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-[[Image:Hitler.jpg|thumb|250px|right|One of the most well known political parties of the 20th century  was the [[National Socialist]] party of Germany headed by the [[evolution|evolutionary racist]] [[Adolf Hitler]].<ref name="mises">http://mises.org/daily/1937</ref><ref name="darNaz">https://creation.com/darwinism-and-the-nazi-race-holocaust</ref><ref name="hott">http://www.hourofthetime.com/socialist.htm</ref> ]]
+trump likes tacos lolololololol
-'''Socialism''' is a socio-political and economic ideology responsible for the [[mass murder]] of at least 94 million people over the past 100 years.<ref>Werth, Nicolas; Panné, Jean-Louis; Paczkowski, Andrzej; Bartosek, Karel; Margolin, Jean-Louis (October 1999), Courtois, Stéphane, ed., ''[https://archive.org/stream/TheBlackBookofCommunism10/the-black-book-of-communism-jean-louis-margolin-1999-communism_djvu.txt  The Black Book of Communism: Crimes, Terror, Repression]'', Harvard University Press, p. 4.</ref> The fundamental flaw of socialism is the belief that one person has the right to the fruit of another person's [[labor]] and [[private property]], for example that healthcare paid by others is a right.
-As a political theory, socialism relies on scapegoating to build a constituent base. For example, that "the rich," or "Jews," or "millionaires and billionaires," or "the top 1%" are responsible for all of humanities' ills. Socialism targets the youth of a nation and people without life experience using naive, simplistic,  and "feel good" slogans ("[[Medicare for All]]," "tuition free education," "free housing." etc., for example) that on the surface appeal to self-interest, while asking nothing of the hearers to contribute to the economic well being of their fellow citizens or society. Once in power, Socialists compel compliance with [[authoritarian]] decrees (the "individual mandate" and "shared responsibility payment," for example) suppress criticism, censor [[free speech]], silence or exterminate opposition in order to maintain power for themselves. There is nothing [[democracy|democratic]] about socialism, and terms such as [[democratic socialism]] or [[social democracy]] are [[oxymoron]]s that are typical of Marxist "double speak" and "double think." Socialist leaders often live in extreme luxury even as they fail to improve the lives of those they rule over,<ref>Lott, Maxim (March 11, 2019). [https://www.foxnews.com/politics/lifestyles-of-the-rich-and-socialist-from-chavez-to-castro-leaders-who-lived-the-high-life Lifestyles of the Rich and Socialist: From Chavez to Castro, leaders who lived the high life]. ''Fox News''. Retrieved March 11, 2019.<br>See also:
-*Snowball, Timothy (May 15, 2019). [https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/443228-socialism-is-neither-a-fair-nor-progressive-political-philosophy Socialism is neither a fair nor 'progressive' political philosophy]. ''The Hill''. Retrieved May 15, 2019.</ref> and its destructive effects on society often are irreversible.<ref>Pollak, Joel B. (May 10, 2019). [https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/05/10/blue-state-blues-venezuela-south-africa-show-socialism-difficult-to-undo/ Blue State Blues: Venezuela, South Africa Show Socialism Difficult to Undo]. ''Breitbart News''. Retrieved May 10, 2019.</ref>
-As a social theory, the modern [[Democratic party]] uses [[identity politics]] to create a new "oppressed class" of victims which replaces the traditional worker/peasant/proletariat victims of the imaginary "oppressor class" - "the [[bourgeois]]".<ref>https://youtu.be/PkNzYttjSHE</ref> Socialism preys on people who fall victim to the [[sin]]s of [[envy]] and [[covet]]ousness, and raises [[Iconoclasm]] and [[nihilism]] as exalted [[virtue]]s.  Left-wing professors and universities have played a large role in advancing socialist ideology.<ref>Lott, Maxim (January 18, 2019). [https://www.foxnews.com/politics/socialism-rising-universities-and-radical-profs-helping-steer-leftward-shift-in-politics Socialism rising: Universities and ‘radical’ profs helping steer leftward shift in politics, critics say]. ''Fox News''. Retrieved January 18, 2019.</ref>
+anyways fuck trump
-As an economic theory, socialism is an [[authoritarian]] system which advocates strict [[economic planning|command and control]] of [[income]]s and distribution or rationing of goods and services, including food and healthcare. High taxation to expropriate wealth from the supposed "oppressor class" is common to all socialist regimes. Removal of incentives and demonizing the [[profit]] motive, while expecting common people to produce goods and services, and supply tax revenues to government, for little or no pay is a [[psychotic]] dream.  After exterminating "corporations" and "the rich," the cost burden of government - which controls everything - naturally falls to an impoverished working class, the unemployed, and homeless which previously paid no taxes. And no one can retain anything for themselves because the profit motive is disincentivized or outlawed. Due to its core [[anti-democratic]] and authoritarian precepts, socialism is considered [[treason]]ous to [[America]]'s central ideal of [[liberty]].
-Socialism at all times has never amounted to more than a [[criminal]] gang that enlists the aid of academics and disgruntled, naive youth and the misfits of society. One of the most well known socialist regimes of the 20th century was the [[Nazi Party|National Socialist German Workers' Party]] (Nazi Party), headed by [[Adolf Hitler]].<ref>http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/adolf_hitler.htm</ref> Through [[affirmative action]] programs, Nazism granted workers and peasants access to educational and employment opportunities previously only available to the German bourgeois and [[nobility]] (the "oppressor class").
+bernie 2020
-Both [[Communism]] and [[Nazism]] are [[totalitarian]] or [[statist]], subverting the rights of individuals to the [[collective]] of a [[single party]]. Nazism deviates from orthodox Marxist theory in substituting racial and ethnic conflict for economic [[class warfare]]. Nazism substituted "[[Jews]]" as the oppressor class, responsible for all societal woes, rather than "the rich," "[[Republican]]s," or "white males" as modern leftists do. The [[Second World War]] was a life and death struggle between two [[leftwing]] interpretations of socialism - both atheistic and subverting the rights of  individuals to the state, one considering "equality" to apply only to members of a nation or race, the other [[multicultural]] and [[globalist]]. After the [[United States]] assisted the [[communist]] victory over [[National Socialism]] (see [[Popular Front liberalism]]), the [[Cold War]] was an effort to suppress the spread of global communism. Socialists consider all forms of [[capitalism]] as "[[fascist]]" (see [[Antifa]]).
-==Roots==
-Socialism has its roots in visions of imaginary ideal societies, from thinkers who drew up elaborated designs and concepts for creating what they considered a more equal society, along collectivist lines or abolished [[private property]]; the primary ideas came from British and French thinkers like [[Henri de Saint-Simon|Saint-Simon]], [[Charles Fourier]], Louis Blanc, and [[Robert Owen]] preceded by [[Thomas More]], Tommaso Campanella, and Jean Meslier.
-==Historic types==
-There are three main kinds of Socialism, all of them are built on the premise of government control of the means of production.
-===Leninism===
-[[Image:Backrdv12n2.jpg|right|400px|thumb|The Russian caption reads, "Long live the great unbeatable flag of [[Karl Marx|Marx]], [[Friedrich Engels|Engels]], [[Vladimir Lenin|Lenin]], [[Joseph Stalin|Stalin]]!"]]
-Marxist Socialism, or '''Leninism''', as revised by [[Vladimir Lenin]] and practiced in the pre-[[Joseph Stalin|Stalin]] Soviet Union, was the Socialistic theory developed by Vladimir Lenin during his rise to power. Lenin defined socialism as a transitional stage between capitalism and communism.<ref>"In striving for socialism, however, we are convinced that it will develop into communism", Lenin, State and Revolution, Selected Works, Progress publishers, Moscow, 1968, p. 320. (End of chapter four)</ref> Leninism is totalitarian, with no [[democracy]] and all decision made by the leaders of the Communist party. Lenin saw the Communist Party as an "elite" that was committed to ending capitalism and instituting socialism in its place and attaining the power by any means possible, including revolution. Lenin was quite mild on the belief, believing that, though controlling of resources was important, the people's will comes first.
-Though [[Bolshevik]] Russia was somewhat more prosperous than its former [[Russian Empire|Tsardom]], Lenin's death in 1924 sparked the overthrow of his Marxist–Leninism and the imposition of [[Stalinism]], the violent, totalitarian belief that went against some of Lenin's ideas (many of Lenin's works were censored by Stalin post-1924).
