three major sectors of the economy; health care, finance, and energy, and subsequently of our lives.
The ideologically aligned mainstream media offered euphoric support for these legislations. And, at the same time, took pride in unmercifully attacking candidates who genuinely dissented from the Democratic Party's views and policies. The fix was in, and the Democrats looked forward with high ambitions and unshakable confidence. A red blanket of tyranny was about to cover America.
However, as it often happens, dramatic events that signify the turning points of history come when they are least expected. The election of Donald Trump was one of those events. The process so comprehensibly designed and controlled by the Democrats yielded a political reaction that worked counter to socialists’ aspirations. For those who believed that socialism was here to stay, it produced a darkest moment of despair. Never before had the incumbent socialist government been repudiated at the ballot box.
This repudiation did not sap enraged Democrats' will to resist. They have employed potent Marxist weaponry -- demagoguery and lies to unseat their viscerally hated enemy, Donald J. Trump. No lie is too big to tell, no allegation too outrageous to promote. If mistreatment of women does not stick, try Russian collusion; if that does not work, then obstruction of justice; if that proves to be unsustainable, perhaps money laundering would do, and so on and so on. The media is recycling the smears, innuendoes, and distortions by the Democrats with no sense of proportion. Though even the most vicious Trump opponents realize that this endless effort to downgrade the President, although effective, would not be sufficient to revoke the trend -- a sustained strategy is required to bring this country into conformity with the principles of egalitarianism.
Being aware of voters' discontent with socialist policies, the Democrats are now attempting dismantle the established constitutional order by offering suffrage to foreigners. Backing up this malicious concept, the state of California began to automatically register illegal emigrants to vote when they obtain or renew a driver’s license. This massive legalized election fraud is a direct challenge to the Constitution and indeed to the future of the United States.
The epic struggle between socialism and freedom cannot end in stalemate; the outcome of those ideologically incompatible ambitions can end up only in total victory or defeat. If a combination of myths, fictions and subversion of constitutional principles override the veracity, the Gus Hall’s prophetic statement made in 1996: “Socialism in America will come through the ballot box” will become the tumultuous reality in not so distant future.
Alex Markovsky is a senior fellow at the London Center for Policy Research; his prime areas of expertise are international terrorism and the economy, politics and ideology of Russia. He was born and educated in the Soviet Union and holds degrees in structural engineering, economics and political science.
Mr. Markovsky is the author of two politically charged books, Anatomy of a Bolshevik and Liberal Bolshevism: America Did Not Defeat Communism, She Adopted It. His work appears on Washington Times, The Hill, American Thinker, FrontPageMag.com, and many others.