Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Socialism.....Cautionary Tales

The Glory of Socialism

An analysis By MR. Z

The Russian President Medvedev paid a cordial visit to Venezuela and received a high decoration from Hugo Chavez. Strange bedfellows, or is there a common thread?

And what do the leftist elites of the United States have in common with Dmitri Medvedev? They love Hugo Chavez and the exemplary socialism he is building in Venezuela. As if the world did not know about all the failed attempts to make socialism work. There are plenty of examples to demonstrate the failures – how many more examples does the Left need?

We Germans have actually been surrounded by socialism/communism. We don’t even have to look at Russia –ours was much closer and was called the “German Democratic Republic” (or GDR). We knew that it was bad when we were separated by an impenetrable wall. But the full extent became only visible after the fall of the wall and reunification – the centrally planned economy, which led to the non availability of even the most essential goods, the indoctrination of the children from an early age on, the spying on every citizen by the famous Stasi (or State Security), the militia type of policing (VoPo), the suppression of journalism (complete censorship), complete (self)destruction of the infrastructure, non existence of an incentive for people to use their talents and work more, and lastly, a two class structure of the population: the masses living a poor life, and the reigning party officials with all the amenities they could wish for. It has taken the Western part of Germany 17 years and more than $2 trillion to correct that situation and we are not done yet.

The above paragraphs were a necessary digression from this post’s subject, prompting the reader to recognize the possible parallels of the situation in Venezuela and, to some degree, what might be expected in the United States if we don’t pay attention.

Venezuela used to be a flourishing and rich country, mainly based on the fact that it has a lot of oil and other mineral and other resources. I used to visit Venezuela frequently on business in the 1980’s and saw how it was typical for the middle class citizens to fly for short shopping trips to Miami and/or have a second house in Florida, examples of just how affluent the people were not so long ago.

Fast forward to today. A brief status report of the current situation, generated on the basis of various articles and personal reports, is shown here to the best of my ability:

The summary looks as follows: Journalists are harassed, militias are educated to class hatred and force against the opposition, food has become scarce, criminality has risen dramatically, and the electricity breaks down frequently. And these are just some of the directly visible highlights.

Because of price control and central planning processes, it is not profitable anymore for many farmers to sell their basic food legally, with the result that food has become scarce. The farmers either don’t produce anymore or deliver their products over the green border to Colombia, or to the black market. Imports cannot compensate for that because there is strict foreign exchange control.

That is to say: Foreign currencies cannot be bought or sold in banks. Obtaining them to pay for goods requires a long application process through a state agency called Cadavi, and importers lament that it takes up to six months – a time span impossible to work with for normal goods.

So, if one knows a black market trader, one might get the benefits of elementary food, but at three times the normal price. If a container of milk or beef from Argentina comes, the first served are the Chavez cronies and the rest goes to the markets in the poor quarters, so called popular markets, where large queues develop at 4 am. But this is only symptomatic of all the other supply shortcomings, including such things as household goods, coffee or even pharmaceuticals.

When, after the nationalization of the foreign owned CANTV for those people who had previously watched this American owned station, the telephone didn’t work for several weeks, they never found out what the reason was. Nor did anybody ever understand the electricity blackouts which are becoming more and more frequent. And since we mention CANTV, Chavez has nationalized many other companies and banks, not only robbing foreign owners of their investment, but providing a strong disincentive to obtaining foreign capital.

And then there’s criminality. In the poor areas of Caracas, 30 to 40 people die every weekend. This appears to be related to the increasing trade of drugs, and the police do nothing (and isn’t it just a coincidence that Chavez supports the drug related FARC rebels in Colombia with hundreds of millions of Dollars?). In the meantime, this criminality migrates into the areas where the rich people live with kidnappings, assaults and break-ins. Many of these criminals are part of a Chavez trained Militia whose objective is to suppress the opposition.

The result of all this is that the middle class is leaving the country in droves (an estimated 2 million over the last couple of years), and those who are still there are seriously considering the same.