-==="Democratic" Socialism===
-The second form of Socialism (sometimes called "Revisionism") prevailed in Europe down to the 1970s, and is typified by the [[Fabian Socialism|Fabian Society]] and the British Labour Party. It was inspired by Socialism and closely linked to labor unions that had real power. The goal was for [[Industrial Democracy]], that is, for the government to own ("nationalize") major industries such as coal mining, railways, steel making, shipbuilding, airlines, and banking. Small businesses remained private. The idea was that labor unions controlled the government and therefore unions controlled working conditions and wages for the benefit of workers, regardless of the damage to long-term economic growth.
-The Socialists were well organized and after 1918 they bitterly fought the breakaway faction that became the [[Communist]] movement. In recent years major Socialist parties (in Europe and Canada) have sometimes dropped the long-standing demands for state ownership of the means of production and have mostly accepted "Controlled Capitalism". However they remain tied to labor unions and favor liberal policies regarding high taxes and public spending. Conservatives have been negative toward the economics of the second form of socialism. Conservatives complain socialists use government power to redistribute wealth.
-Within the [[European Union]], a form of [[democratic socialism]] was initially viewed as successful, but eventually lead to lowered social equity and a downward spiraling economy, as well as general discontent. Although this acts as a drag on the economy, in democratic countries of the industrialized west, some socialist ideas have been put into practice with varying degree of success. Beginning in 2010 many European countries were racked with rioting and social unrest as governments began to back away from out-of-control entitlements that began bankrupting them and lead to a world financial crisis because of unrestrained debt.<ref>[http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703791804575439732358241708.html WSJ; "Obstacle to Deficit Cutting: A Nation on Entitlements"]</ref><ref>[http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100929/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_europe_austerity_protests_10 Anti-austerity protests sweep across Europe]</ref><ref>[http://www.allbusiness.com/economy-economic-indicators/economic-policy-bailouts/14758032-1.html "Debt crisis pushes Europe toward economic reforms"]</ref>
-===Communal Socialism===
-The third form of Socialism has nothing to do with Marx or government ownership, and emphasizes the importance of the community over the individual.  Usually it means small communities sharing most of their possessions. The most famous examples are the religious [[Shakers]] of the 19th century (a conservative group), and the new-left communes that briefly existed in the 1960s and 70s.
-Early American settlers, as in Plymouth or Virginia, tried it but quickly abandoned it.
-:The Pilgrims in Plymouth used communal farming their first winter but then after a dismal harvest that first year, moved to a system where there was a more direct incentive other than guilt and honor. Governor Bradford summed it up in his journal:
-:* "And so assigned to every family a parcel of land, according to the proportion of their number, for that end, only for present use (but made no division for inheritance) and ranged all boys and youth under some family. This had very good success, for it made all hands very industrious, so as much more corn was planted than otherwise would have been by any means the Governor or any other could use, and saved him a great deal of trouble, and gave far better content. The women now went willingly into the field, and took their little ones with them to set corn; which before would allege weakness and inability; whom to have compelled would have been thought great tyranny and oppression."
-:Not only were all hands more industrious—the incentive to harvest communal corn before it was fully ripe, a problem equivalent to poaching in the case of wildlife, was also eliminated.<ref> [http://www.econlib.org/library/Columns/y2006/Robertsincentives.html Incentives Matter] - Russell Roberts - Library of Economics and Liberty</ref>
-=== Influence of Russia on socialism ===
-Not until the birth of the [[Soviet Union]] after the [[Communist Revolution]] did the idea become generally accepted that socialism meant government seizing ownership of the economy.  Experience in 19th and 20th century [[France]], [[England]], and [[Germany]], however, made it clear that regulatory control by government bureaucrats is sufficient to implement socialism.<ref>[http://www.thomasbrewton.com/index.php/weblog/once_again_what_is_socialism/ What is Socialism?]</ref>
-In Communism (the primary variant of socialism) the central goal is to establish a "[[workers' paradise]]"-an ideal state with perfect equality.
-In practice the socialist government owns the banks, railroads, farmlands, factories, and stores, and is the only employer, or at least controls the regulation of production and distribution.  The central goal is to destroy the "evils of capitalism" by government ownership or control of the means of production, usually with one party controlling the government on behalf of the working class.
-The socialist system never manages to establish this "paradise" because management for the benefit of the employees leads to featherbedding and lack of investment or economic growth, at the expense of consumers.  Collective farming (operating farms like factories) sharply reduced the food supply. The most thoroughgoing efforts by Communist regimes turned into authoritarian dictatorships. The government controls all investments, production, distribution, income, and prices, as well as all organizations, schools, news media and formerly private societies. Churches and labor unions are suppressed or controlled by the government. Socialism is the antithesis of [[capitalism]], because it opposes private ownership of capital or land, and rejects the free market in favor of central planning. It also rejects "civil society" and makes sure that all organizations are controlled by the government.
-Theoretically, socialist regimes can have multiple parties. In practice there is only one political party, and it controls the government. The leaders of the party choose the government officials and set all policies for the nation and for cities and localities.  Opposition parties are not allowed access to the media or to meeting halls or to funding, and their leaders are often arrested as "enemies of the people."
-As a political ideology based on the redistribution of wealth, socialism stresses the privileges of the many over the rights of the few, but in practice when socialist economic principles are forced onto a nation by a totalitarian government a new Upper Class appears which is much better off than the Lower Class.
-{{cquote|'''<big>Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy. Its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery.</big> <small>- Winston Churchill</small>''' <ref>[http://www.quotesdaddy.com/quote/280995/winston-churchill/socialism-is-a-philosophy-of-failure-the-creed-of Churchill; Quotesdaddy.com]</ref>}}
-===National Socialism===
-The [[Ludwig von Mises Institute]] declares:
-{{Quotebox|The identification of [[Nazi]] [[Germany]] as a socialist state was one of the many great contributions of [[Ludwig von Mises]]...
-The basis of the claim that Nazi Germany was capitalist was the fact that most industries in Nazi Germany appeared to be left in private hands.
-What Mises identified was that private ownership of the means of production existed in name only under the Nazis and that the actual substance of ownership of the means of production resided in the German government. For it was the German government and not the nominal private owners that exercised all of the substantive powers of ownership: it, not the nominal private owners, decided what was to be produced, in what quantity, by what methods, and to whom it was to be distributed, as well as what prices would be charged and what wages would be paid, and what dividends or other income the nominal private owners would be permitted to receive. The position of the alleged private owners, Mises showed, was reduced essentially to that of government pensioners.
-De facto government ownership of the means of production, as Mises termed it, was logically implied by such fundamental collectivist principles embraced by the Nazis as that the common good comes before the private good and the individual exists as a means to the ends of the State. If the individual is a means to the ends of the State, so too, of course, is his property. Just as he is owned by the State, his property is also owned by the State.}} Hitler found the notion of single party control very attractive. That, and the idea of creating a "New man" in a godless socialist order, enlighteded by science, victorious over their oppressors. Nazism was outlawed at the end of [[World War II]].
-===Commonalities of Communism, Nazism and liberalism===
-:{{See also|Similarities between Communism, Nazism and liberalism|Fascism and the New Deal}}
-{| class="wikitable"
-|-
-!
-!Communist Manifesto
-![[Nazi]] Party Platform
-!Analysis
-|-
-|1
-|"Abolition of property in land and application of all rents of land to public purposes."
-|"We demand an agrarian reform in accordance with our national requirements, and the enactment of a law to expropriate the owners without compensation of any land needed for the common purpose. The abolition of ground rents, and the prohibition of all speculation in land."
-|The stripping away of land from private owners.  [[Liberalism]] today demands "eminent domain" on property.
-|-
-|2
-|"A heavy progressive or graduated income tax."
-|"We demand the nationalization of all trusts...profit-sharing in large industries...a generous increase in old-age pensions...by providing maternity welfare centers, by prohibiting juvenile labor...and the creation of a national (folk) army."
-|The points raised in the [[Nazi]] platform demand an increase in taxes to support them.  Liberalism today demands heavy progressive and graduated income taxes.
-|-
-|3
-|"Abolition of all rights of inheritance."
-|"That all unearned income, and all income that does not arise from work, be abolished."
-|Liberalism today demands a "death tax" on anyone inheriting an estate.
-|-
-|4
-|"Confiscation of the property of all emigrants and rebels."
-|"We demand that all non-Germans who have entered Germany since August 2, 1914, shall be compelled to leave the Reich immediately."
-|The Nuremberg Laws of 1934 allowed Germany to take Jewish property.
