Philadelphia, 1787.  The delegates to the Constitutional Convention are just leaving Independence Hall, having decided on the general structure for the new United States.  A crowd had gathered on the steps of Independence Hall, eager to hear the news.  A woman approaches Benjamin Franklin and asks him, "Well, Doctor, what do we have?  A republic or a monarchy?"  Franklin replies sagely, "A republic, if you can keep it."

Fast-forward to the height of the Cold War.  Former FBI employee Cleon Skousen authors The Naked Communist, which outlines a concerted effort to overcome and control all of the world's governments through the implementation of social progressivism.  This book is also later reinforced by the admission of Yuri Bezmenov, a KGB agent who defected to the United States in 1984.

Although I generally do not subscribe to conspiracy theories, let's take a look at my summation of what the author predicted sixty-five years ago.  I think you will be amazed.

• Get control of the schools.  Use them to "sell" socialism.  Soften the curriculum.  Get control of the teachers' associations.
• Infiltrate the press.  Get control of editorial, writing, and policymaking positions.
• Gain control of key positions in radio, TV, and motion pictures.
• Break down cultural standards by promoting pornography and obscenity in books, magazines, motion pictures, radio, and TV.
• Present  degeneracy and promiscuity as "normal, natural, and healthy."
• Infiltrate the churches and replace religion with "social" religion.  Discredit the Bible and emphasize the need for intellectual maturity which does not need a "religious crutch."
• Eliminate prayer or any phase of religious expression in the schools on the grounds that it violates the principle of "separation of church and state."
• Discredit the American Constitution as it is inadequate and out of step with modern needs, a hindrance to cooperation among nations on a worldwide basis.
• Discredit the American Founding Fathers.  Present them as selfish aristocrats who had no concern for the "common man."
• Support any social movement to give centralized control over any part of the culture — education, social agencies, welfare programs, mental health clinics, etc.
• Discredit the family as an institution.  Encourage promiscuity and easy divorce.
• Emphasize the need to raise children away from the negative influence of parents.  Attribute prejudice to the suppressive influence of parents.
• Create the impression that violence and insurrection are legitimate in the American tradition, that student and special interest groups should rise up and use "united force" to solve economic, political, or social problems.

Is it too late for America to keep our Republic?  No.  But  socialists are not targeting me to change; they are just waiting my generation to quietly fade away.  They are  focused on the youth in America, trying to convince them that the freedoms we currently enjoy in America are outdated and their way is better.

Don't allow the death of freedom and liberty in America — once Franklin's republic is gone, it will never return.  Let's "keep it" instead.

Image: National Archives.