What has happed since the good old days in Venezuela 20/25 years ago and today? Nobody back then would ever have thought this might happen. But, of course, who thought someone like Chavez would come to power with his “Socialism of the 21st Century”, electrifying the masses with his promises? What was there then was a large divide between rich and poor. Sound familiar? And, by-the-way: the fact that there is this cozy understanding between Hugo and Russia’s Dmitri also shows that Russia is not quite over communism (it is only covered up by capitalist behavior of the ruling class at the mercy of Putin, who himself still acts as if he is at the KGB, hence the suppression of the normal people, the murders of opponents or critics, etc.) – but that would be worth a separate analysis. There are two more commonalities between Medvedev and Chavez which make their affinity understandable: The hate for America, and President Bush particularly (hence this joint Navy exercise which is meant to poke the U.S. into the eye), and their common policy to use energy as a political means (blackmail).

Now, how is the foregoing relevant to the situation in the United States? The abovementioned few examples of the situation in Venezuela and the summary about the GDR are meant to demonstrate what happens if and when socialism is introduced into a country. The following summary represents an incomplete list of what might happen in the United States under the new government. I am very well aware that each country is different relative to its preconditions and, therefore, the possibility of implementation of new policies. However, in German we say “Wehret den Anfängen” (Beware of the beginnings).

1. Redistribution: This is an element of class warfare, “taking it from the rich and giving it to the poor”. What that really does is take any incentive away to be successful, and is based on the communist theory that “everybody is equal” and, therefore, deserves equal money. As the example Venezuela demonstrates, this will lead to physical confrontation. It will also lead to a massive leaving of people who have the wherewithal and the intent to see the fruits of their endeavor. The increase of individual taxes, inheritance tax, corporate taxes, capital gains tax etc., together with a nationalization of companies and reinforcing of unions will lead to the effects seen in Venezuela right now, and the GDR until 17 years ago.

2. State controlled planning: While the probability is low that the U.S. would get into a situation with state controlled prices for food and general commercial items, this example could still apply to the planned Universal Health Care. As soon as the government gets directly involved and any incentives are removed from the health care providers, we would find a situation similar to the food situation in Venezuela or the health care situation in countries like UK and Canada.

3. Indoctrination in education: One of the major principles of communist and dictatorial political structures is that the state takes care of the children from early age on – the result is complete indoctrination by the political agenda. This is a very dangerous process, the result of which can easily be observed from the remnants of the GDR. But that is one of the specialties of the people surrounding the new U.S. government. As a matter of fact, one of the recognized preeminent specialists in this field is Bill Ayers, and it is not an accident that Ayers has visited Chavez for an improved implementation of this type of education in Venezuela. We can expect the same on a large scale in the U.S. – it actually happens already. Who hasn’t seen extreme indoctrination in American schools, especially on the university level?!

4. Suppression of opposing opinions: One of the most effective means of ruling in a socialist/communist and dictatorial country is the effective suppression of everybody who has an opposing opinion. This can be recognized everywhere, be it the GDR, Russia, or Venezuela or others, and translates through harassment up to murder (Russia). A pretty far advanced stage of this can be seen already in the camp of BHO, with the mainstream media being a willing fifth column, using Alinsky tactics to divert attention from it. I have said for a long time that the U.S. media supports a communist agenda. I don’t need to bring up Joe the Plumber here, you’re already thinking that, right?

5. Militia: The build-up of a popular army to support the political leader is a very treacherous path. It has been the instrument of power for a long time, whether it be Lenin and Stalin, Hitler, the GDR or Chavez. This, together with a group spying on citizens, such as the Stasi, is a very troubling instrument of power. What’s this CORP the idea of which Obama’s so enthralled with?

6. Megalomania: Yes, this is a common thread, too. The need to demonstrate to the world the power they have, these dictators appear to have the need to show it off. Big military parades and showy events with Greek columns as Hitler or Kim Jong-Il have put to use to show their godliness have an eerie resemblance to some of the appearances of BHO and to the planned inauguration event for which apparently 3 to 4 million people are expected.

The bottom line is: The Venezuelan people’s nightmare scenario has happened in front of our doorstep. The socialist objectives of the incoming U.S. government are very similar (or at least they appear so). We must make sure it doesn’t happen that way. Am I saying we have exactly the situation they have with Chavez? NO. Am I saying this WILL happen in America? Of course not.

Do I love this country and have more faith in her and her people? Absolutely.

My point is this; Can we ignore cautionary tales? Should we learn from them? I think so.

Mr. Z

38 comments:

Rita Loca said...

Mr Z!
It's like you lived through the last 20 years with us in Venezuela. You made me cry, remembering what was and what is now. I remember friends flying to Miami for the weekend to do Christmas shopping. Now they stand in lines to buy milk,
I,too, am scared about the future in the US if we continue down this road. Thank you, I will be sending this article to many friends.