-|-
-|5
-|"Centralisation of credit in the hands of the state, by means of a national bank with State capital and an exclusive monopoly."
-|"We demand the nationalization of all trusts."
-|Central control of the financial system.
-|-
-|6
-|"Centralisation of the means of communication and transport in the hands of the State."
-|"We demand that there be a legal campaign against those who propagate deliberate political lies and disseminate them through the press...editors and their assistants on newspapers published in the German language shall be German citizens...Non-German newspapers shall only be published with the express permission of the State...the punishment for transgressing this law be the immediate suppression of the newspaper..."
-|Central control of the press.  Liberals today demand control or suppression of talk radio and Fox News.
-|-
-|7
-|"Free education for all children in public schools. Abolition of children’s factory labour in its present form. Combination of education with industrial production, &c, &c."
-|"In order to make it possible for every capable and industrious German to obtain higher education, and thus the opportunity to reach into positions of leadership, the State must assume the responsibility of organizing thoroughly the entire cultural system of the people. The curricula of all educational establishments shall be adapted to practical life. The conception of the State Idea (science of citizenship) must be taught in the schools from the very beginning. We demand that specially talented children of poor parents, whatever their station or occupation, be educated at the expense of the State. "
-|Central control of education, with an emphasis on doing things their way.  Liberals today are doing things ''their way'' in our schools.
-|-
-|}
-===Britain, the Labour Party and Socialism===
-At its inception, the [[Labour Party]] borrowed socialist ideas by committing itself to a program of nationalization under 'Clause 4' of their Constitution, but was always fundamentally committed to the British system of parliamentary government. Clause 4 was formally dropped after the election of [[Tony Blair]] as Party leader, signaling the creation of 'New' Labour.<ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/21/newsid_2515000/2515825.stm</ref>  The British governments of 1945-1950 and 1950-1951 under [[Clement Attlee]] implemented the nationalization of several industries and utilities, including coal, steel, water, railways and electricity. Former owners of nationalized industries were compensated.  The best known example is the nationalization of health care to create the [[National Health Service]] (NHS).  This made - literally overnight - health care "free" at the point of delivery for everybody in Britain, and it remains so today.
-In the 1980s under Conservative Prime Minister [[Margaret Thatcher]] most of the nationalized industries were returned to the private sector, and public housing has been sold to the residents. These conservative decisions were endorsed by the "New Labour" of Tony Blair, to the annoyance of elderly radicals who fondly remember the poverty and inefficiencies of the old system.
-=== Obamunism ===
-:{{Main article|Obamunism}}
-In April 2010, [[American]] political consultant [[Dick Morris]] wrote:
-{{cquote|When [[Obama]] took office, federal, state and local spending accounted for 30 percent of [[gross domestic product]]. Now it is up to 35 percent, and when health care is fully implemented, it will rise to above 40 percent. But taxes are still below 30 percent. The difference is the deficit, now grown to 10 percent of our GDP.
-If our government is to continue spending 40 percent of our GDP, we will morph into the European model of a socialist democracy. But if we can roll the spending back to 30 percent, while holding taxes level, we will retain our free market system.<ref>https://townhall.com/columnists/DickMorrisandEileenMcGann/2010/04/24/the_silent_killer_obamas_vat_proposal</ref>}}
-[[File:Shepard-Fairey-imgs.JPG|right|thumb|250px|[[Shepard Fairey]], designer of the official Obama hope and change logo, is more known for his anti-American and pro-communist themes. Here a  [[Mao Zedong|Maoist]]  revolutionary is depicted.<ref>http://images.google.com/images?um=1&hl=en&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-ContextMenu&rlz=1I7ACAW_en___US352&tbs=isch:1&q=Shepard+Fairey&sa=N&start=40&ndsp=20</ref> ]]
-[[Anita Dunn]], the political strategist and former White House Communications Director, admitted that one of favorite political philosophers, one that she “turns to the most”, is [[Mao Zedong]], the [[communism|communist]] dictator responsible for the starvation, torture, and killing of 70 million Chinese.<ref>http://www.orthodoxytoday.org/blog/2009/10/16/anita-dunn-favorite-philosopher-mao-tse-tung/</ref>
-Critics of the Obama administration have coined the word "[[Obamunism]]" to describe Barack Obama's socialistic and "[[fascism]] light" [[economic planning]] policies ([[Benito Mussolini]] defined fascism as the wedding of state and corporate powers.  Accordingly, trend forecaster [[Gerald Celente]] labels [[Obama administration corporate bailouts|Obama's corporate bailouts]] as being "fascism light" in nature).<ref>http://www.thebigmoney.com/articles/daily-intel/2009/07/20/obamunism-inc</ref><ref>http://www.smallbusinessadvocate.com/small-business-interviews/gerald-celente-6944</ref>  Obamunism can also allude to Obama's [[Obama administration fiscal policy|ruinous fiscal policies]] and [[Obama administration monetary policy|reckless monetary policies]].<ref>https://seekingalpha.com/article/120883-monetary-policynot-obama-s-stimulusis-what-needs-watching</ref><ref>http://www.nypost.com/seven/05172009/postopinion/editorials/bams_wise_words_169731.htm</ref><ref>http://blog.heritage.org/2009/03/24/bush-deficit-vs-obama-deficit-in-pictures/</ref>
-====Stimulus====
-[[Larry Summers]] was the Director of the White House's National Economic Council (NEC) for President Barack Obama. George Gerald Reisman, Professor Emeritus of Economics at [[Pepperdine University]] and author of ''Capitalism: A Treatise on Economics'', wrote that Summers' socialistic ideas on redistributing wealth demonstrate that [[Larry Summers]] is a "lightweight leftist" who "fails to understand the nature of the most essential feature of capitalism, namely, private ownership of the means of production and the indispensable role it plays in the standard of living of the average person."<ref name="misesblog">http://blog.mises.org/archives/009031.asp</ref>  Reisman also wrote that Summers is a shallow and ignorant man whose knowledge of economics is minimal and whose evil views qualify him to be the economic advisor to [[Hugo Chavez]] of [[Venezuela]] or [[Robert Mugabe]] of [[Zimbabwe]], but do not qualify him to be an economic advisor to the President of the United States.<ref name="misesblog" />
-====Land grab====
-In August 2010, [[Hot Air]] declared:
-{{cquote|The federal government, as the memo boasted, is the nation’s “largest land manager.” It already owns roughly [http://bigthink.com/ideas/21343 one of every three acres] in the United States. This is apparently not enough. At a “listening session” in New Hampshire last week, government bureaucrats trained their sights on millions of [http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9HGKEAG0.htm private forest land]  throughout the [[New England]] region. Agriculture Secretary [[Tom Vilsack]] crusaded for “the need for additional attention to the Land and Water Conservation Fund — and the need to promptly support full funding of that fund.”
-Property owners have every reason to be worried. The Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) is a pet project of green radicals, who want the decades-old government slush fund for buying up private lands to be freed from congressional appropriations oversight. It’s paid for primarily with receipts from the government’s offshore oil and gas leases. Both Senate and House Democrats have included $900 million in full LWCF funding, not subject to congressional approval, in their energy/BP oil spill legislative packages.<ref>https://hotair.com/archives/2010/08/14/great-outdoors-initiative-a-federal-land-grab/</ref>}}
-====You didn't build that====
-:{{main|You didn't build that}}
-On July 13, 2012, at a campaign event in [[Virginia]], Obama gave a speech that immediately stirred up controversy. Speaking about the government's role in the success of private business, he said:<ref>[https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/07/13/remarks-president-campaign-event-roanoke-virginia Remarks by the President at a Campaign Event in Roanoke, Virginia], White House</ref>
-{{cquote|If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help.  There was a great teacher somewhere in your life.  Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive.  Somebody invested in roads and bridges.  If you’ve got a business - you didn’t build that.  Somebody else made that happen.}} The [[Romney]] campaign has used "If you’ve got a business—you didn’t build that" in ads to show America that Obama believes it is government that creates business rather than hard-working individuals. The Obama campaign has alternatively stated that the sentenced was poorly worded since he was not giving a scripted speech and that when Obama said "that" he was referring to roads and bridges. Obama points to a later portion of his speech in which he said, "The point is, is that when we succeed, we succeed because of our individual initiative, but also because we do things together," to support his claim.
-====Obamacare ''diktats''====
-[[File:ObamaCareSymbol.jpg|thumb|right|150px|Image courtesy [[Newsbusters]].]]
-:{{See also|Obamacare}}
-The centerpiece of Obamacare was the [[individual mandate]] or ''[[diktat]]'', a provision that makes it mandatory for every citizen to purchase private health insurance, which was unprecedented in American history. There was no [[bi-partisan]] or national consensus.<ref>Epic [[Direct spending#New spending|new spending]] and taxes, pricier insurance, rationed care, dishonest accounting: The Pelosi health bill has it all. [http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703399204574505423751140690.html Nancy Pelosi's New Health-Care Bill], ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'', November 01, 2009.</ref><ref>[[President Obama]], Senate Majority Leader [[Harry Reid]] and House Speaker [[Nancy Pelosi]] rammed Obamacare down the throats of an unwilling American public. Half a year removed from the unprecedented legislative chicanery and backroom dealing that characterized the bill's passage, much more is known about the bill than when it was passed into law. [https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/Obamacare-is-even-worse-than-critics-thought-960772-103571664.html Examiner Editorial: Obamacare is even worse than critics thought], ''Washington Examiner'', September 22, 2010.</ref> More than 150 million Americans were completely locked out of the process.<ref>Crabtree, S. (2009, October 20). "[https://thehill.com/homenews/house/63941-democrats-lock-republicans-out-of-committee-room Democrats Lock Republicans Out of Committee Room]." ''The Hill''.<br>Pershing, B. (2009, October 23). "[https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/22/AR2009102204442.html Democrats on House Committee Lock Out Republicans]." ''Washington Post''.</ref><ref>Freeman, J. (2009, October 20). "House Democrats Lock GOP Out of Committee Room." ''Wall Street Journal''.<br>(2009, October 21). "[https://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/10/21/oversight-panels-democrats-lock-republicans-dispute/ Oversight Panel's Democrats Lock Out Republicans After Dispute]." ''FOX News''.</ref> Obama's progressive Democratic Socialists had single party control.<ref>Davis, S. (2009, April 28). "[https://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2009/04/28/sen-specter-to-switch-parties-democrats-near-60-vote-majority/ Sen. Specter To Switch Parties, Democrats Near 60 Vote Majority]." Washington Wire. ''Wall Street Journal''.</ref> <ref>keithmsnbcer (2009, April 29). "[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGYBbFMeFNc Bernie Sanders on Ed Show]." ''MSNBC''. YouTube.</ref>
-====Censorship of journalists====
-:{{See also|Obamagate timeline 2009-2014 vanguardism}}
-On May 13, 2013 the [[Associated Press]] announced telephone records for 20 of their reporters had been [[subpoena]]ed by the Justice Department. The Justice Dept. subpoenaed the phone records of AP from [[Verizon]] and other service providers.<ref name=verizonslate>{{cite web|last=Gallagher|first=Ryan|title=Verizon Wireless Secretly Passed AP Reporters' Phone Records to Feds|publisher=www.slate.com|date=May 16, 2013|url=http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2013/05/16/verizon_wireless_passed_ap_reporters_phone_records_to_the_feds.html|accessdate=}}</ref> The AP claimed these acts were a "massive and unprecedented intrusion" into news-gathering.<ref name=TTSanchez>{{cite web|last=Sanchez|first=Raf|title=US Justice Department secretly seizes Associated Press phone records|publisher=The Telegraph|date=May 13, 2013|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/us-politics/10055318/US-Justice-Department-secretly-seizes-Associated-Press-phone-records.html|accessdate=}}</ref><ref name=TG130513>{{cite web|author=Washington (AP)|title=US government secretly obtained Associated Press phone records|publisher=The Guardian|date=May 13, 2013|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/may/13/america-government-associated-press-phone-records|accessdate=}}</ref> CEO Gary Pruitt of AP stated: "These records potentially reveal communications with confidential sources across all of the newsgathering activities undertaken by the AP during a two-month period, provide a road map to AP's newsgathering operations and disclose information about AP's activities and operations that the government has no conceivable right to know."<ref name=CNNJohns>{{cite web|author=Matt Smith and Joe Johns|title=AP blasts feds for phone records search|publisher=CNN|date=May 14, 2013|url=https://www.cnn.com/2013/05/13/us/justice-ap-phones/?hpt=hp_t2|accessdate=}}</ref><ref name=holder>{{cite web|author=Gary B. Pruitt|title=AP letter to Eric Holder on seizure of phone records|publisher=USA Today|date=May 13, 2013|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2013/05/13/doj-seizes-ap-phone-records/2156819/|accessdate=June 1, 2013}}</ref>
-A few years earlier, Attn. Gen. [[Eric Holder]] renewed a subpoena of James Risen, a reporter for the ''[[New York Times]]''. Risen and a colleague reported on warrantless wiretaps. The coverage won Risen and colleague a [[Pulitzer Prize]] for “carefully sourced stories on secret domestic eavesdropping that stirred a national debate.” The Justice Dept. [[John Brennan]], an avowed communist, played a key role in the illegal wiretap program, overseeing the production of what personnel in the program called the “scary memos” intended to justify domestic spying exposed by Risen. Brennan later admitted that he relied on information from CIA's torture program rather than domestic spying, which was used as a cover.
-In June 2013 [[Comey]]'s [[FBI]] opened a case on [[CBS News]] anchor [[Sharyl Attkisson]] under the auspices of '[[national security]].' Attkisson reported news embarrassing to Eric Holder on [[Operation Fast and Furious]] and extensively on the [[Benghazi massacre]] coverup.<ref name="wyden.senate.gov">https://www.wyden.senate.gov/download/?id=285dc9e7-195a-4467-b0fe-caa857fc4e0d</ref>
-====Police state surveillance of opponents====
-:''See also : [[Obamagate timeline 2015 progressive police state]] and [[Obamagate timeline|Obamagate timeline 2016 election year]]''
-==Contradictory Goals of Socialism==
-Socialism's stated purpose is to eliminate the huge gap between the highest and lowest classes of society. Their bitter complaint has been that the upper class exploits its dominance to gain privileges and wealth, while the lower class must suffer tyranny and poverty.<ref>"all socialists agree that a socialist economy must be run for the benefit of the vast majority of the people rather than for a small aristocratic, plutocratic, or capitalist class." [http://www.experiencefestival.com/socialism_-_an_economic_system]</ref>  This obsession with class paradoxically creates a group of people with a vested interest in seeing class differences remain (socialist politicians, [[community organizer]]s, ''etc.''); if by some means the class system actually ''were'' destroyed, these people would be out of a job.
-Another essential goal of most socialist thinkers has been to eliminate [[Capitalism]],<ref>"... one of the fundamental goals of the socialist movement throughout history has been the abolition of capitalism" [http://www.experiencefestival.com/socialism_-_opposition_and_criticisms_of_socialism_arguments_for_and_against A Wisdom Archive on Socialism - Opposition and criticisms of socialism; arguments for and against]</ref>
-on the grounds that only "social control" of the economy can prevent abuses such as [[feudalism]], [[monopoly]], [[cartel]]s, etc.
-But experiments on both a moderate and a grand scale have shown that socialism's main purpose has been undermined by its unremitting opposition to [[free market]] economics. In its drive to eliminate capitalism, it has overlooked the fact that general prosperity is vouchsafed by [[economic freedom]], and that free market economics improves the lot of the poor much more quickly and permanently than any system of central economic control.
-The real aim of socialists is probably personal: why else would socialists want to create programs which encourage Dependency? Well, it fits into their lust for power.
-People who want to control others need people who are willing to be controlled.
-Independent, proactive people do not fit into the socialist Power Model. That is why the first thing [[Karl Marx|Marx]] wanted to remove from the economy was the [[Profit]] Motive: it gives people an incentive to make their own decisions!
-==Key elements==
-As a political ideology based on the expropriation of wealth, socialism stresses the privileges of the nomenklatura over the rights of workers and earners.  Many of the most notoriously oppressive dictatorships have been socialist, such as the [[Soviet Union]] and China under Mao Zedong. Private wealth was seized and the owners executed.
-===Economic theory===
-The [[Atheism|atheist]] [[Karl Marx]] is sometimes referred to as the father of socialism. Economist Thomas Sowell observed:
-{{cquote|The Marxian contribution to economics can be readily summarized as virtually zero. Professional economics as it exists today reflects no indication that Karl Marx ever existed... [T]he development of modern economics has simply ignored Marx. Even economists who are Marxists typically utilize a set of analytical tools to which Marx contributed nothing.<ref>Thomas Sowell, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=TVkVAAAAIAAJ Marxism: Philosophy and Economics]'' (Taylor & Francis, 1985) ISBN 0043201717, p. 217.</ref>}}
-Because the individual is subordinate to the collective, the use of [[democide]], or "death by government," is another feature of socialism in the final stage of bringing about a single party, anti-democratic totalitarian regime.