Sam Huntington said...

Marxist/socialist regimes are false gods. Politicians, who have their own interests in the forefront on their minds, present it as a gift to the people, as you have so ably pointed out here; below the surface, it is in reality a form of oppression and totalitarianism. This occurs whenever government believes it knows what is best for “the people,” and assumes that people are incapable of making intelligent, practical choices for themselves. The irony is that in a democratic environment, only the people can choose to accept this false god. Animal Farm, anyone?

cube said...

For some time now, the schools haven't taught about the horrors of communism. I guess it's just too much to expect to have kids read the history books on their own when there are video games to play.

The morons who don't read history have absolutely no idea how bad communism and socialism can be for a population. It is an economic disaster, as well as a spritual one, because it saps the hope & joy out of everyone's lives.

Unfortunately, those morons vote.

Anonymous said...

Wasn't it Charlie Chaplin who did "The Great Dictator"? That was a satire but the point it made then is still valid today.

(((Thought Criminal))) said...

Just another testament to the fact that the only good in the world that leftism has brought is Ben and Jerry's Chunky Monkey ice cream, and even that is derivative.

Leftists are not capable of rational thought, and I have little patience for people who believe otherwise. It's a waste of time. Beginning an argument without the premise that leftists are primarily concerned with convincing you that all leftists are imbeciles will invariably produce a conclusion that fails to reflect reality.

What did Hitler and Stalin have in common?

They were both leftists.

Anonymous said...

I found an excellent poem at Nana’s Reflections. I think it is relevant to this post, but also an excellent example of mid-19th Century literature. We aren’t learning any of the lessons of history, and because that is true, we should not be surprised when the horrors of the not-so-distant past revisit us. Can we really be so stupid? Yes, I think so . . . otherwise, we would have nominated a true conservative to run against Mr. Obama . . . and might have even elected him or her. I wish I had as much confidence in the American people as Mr. Z. I don’t.

I copied the link to this post and sent it out in an email to everyone I know who can read urging them to drop by.

Semper Fi

Anonymous said...

I was immunized against Leftism by the Rocky & Bullwinkle Show.

Anonymous said...

Excellent post. I posted on your post and linked back.

My Friends On The Left @ GM's Place

(((Thought Criminal))) said...

FJ,

Interesting! I was immunized against leftism by The Poky Little Puppy. ;)

Ducky's here said...

How does Joe the Plumber correlate to the media's "communist agenda"?

Anonymous said...

Ducky: The answer is: Harassment in case of opposing opinions.

Mr.Z

Ducky's here said...

mustang, let a slav show you how to critique Communism.


Requiem
by Anna Akhmatova

Not under foreign skies
Nor under foreign wings protected -
I shared all this with my own people
There, where misfortune had abandoned us.


INSTEAD OF A PREFACE

During the frightening years of the Yezhov terror, I
spent seventeen months waiting in prison queues in
Leningrad. One day, somehow, someone 'picked me out'.
On that occasion there was a woman standing behind me,
her lips blue with cold, who, of course, had never in
her life heard my name. Jolted out of the torpor
characteristic of all of us, she said into my ear
(everyone whispered there) - 'Could one ever describe
this?' And I answered - 'I can.' It was then that
something like a smile slid across what had previously
been just a face.
[The 1st of April in the year 1957. Leningrad]

DEDICATION

Mountains fall before this grief,
A mighty river stops its flow,
But prison doors stay firmly bolted
Shutting off the convict burrows
And an anguish close to death.
Fresh winds softly blow for someone,
Gentle sunsets warm them through; we don't know this,
We are everywhere the same, listening
To the scrape and turn of hateful keys
And the heavy tread of marching soldiers.
Waking early, as if for early mass,
Walking through the capital run wild, gone to seed,
We'd meet - the dead, lifeless; the sun,
Lower every day; the Neva, mistier:
But hope still sings forever in the distance.
The verdict. Immediately a flood of tears,
Followed by a total isolation,
As if a beating heart is painfully ripped out, or,
Thumped, she lies there brutally laid out,
But she still manages to walk, hesitantly, alone.
Where are you, my unwilling friends,
Captives of my two satanic years?
What miracle do you see in a Siberian blizzard?
What shimmering mirage around the circle of the moon?
I send each one of you my salutation, and farewell.
[March 1940]

INTRODUCTION
[PRELUDE]

It happened like this when only the dead
Were smiling, glad of their release,
That Leningrad hung around its prisons
Like a worthless emblem, flapping its piece.
Shrill and sharp, the steam-whistles sang
Short songs of farewell
To the ranks of convicted, demented by suffering,
As they, in regiments, walked along -
Stars of death stood over us
As innocent Russia squirmed
Under the blood-spattered boots and tyres
Of the black marias.