-===Welfare state===
-As an economic theory, democratic socialism calls for equalization of incomes, through taxation of private wealth coupled with welfare state spending. The [[nationalization]] of major industries is primarily a device to allow the unionized workers to control their own wages and working conditions, cutting out the capitalistic owners.
-State [[pension]]s and unemployment insurance were not brought in by Socialists—they were first introduced by arch-conservative Chancellor [[Bismarck]] in Germany in the 1870s. In Britain they were introduced about 1910 by [[Winston Churchill]] and [[David Lloyd George]] of the [[Liberal Party]], and in the U.S. were part of Democratic President Franklin D. Roosevelt's [[New Deal]] in the 1930s.  Welfare state ideas such as [[universal health care]], and state control of key industries have been common throughout the developed world in the modern era. However, the United States has always rejected socialism as an ideological position, with a few exceptions such as the [[TVA]].
-===So-called "mixed economies"===
-:{{See also|Social democracy|Mixed economy}}
-Social democracies and Mixed economies are socialism by [[incrementalism]]. Often socialism is a matter of degree and numerous economies in the world are very socialistic such as [[Europe]]an countries (many of which are facing financial difficulties due to over taxation and excessive spending).<ref>https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2010/05/european_socialism_is_bleeding.html</ref> The single party has yet to gain full control.
-Because many businesses still are privately owned, [[ipso facto]], the [[United States]] is not a socialistic government. "That definition is confuted by the earliest theoretical writings on socialism.  In France, Henri de Saint-Simon, in the first decades of the 1800s, and his pupil and colleague [[Auguste Comte]], in the 1820s and 30s, along with [[Robert Owen]] contemporaneously in England, ''stated that the essential feature of what Owen called socialism is government regulation of the means of production and distribution."'' <ref>[http://www.thomasbrewton.com/index.php/weblog/once_again_what_is_socialism/ Thomas E. Brewton; Once Again: What Is Socialism?]</ref>
-When the government controls the volume of money and its economic applications, it has the economy in a stranglehold.  When government controls education so that nothing other than secular socialism may be taught, as Saint-Simon advocated, it controls the future destiny of a nation.
-===Religion===
-Some forms of socialism have often been [[atheism|atheistic]] in character, and many leading socialists (most prominently Karl Marx) have been critical of the role of religion - and conservative religion in particular - which they criticize for lending support to an unjust social order.
-Other Socialists have been Christians, and there has been considerable interplay between Christian and Socialist ideas. [[Christian socialists]] have asserted that early Christian communities, in particular, displayed certain traits, such as the holding of possessions in common,<ref>Acts 2:44: "Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need."</ref> the rejection of conventional sexual mores and gender roles, the provision for communal education, etc., that could be considered similar to socialism.
-During the chaos sparked by the advent of the Reformation in Europe, several sects with radical new interpretations of Christianity sprung up, many of them Anabaptists (believers in adult baptism). Under the leadership of the reformer Thomas Muntzer the peasants of south-west Germany rose up in arms against the clergy and nobility, establishing anarcho-communes in their wake. Though they were massacred to a man, ten years later a group of radical Anabaptists under the leadership of Jan Matthys seized control of the north-western Germany city of Munster from the Prince-Archbishop there and established a Christian-Communist state. True to the spirit of applied communism, Mathys took twelve wives, held lavish feasts for himself and his most loyal followers and had himself crowned King of the World as the city starved, besieged by an alliance of Protestant and Catholic forces keen to see them exterminated. Mathys and all his followers were all tortured and killed when the Prince-Archbishop returned with professional troops to sack the city and reassert his authority, effectively wiping out all non-pacifistic Anabaptists in north-western Germany. Only Baptists as we know them today survived the following persecution.
-See, for instance,  Arnold Toynbee, the British historian, has responded to this,
-:"the Marxian excerpt from a Christian Socialism is an experiment which is doomed to failure because it has denied itself the aid of the spiritual power which alone is capable of making Socialism a success. ….'Christianity', they say, 'is the opiate of the People'; and, in the [[Soviet Union]]… Christianity or of any other theistic religion have been debarred… from admission to membership of the All-Union Communist Party. In fact, Communism has been definitely and militantly anti-Christian. Thus the campaign against Christianity which is to-day an integral part of the propaganda of [[Marxian Socialism]] is a challenge to the living generation of Christians …we latter-day Christians may still turn a Marxian attack upon Christianity to good account … a re-awakening of the Christian social conscience has been the one great positive practical achievement of Karl Marx" <ref>Arnold Toynbee, ''A Study of History'', Annex II to Vol. V, Part C (i) (c) 2, p. 585-586, Marxism, Socialism, and Christianity.</ref>
-====Alleged New Testament socialism in a godless utopia====
-Socialist claim the earliest Christians were decidedly living in a manner consistent with basic aims of socialism, albeit with critical requirements and distinctions from its secularist expressions. Luke 14:33 requires the forsaking of all one has if one will be a disciple of Christ, and while this is not shown to necessarily always require the literally forsaking of all,<ref>Lk. 19:8,9; Acts 16:14,15; 1Cor. 11:22; 2Tim. 4:13</ref>  Acts 2:44 states that the communal believers "had all things common". Acts 4:32-5:11 also describes community redistribution of property, and details the Divine punishment of a husband and wife for hypocrisy, in keeping proceeds from the sale of a piece of property while openly pretending that they gave it all, as others  voluntarily did.<ref>Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible, (5:1-11)</ref>
-However, forsaking all is shown to be that of first surrendering oneself and life to the God of the Bible, and placing all at His disposal,<ref>Matthew Henry (1662 - 1714), ''Commentary on the Whole Bible'', Lk. 14:25-35</ref><ref>Archibald Thomas Robertson, ''WORD PICTURES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT'', Lk. 14:33</ref> with literal giving as a result being as He directs, and voluntary. (2Cor. 8,9)
-{{cquote|Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work: (2 Corinthians 9:7-8)}}
-While the early organic community provides a noble model of communal life, and of a "seminary" type experience, it was also soon dispersed by persecution (thus greatly expanding the church: Acts 8:1-5; 11:19), and it is later indicated that believers retained ownership of property after conversion. (Lk. 19:8,9; Acts 16:14,15; 1Cor. 11:22; 2Tim. 4:13) Rich Christians are evidenced to have been part of the early church, but were not mandated by the church itself to give all they had away, but to be lowly in mind, and to be ready and willing to distribute, in faith and surrender to God. (1Tim. 6:17-19)
-Moreover, in both Testaments capitalism is clearly supported,<ref>Gary North, ''Capitalism and the Bible''</ref>  and indolence is not subsidized, but penalized by poverty, while diligence in work is rewarded by its fruits. (Prov. 6:6-11; 13:4; 20:4; 2 Thes. 3:10-12; 1 Tim. 5:17-18) Although holy widows over 60 years old who were without familial support were taken in by the church, a man is clearly required to provide for his own family, if able. (1Tim. 5:2ff)
-While the success of the early church as an organic community is often invoked in support of modern socialism, and many communes of the 1960s evoked the Bible, the early organic church was a result of the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit among believers, while the "administrators" were humble servants who were examples of self-sacrifice, and who worked with their own hands as needed, (1Cor. 4:9-16) and whose authority was established by manifest Divine attestation, including the pro-active exercise of church discipline being only by supernatural or otherwise spiritual means, not carnal force.<ref>Acts 2:43; 5:5,9,10; 1Cor. 4:19-21; 2Cor. 13:2,3; 2Thes. 3:14,15; 2Tim. 4:2</ref>
-In addition other distinctions, without the unique changes and influence resulting from faith and full surrender to Christ from all the community, and His anointing upon the work, attempts to mimic the communal life of Christians have failed.
-As one critic of modern-day  socialism states:
-<blockquote>Socialism, unfortunately, completely disregards Biblical teaching about the fallen nature of human beings and assumes that human beings will act in a morally upright fashion if their basic needs are met. This is at the heart of why socialistic systems never work: because human nature does not work in this fashion.<ref>[http://www.dakotavoice.com/2009/06/capitalism-and-socialism-in-light-of-the-bible Bob Ellis, ''Capitalism and Socialism in Light of the Bible''] Dakota Voice, June 23rd, 2009</ref></blockquote>
-==Controversy==
-''This section confuses "interpretation" with "debate".''
-The ideology of '''Socialism''' is subject to a variety of interpretations. From a conservative perspective, Marxist socialism is an economic system whereby the means of production are seized and monopolized by the government sometimes without compensation to the builders of the [[capital]]. Investments, production, distribution, income, prices, and economic justice are administered by a government [[nomenklatura]] that regulates the transfer of money, goods (including capital goods), and services primarily through taxation, regulation and aggressive institutionalized coercion.
-However, some socialists reject this description. Democratic socialists advocate a system of governance based on the principles of [[solidarity]], [[equality]] and [[liberty]], viewing these principles as interconnected. They believe increased socio-economic equality is associated with increased practical freedom to fulfill human potential. In many countries, such as Britain, socialist movements have been built on Christian, democratic and co-operative bases, embracing the notion that individuals should 'treat others as they would wish to be treated', and arguing that all individuals have a moral responsibility for the welfare of other members of their society. Socialism seeks to prioritize human welfare over other goals, such as profit and wealth accumulation by elites; it views increased redistribution of wealth as vital to securing greater freedom and happiness for the bulk of the people. Though this rosy picture of socialism is appealing to many, it ignores what Hayek called "[[the road to serfdom]]."  Though in theory socialism is an idealized, egalitarian form of economics, in practice it means rule by labor bosses who minimize individualism and economic growth in the name of equality and benefits for the working class.
-[[Karl Marx]] considered socialism to be a transitory stage between capitalism and communism. In his view, socialism is summed up by the expression: "From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs." A major criticism of socialism is that it infringes individual rights in favor of the populace. In a very real sense, politics in the Western World throughout the 20th century was shaped by the conflict between socialist and capitalist governmental policies.
-Although socialist parties are common in Europe, the leading examples all currently embrace some free enterprise, individual property rights and certain other aspects of capitalism although leading European Socialists are very critical of America. In many European countries socialism has been changing to [[Social democracy]].
-==Criticism==
-[[Friedrich Hayek]] and [[Ludwig von Mises]] were important critics of socialism, particularly regarding what is known as the Socialist Calculation Debate.  Hayek and Mises argued that a socialist economy would face information constraints that would prevent even well intentioned planners from efficiently allocating resources.  That is, the planners would not know how much a battleship or a hospital cost, and could not efficiently allocate resources among different choices.  This criticism should be considered as compatible with, but independent of, criticisms based on [[Public choice theory]] that bring into consideration the incentives of political actors.
-Svetlana Kunin, who lived in the Soviet Union until 1980 explains how the system worked:
-<blockquote>
-Life in the USSR modeled the socialist ideal. God-based religion was suppressed and replaced with cultlike adoration for political figures....Only the ruling class of communist leaders had access to special stores, medicine and accommodations that could compare to those in the West. The rest of the citizenry had to deal with permanent shortages of food and other necessities, and had access to free but inferior, unsanitary and low-tech medical care.
-</blockquote>
-<blockquote>
-USSR, 1959: I am a "young pioneer" in school. History classes remind us that there is a higher authority than their parents and teachers: the leaders of the Communist Party.
-</blockquote>
-<blockquote>
-Those who left Russia found a different set of values in America: freedom of religion, speech, individual pursuits, the right to private property and free enterprise....These opportunities let the average immigrant live a better life than many elites in the Soviet Communist Party...
-</blockquote>
-<blockquote>
-The slogans of "fairness and equality" sound better than the slogans of capitalism. But unlike at the beginning of the 20th century, when these slogans and ideas were yet to be tested, we have accumulated history and reality.<ref>[http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/SpecialReport.aspx?id=512665 ''The Perspective Of A Russian Immigrant''], ''Investors Business Daily,'' 09/10/2009</ref>
-</blockquote>
-A government which adheres to economic socialistic principles also tends to have cultures which prize unmerited equality among citizen and criminal alike, and through extension of socialistic welfare policies, between the chronically employed and the chronically unemployed, by ensuring both groups receive income though only one group works for income. This enables people otherwise healthy to not seek gainful employment because they will receive income no matter their actions, thus providing no incentive to produce. The economies of socialistic governments are thus weak and riddled with flaws, such as expecting increased production from a reduced workforce, and when engendered with a progressive culture, which simply means people who do are the same as people who do not, eventually fall under the weight of their own poorly managed and over-extended public welfare institutions. Public welfare also decreases personal charity, thus making the people dependent on the aid of the government since charitable aid, such as from a church, is discouraged by the secular nature of socialistic nations.
-Socialists occasionally appeal to the fact that God, in the Old Testament, commanded His own nation to surrender a tenth of its proceeds for the maintenance of the priests and for the care of the sickly and weak. But, while fallen men, and their secular and pagan nations, shall always struggle to understand the righteous balances between government and liberty.<ref name="npr">[https://www.npr.org/2011/08/23/139761274/how-the-a-p-changed-the-way-we-shop ''The Great A&P and the Struggle for Small Business in America''], "NPR’s interview of the book’s author, Marc Levinson"</ref> (i.e., between local and national logistics, as well as between the logistics of the individual person and those of his community) the mark of socialism is the general allowance for a naive, and willingly ignorant, adult sub-population whose members prefer, despite the limitations imposed by bureaucratic accountability, to live under all the securities rightly afforded in the fallen world only to infants. In the unfallen world, such security was a given for all persons, but without any of the bureaucracy required in the fallen world for maintaining it. In the fallen world, such security is an unattainable ideal, so that the more is done to attain it, the more the society suffers under the requisite bureaucracy. And, while the initial policy made toward that ideal is the creation of an executive class or executive vocation, such as monarchies and professional armies,<ref>[http://www.blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfm?b=1Sa&c=8&t=KJV#19 ''First Samuel 8:19-20''] Blue Letter Bible</ref><ref>[http://www.wbur.org/media-player?url=http://hereandnow.wbur.org/2011/09/29/consequences-combat-vietnam&title=The+Consequences+Of+Combat&segment=consequences-combat-vietnam&pubdate=2011-09-29&source=hereandnow ''Interview of Vietnam war veteran, and '''What It Is Like To Go To War''' author, Karl Marlantes, on NPR's Here And Now'']</ref> there is a 'tipping point' in the creation of bureaucratic entities beyond which any civilization cannot help but increasingly lose its footing in the struggle to balance all its righteous human interests. The result is an ever-increasing proportion of that civilization's total population which, for all variety of reasons, becomes enslaved to their own demands for that ideal of security. When there is no judge who judges righteously, when all the people make the laws, and when the power of money is used to try to stay ahead of the natural consequences of unrighteousness, the 'bad money' cannot help but drive out the 'good money', until the 'Bank of Reality' is forced to call in the loan, and the civilization implodes to the point that it falls victim also to militant invaders and, or, to unmanageable internal unrest.<ref name="npr" />
-==Past Socialist Countries==
-===Chile===
-Marxist socialist leader [[Salvador Allende]] was elected in Chile in 1970 in a minority government run by the Popular Unity Party. Allende's economic policy, known as the Vuskovic Plan, sought to achieve transition to socialism. The Vuskovic Plan involved nationalization of large foreign enterprises, land redistribution to farmers, and redistribution of income. The majority in Parliament never supported it and the plan was never carried out as Allende was overthrown by the military.
-==Other Socialist Countries (Current )==
-===[[Cuba]]===
-Communist leader [[Fidel Castro]] violently overthrew the Cuban government in the 1950s and has declared Cuba to be communist since then, nationalizing millions of dollars worth of American-owned property. It is notable that Fidel Castro originally self-defined as [[liberal]], before coming out openly as a communist.<ref>[http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=5&ved=0CGoQFjAE&url=http%3A%2F%2Fib-global-history-ii-period-5.aspen.high.schoolfusion.us%2Fmodules%2Flocker%2Ffiles%2Fget_group_file.phtml%3Ffid%3D6868636%26gid%3D1176955%26sessionid%3D0&ei=o74IUPDNOqPp6wGbtPGxCg&usg=AFQjCNG1bEoHrxurCF_WL1OPKMxIb4hCTw Fidel Castro - His Rise and Rule of Cuba]</ref> Today, Cuba faces copious economic problems and the people lack their fundamental rights. (Fidel's brother [[Raul Castro]] now runs the country, having taken it over from his ailing brother Fidel.)