I

You were taken away at dawn. I followed you
As one does when a corpse is being removed.
Children were crying in the darkened house.
A candle flared, illuminating the Mother of God...
The cold of an icon was on your lips, a death-cold
sweat
On your brow - I will never forget this; I will gather

To wail with the wives of the murdered streltsy (1)
Inconsolably, beneath the Kremlin towers.
[1935. Autumn. Moscow]

II

Silent flows the river Don
A yellow moon looks quietly on
Swanking about, with cap askew
It sees through the window a shadow of you
Gravely ill, all alone
The moon sees a woman lying at home
Her son is in jail, her husband is dead
Say a prayer for her instead.

III

It isn't me, someone else is suffering. I couldn't.
Not like this. Everything that has happened,
Cover it with a black cloth,
Then let the torches be removed...
Night.

IV

Giggling, poking fun, everyone's darling,
The carefree sinner of Tsarskoye Selo (2)
If only you could have foreseen
What life would do with you -
That you would stand, parcel in hand,
Beneath the Crosses (3), three hundredth in
line,
Burning the new year's ice
With your hot tears.
Back and forth the prison poplar sways
With not a sound - how many innocent
Blameless lives are being taken away...
[1938]

V

For seventeen months I have been screaming,
Calling you home.
I've thrown myself at the feet of butchers
For you, my son and my horror.
Everything has become muddled forever -
I can no longer distinguish
Who is an animal, who a person, and how long
The wait can be for an execution.
There are now only dusty flowers,
The chinking of the thurible,
Tracks from somewhere into nowhere
And, staring me in the face
And threatening me with swift annihilation,
An enormous star.
[1939]

VI

Weeks fly lightly by. Even so,
I cannot understand what has arisen,
How, my son, into your prison
White nights stare so brilliantly.
Now once more they burn,
Eyes that focus like a hawk,
And, upon your cross, the talk
Is again of death.
[1939. Spring]

VII
THE VERDICT

The word landed with a stony thud
Onto my still-beating breast.
Nevermind, I was prepared,
I will manage with the rest.

I have a lot of work to do today;
I need to slaughter memory,
Turn my living soul to stone
Then teach myself to live again...

But how. The hot summer rustles
Like a carnival outside my window;
I have long had this premonition
Of a bright day and a deserted house.
[22 June 1939. Summer. Fontannyi Dom (4)]

VIII
TO DEATH

You will come anyway - so why not now?
I wait for you; things have become too hard.
I have turned out the lights and opened the door
For you, so simple and so wonderful.
Assume whatever shape you wish. Burst in
Like a shell of noxious gas. Creep up on me
Like a practised bandit with a heavy weapon.
Poison me, if you want, with a typhoid exhalation,
Or, with a simple tale prepared by you
(And known by all to the point of nausea), take me
Before the commander of the blue caps and let me
glimpse
The house administrator's terrified white face.
I don't care anymore. The river Yenisey
Swirls on. The Pole star blazes.
The blue sparks of those much-loved eyes
Close over and cover the final horror.
[19 August 1939. Fontannyi Dom]

IX

Madness with its wings
Has covered half my soul
It feeds me fiery wine
And lures me into the abyss.

That's when I understood
While listening to my alien delirium
That I must hand the victory
To it.

However much I nag
However much I beg
It will not let me take
One single thing away:

Not my son's frightening eyes -
A suffering set in stone,
Or prison visiting hours
Or days that end in storms

Nor the sweet coolness of a hand
The anxious shade of lime trees
Nor the light distant sound
Of final comforting words.
[14 May 1940. Fontannyi Dom]

X
CRUCIFIXION

Weep not for me, mother.
I am alive in my grave.