-===North Korea===
-[[North Korea]]'s form of communism is in the form of "Juche" - a doctrine established by [[Kim Il Sung]] and carried on by his son [[Kim Jong Il]] and after his death by the current leader [[Kim Jong-un]]. Although it is investing heavily in nuclear weapons and long-range missiles, extreme poverty on the verge of starvation is the fate of the people, who are very tightly controlled. The country has little to no electrical power at night outside the capital, which can be verified by looking at nighttime satellite photos.<ref>http://epod.usra.edu/archive/epodviewer.php3?oid=87488</ref>
-===Venezuela===
-The socialist policies of president-for-life Hugo Chavez have destroyed the economy of that oil-rich nation. In 2009, he seized the Venezuelan operations of U.S. based Cargill in order to tighten his grip on the shrinking food supply in his country.<ref>https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/venezuela/4938993/Venezuelas-Hugo-Chavez-tightens-state-control-of-food-amid-rocketing-inflation-and-food-shortages.html</ref> After the death of Chavez, [[Nicolás Maduro]] continues his politics.
-===Other Countires===
-[[Daniel Ortega]], the dictator of [[Nicaragua]], is a strong ally of Venezuela and Cuba. [[China]] and [[Vietnam]] have abolished the Socialist economy but are still governed by Communist parties. Other countries who are controlled by Socialist parties are [[Laos]], [[Angola]], [[Mozambique]] and [[Moldova]].
-==Quotes on Socialism==
-Comparative quotes are given from the top [[Left-wing]] - [[Socialist]] - [[National Socialist]] (a.k.a. [[Nazi]]) - [[Marxist]] - [[Communist]] leaders and their critics in order to better understand the commonality of the end result of their similar philosophy taken to its fruition by the [[big government]] [[welfare state]]-[[nanny state]]-[[police state]] by [[leftist]] [[globalist]]-[[statist]]-socialist-communists. For more examples, see [[Nazism and socialism]]. From these quotes one can see little difference between Socialists, Nazis, Communists, Marxists. Communist regimes killed 60 million in the 20th century through [[genocide]], according to [[Le Monde]] and more than 100 million people according to ''The Black Book of Communism''.
-===Quotes from National Socialist's Adolph Hitler===
-* "Then will come a [[National Socialism|National Socialist]] State tribunal; then will November, 1918, be expiated; then the [[mass murder|heads will roll]].
-** testimony at a trial of German officers, Leipzig, in 1930.
-* "We have to put a stop to the idea that it is a part of everybody's [[unalienable rights|civil rights]] to [[freedom of speech|say whatever he pleases]].
-** transcript of a conversation (22 February 1942)
-* "National socialism is the determination to create a [[slave|new man]]. There will no longer exist any individual arbitrary [[free will|will]], nor realms in which the individual belongs to himself. The time of happiness as a private matter is over."
-** As quoted in Joachim C. Fest (1974), ''Hitler''. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, p.&nbsp;533.
-*"I have sympathy for Mr. [[Franklin Delano Roosevelt|Roosevelt]], because he marches straight toward his objectives over Congress, lobbies and bureaucracy." Hitler went on to note that he was the sole leader in Europe who expressed "understanding of the methods and motives of President Roosevelt."
-**[http://www.fff.org/freedom/0795a.asp] ''New York Times'' 1934, quoted from John Toland: ''Adolf Hitler: The Definitive Biography''.
-=== Quotes from National Socialist's Heinrich Himmler ===
-From the Nazi party ([[National Socialism]]) [[SS]] leader [[Heinrich Himmler]]:
-* "In the course of history periods of capitalism and socialism alternate with one another; capitalism is the unnatural, socialism the natural [[economic system]]...The [[Nazi|National Socialists]] and the [[Communists|Red Front]] have the same aspirations. The [[Jew]]s falsified the Revolution in the form of [[Marxism]] and that failed to bring fulfillment."—Speech in [[Potsdam]] (13 October 1926), quoted in Peter Longerich, Heinrich Himmler (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012), pp.&nbsp;92–93.
-* "The best political weapon is the [[terrorism|weapon of terror]]. Cruelty commands respect. Men may hate us. But, we don't ask for their love; only for their fear."—Quoted in "Visions of Reality - A Study of Abnormal Perception and Behavior" - by Alberto Rivas - Psychology - 2007 - Page 162
-=== Quotes from Lenin ===
-[[Vladimir Lenin]] stated:
-* “The way to crush the [[middle class]] is to grind them between the millstones of [[taxation]] and [[inflation]].”
-* "The best revolutionary is youth devoid of [[moral]]s."
-* "A lie told often enough becomes the truth."
-* "The goal of socialism is communism."
-* "There are no morals in [[politics]] there is only expedience. A scoundrel may be of use to us just because he is a scoundrel."
-* "Give us the child for 8 years and it will be a [[Bolshevik]] forever." (see [[Public school values]] and [[Professor values]])
-===Quotes from Stalin===
-The ''Darwin-Stalin connection'' describes the brutal [[Soviet]] dictator [[Josef Stalin]] who [[mass murder|murdered millions]] of people, giving credit to [[Charles Darwin|Darwin]]'s book for his outlook in life:
-* "The death of one man is a tragedy, the [[mass murder|death of millions]] is a statistic." ~ to [[Churchill]], 1945.
-* "Death is the solution to all problems. No man - no problem"
-* "Ideas are more powerful than [[guns]]. We would [[gun control|not let our enemies have guns]], why should we let them have ideas?"
-* "It is enough that the people know there was an [[election]]. The people who cast the votes decide nothing. The people who count the votes decide everything."
-* "The only real power comes out of a long [[rifle]]."
-* "When we hang the [[capitalist]]s they will sell us the rope we use."
-===Quotes from Leon Trotsky===
-* "Repression for the attainment of economic ends is a necessary weapon of the socialist [[dictatorship]]."
-** [[Leon Trotsky]] in ''Terrorism and Communism : A Reply to Karl Kautsky'' (1920; 1975), p.&nbsp;153
-* "The road to socialism lies through a period of the highest possible intensification of the principle of the state … Just as a lamp, before going out, shoots up in a brilliant flame, so the state, before disappearing, assumes the form of the dictatorship of the proletariat, i.e., the most ruthless form of state, which embraces the life of the citizens authoritatively in every direction...
-** ''Terrorism and Communism : A Reply to Karl Kautsky'' (1920; 1975), p. 177
-* "We must rid ourselves once and for all of the Quaker-Papist babble about the sanctity of human life."
-** Leon Trotsky in his book The [[Russian Revolution]], 1930
-* "Root out the counterrevolutionaries without mercy, lock up suspicious characters in concentration camps... Shirkers will be [[extermination camp|shot]], regardless of past service."
-** Statement of 1918, as quoted in ''Trotsky : The Eternal Revolutionary'' (1996) by Dmitri Volkogonov, p.&nbsp;213
-===Quotes from Mao===
-[[Mao Zedong]], responsible for the deaths of 77 million [[Chinese]] states:
-* "Every Communist must grasp the truth: Political power grows out of the barrel of a [[gun]]."—The [[Little Red Book]], 1964
-* "Our principle is that the [[Communist Party|Party]] commands the gun, and the gun must never be allowed to command the Party."
-===Quotes on Kim Il-sung===
-[[Kim Il-sung]] took the communist [[cult of personality]] to a new level.<ref>Barbara Demick (2010) ''Nothing to Envy: Real Lives in North Korea'', Granta, page 45, ISBN 9781847081414</ref>
-"In Korea, the Americans have far exceed the Hitlerites!"—by Kim Il-sung<ref>**Kim Il-sung to the [[Swedish]] communist leader [[Frank Baude]] in 1993.</ref>
-* "When it comes to the orchestration of terror, Kim Jong-il is a natural born genius."
-**[[Kim Duk Hong]] quoted in ''[[BBC News]]'' (21 July 2003) "[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/correspondent/3065101.stm Inside the mind of Kim Jong-il]"
-===Quotes from Pol Pot===
-As ruler of [[Cambodia]] Pol Pot was responsible for [[mass murder|exterminating]] 2 million people by [[genocide]]. That's a quarter of the country's population:
-* "Exterminate the 50 million [[Vietnamese]]... and purify the masses of the [[Cambodian]] people."
-** Phnom Penh radio broadcast by [[Pol Pot]] of the [[Khmer Rouge]] (May 10, 1978) ([http://www.enotes.com/genocide-encyclopedia/khmer-rouge])
-===Related Quotes from Others===
-* "[[Socialist]]s ignore the side of man that is of the spirit.  They can provide shelter, fill your belly with bacon and beans, treat you when you are ill, all the things that are guaranteed to a prisoner or a slave.  They don't understand that we dream - yes, even of some time owning a yacht." -- [[President]] [[Ronald Reagan]]<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9ut8fnmwVkwC&pg=PA91#v=onepage&q&f=false|last1=Skinner|first1=Kiron K.|last2=Anderson|first2=Annelise A.|title=Stories in His Own Hand: The Everyday Wisdom of Ronald Reagan ; Edited with an Introduction and Commentary by Kiron K. Skinner, Annelise Anderson, Martin Anderson ; Foreword by George P. Shultz|date=2001|publisher=Simon and Schuster|isbn=9781416584506}}</ref>
-* "Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the [[income redistribution|equal sharing]] of misery." -- [[Winston Churchill]]
-* "I've always doubted that the socialists had a leg to stand on intellectually" -- [[Friedrich Hayek]]
-* "The trouble is with socialism, which resembles a form of [[mental illness]] more than it does a philosophy" -- [[L. Neil Smith]]
-* "Socialists cry "Power to the people", and raise the clenched fist as they say it. We all know what they really mean — [[Nanny state|power over people]], [[Police state|power to the State]]." -- [[Margaret Thatcher]]
-* "All socialism involves [[slavery]]" -- [[Herbert Spencer]]
-* "Wonderful system, wrong species" -- Edward O. Wilson; who believed that collectivism was better suited to an ant than a human.<ref>[https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/homo-consumericus/201101/communismsocialism-great-idea-wrong-species-e-o-wilson Communism/Socialism: “Great Idea. Wrong Species.” (E. O. Wilson)]</ref>
-* "If one understands that socialism is not a share-the-wealth program, but is in reality a method to ''consolidate'' and ''control'' the wealth, then the seeming paradox of super-rich men promoting socialism becomes no paradox at all."—Gary Allen <ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=UuKnhw27vUwC&q=%22if+one+understands+that+socialism+is+not+a%22&dq=%22if+one+understands+that+socialism+is+not+a%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CDEQ6AEwBGoVChMI9b6puNfryAIVxSQmCh2CHw7j None Dare Call It Conspiracy], page 33</ref>
-* "Socialism fundamentally is a case of juvenile  arrested development; children are told at a young age to share their toys and candy, and some grow up without proper guidance to ever learn personal responsibility."<ref>http://emotional-intelligence-training.weebly.com/arrested-emotional-development.html</ref> —[[User:RobSmith|Rob Smith]]
-==See also==
-* [[Big government]] [[Welfare state]] leads to [[socialist]] [[Nanny state]], leads to [[communist]] [[Police state]] - Don't think Socialism-Communism is incompatible with [[Islam]].
-* [[Gun control]] - key element to create a police state
-* [[Karl Marx]] and [[Friedrich Engels]]
-* [[List of atheist and agnostic pseudosciences]]
-* [[Dictatorship]]
-** [[Dictatorship of the proletariat]]: [[Class warfare]]
-** [[List of Socialist States]]
-* [[Single-party state]]
-* [[Mobocracy]], [[Social Effects of the Theory of Evolution]], [[Anti-Semitism]], [[Communist Racism]], [[Holocaust]]
-* [[Nazi Party|National Socialist German Workers' Party]] (Nazi Party)
-* [[Nazism and socialism]]: [[National Socialism]] - the Nazis were elitist [[Police state]] [[liberals]] not [[conservative]]s
-* [[Liberal totalitarianism]]
-* [[Left-wing Anti-Semitism]]
-* [[Essay:Resisting Socialist Landfills‎]]
-* [[Champagne socialist]]
-==References==
-{{reflist|2}}
-==External links==
-*[http://www.mises.org/etexts/hayekintellectuals.pdf The Intellectuals and Socialism], By F.A. Hayek, ''The University of Chicago Law Review'', (Spring 1949), pp.&nbsp;417–420, 421-423, 425-433.
-*[https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9109587/socialism Socialism] Encyclopædia Britannica.
-*[http://www.aim.org/wls/category/socialism/ What Liberals Say - Category: Socialism], [[Accuracy In Media]]
-*[https://www.gotquestions.org/socialism-Christian.html How should a Christian view socialism?], by [[GotQuestions]]
-*[https://www.investors.com/politics/editorials/socialism-poverty-democrats-standard-of-living/ You Can See America's Future Under Socialism, And It Isn't Pretty], ''Investor's Business Daily'', October 25, 2018.
-*[http://www.tomroganthinks.com/2017/11/socialism-sucks.html?m=1 Socialism isn't good for you], Tom Rogan, November 23, 2017.
-*[https://www.theepochtimes.com/chapter-eight-politics-how-the-devil-sows-chaos-part-i_2592414.html Chapter Eight: How Communism Sows Chaos in Politics (Part I)], ''The Epoch Times'' (from ''How the Specter of Communism Is Ruling Our World'').
-*[https://www.theepochtimes.com/chapter-eight-politics-how-communism-sows-chaos-part-ii_2594599.html Chapter Eight: How Communism Sows Chaos in Politics (Part II)], ''The Epoch Times'' (from ''How the Specter of Communism Is Ruling Our World'').
-*[https://www.theepochtimes.com/chapter-nine-the-communist-economic-trap-part-i_2596547.html Chapter Nine: The Communist Economic Trap (Part I)], ''The Epoch Times'' (from ''How the Specter of Communism Is Ruling Our World'').
-*[https://www.theepochtimes.com/chapter-nine-the-communist-economic-trap-part-ii_2605465.html Chapter Nine: The Communist Economic Trap (Part II)], ''The Epoch Times'' (from ''How the Specter of Communism Is Ruling Our World'').
-==Bibliography==
-* Busky, Donald F. ''Communism in History and Theory: From Utopian Socialism to the Fall of the Soviet Union'' (2002) [https://www.amazon.com/Communism-History-Theory-Utopian-Socialism/dp/027597748X/ref=sr_1_24?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1232396722&sr=1-24 excerpt and text search]
-* Dougherty, Jude P. "Socialist Man: A Psychological Profile," ''Modern Age'' Volume 46, Number 1-2; Winter/Spring 2004 [http://www.mmisi.org/ma/46_1-2/dougherty.pdf online edition], a conservative critique
-*Laslett, John, ed. ''Failure of a Dream: Essays in the History of American Socialism'' (1984)
-* Lindemann, Albert S. ''A History of European Socialism'' (1984)
-* Lipset, Seymour Martin, and Gary Marks. ''It Didn't Happen Here: Why Socialism Failed in the United States'' (2001), Lipset was a leading conservative scholar [https://www.amazon.com/Didnt-Happen-Here-Socialism-Failed/dp/0393322548/ref=sr_1_21?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1232396722&sr=1-21 excerpt and text search]
-* Malia, Martin. ''Soviet Tragedy: A History of Socialism in Russia'' (1995) [https://www.amazon.com/Soviet-Tragedy-History-Socialism-Russia/dp/0684823136/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1228761853&sr=1-4 excerpt and text search]
-* Muravchik, Joshua. ''Heaven on Earth: The Rise and Fall of Socialism'' (2003) by conservative historian [https://www.amazon.com/Heaven-Earth-Rise-Fall-Socialism/dp/1893554783/ref=sr_1_21?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1228761601&sr=1-21 excerpt and text search]
-* Novak, Michael. ''Capitalism and Socialism: A Theological Inquiry '' (1988) [https://www.amazon.com/Capitalism-Socialism-Theological-Michael-Novak/dp/0844721549/ref=sr_1_19?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1228761601&sr=1-19 excerpt and text search], by leading conservative scholar
-* Nove, Alec. ''An Economic History of the USSR 1917-1991'' (3rd ed. 1993)
-* Pipes, Richard. ''Communism: A History'' (2003), by a leading conservative
-* Suny, Ronald Grigor. ''The Soviet Experiment: Russia, the USSR, and the Successor States.'' (1998) [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=24265044# online edition]
-{{Liberalism}}
-[[Category:Socialism]]
-[[Category:Marxist Terminology]]
-[[Category:Marxism]]
-[[Category:Communism]]
-[[Category:Oppression]]
-[[Category:Anti-American]]
-[[Category:Liberalism]]
-[[Category:Leftism]]
-[[Category:Police State]]
-[[Category:Welfare State]]
-[[Category:Atheism]]
-[[Category:Anti Second Amendment]]
-[[Category:Sociology]]
-[[Category:Worldviews]]
-[[Category:Man-Made Disasters]]
-[[Category:Threats]]

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