1.
A choir of angels glorified the greatest hour,
The heavens melted into flames.
To his father he said, 'Why hast thou forsaken me!'
But to his mother, 'Weep not for me...'
[1940. Fontannyi Dom]

2.
Magdalena smote herself and wept,
The favourite disciple turned to stone,
But there, where the mother stood silent,
Not one person dared to look.
[1943. Tashkent]

EPILOGUE

1.
I have learned how faces fall,
How terror can escape from lowered eyes,
How suffering can etch cruel pages
Of cuneiform-like marks upon the cheeks.
I know how dark or ash-blond strands of hair
Can suddenly turn white. I've learned to recognise
The fading smiles upon submissive lips,
The trembling fear inside a hollow laugh.
That's why I pray not for myself
But all of you who stood there with me
Through fiercest cold and scorching July heat
Under a towering, completely blind red wall.

2.
The hour has come to remember the dead.
I see you, I hear you, I feel you:
The one who resisted the long drag to the open window;
The one who could no longer feel the kick of familiar
soil beneath her feet;
The one who, with a sudden flick of her head, replied,

'I arrive here as if I've come home!'
I'd like to name you all by name, but the list
Has been removed and there is nowhere else to look.
So,
I have woven you this wide shroud out of the humble
words
I overheard you use. Everywhere, forever and always,
I will never forget one single thing. Even in new
grief.
Even if they clamp shut my tormented mouth
Through which one hundred million people scream;
That's how I wish them to remember me when I am dead
On the eve of my remembrance day.
If someone someday in this country
Decides to raise a memorial to me,
I give my consent to this festivity
But only on this condition - do not build it
By the sea where I was born,
I have severed my last ties with the sea;
Nor in the Tsar's Park by the hallowed stump
Where an inconsolable shadow looks for me;
Build it here where I stood for three hundred hours
And no-one slid open the bolt.

Listen, even in blissful death I fear
That I will forget the Black Marias,
Forget how hatefully the door slammed and an old woman
Howled like a wounded beast.
Let the thawing ice flow like tears
From my immovable bronze eyelids
And let the prison dove coo in the distance
While ships sail quietly along the river.

Z said...

What's astonishing to ME is that we even need to think about this in America!...that nobody's written "This is JUST TOO PREPOSTEROUS a COMPARISON!" because it really isn't...

Even Ducky's not balking too much....Does he realize it's his Left which is putting this on us now? And yes, Ducky, I'd say the Bush Admin's actions in this economy aren't too far away from socialism, either. I know that..and I hate it...particularly when I hear expert after expert remind us that FDR's New Deal did more to keep the depression going than it did to help it.
What bothers me is that we went into recession after the depression and only WWII spending/building put America back on the right path toward capitalism and success. But,it's true, when you think of it.

Ducky's here said...

I'll say it again, z. The reason we regressed in the late 30's was because FDR tried TO BALANCE THE BUDGET.

Government spending slowed and didn't ramp up till the war economy got into swing. Do that now and you'll really see some grief.

As far as Hugo goes, price controls... bad idea especially on food.

Law and Order Teacher said...

Mr.Z,
As a history guy, I was thrilled by your stark recitation of facts accurately cited to prove your thesis. I guess having first hand experience helps. I would recommend your post to my AP US History students as an example of allowing the facts to speak for themselves. Twisting history to fit an ideology is nearly as bad as using religion to conceal your agenda. Shameful either way. Well done!!

Anonymous said...

Wow! A powerful post Mr. Z.

You've captured my worst fears in your article today, and the proverbial slippery slope leading to mediocrity and failure of nations for the aggrandizement of the few.

The tale repeats itself over and over, as if alive and will not die. And why? Because many are blind and will not see.

Yes, beware the beginnings. I think it has already begun.

Thanks Mr. Z, I will copy this and send it out.

Pris

dmarks said...

Bush's worst mistake was not helping keep Chavez out of power during that brief time pro-democracy forces had him overthrown.

heidianne jackson said...

i have read and reread your post, mr. z and simply am amazed at your stark accuracy and simplistic presentation of the facts.

in 1998 we had an exchange student from bad liebenwerder (sp?) in the former eastern germany. her family owned a flower farm. just prior to the fall of the wall they had pre-paid for a new car. while katrin was staying with us, they finally took delivery. and that was the soonest they had ever gotten a car so they were ecstatic!

she had such hope for the future and could not find enough bad things to say about socialism - i think she had hope because she could see the difference between the newly unified germany.

that same year we also had a girl from moscow. she had no good things to say about capitalism or markets - she just wished they could go back to socialism but with the same freedoms they were now enjoying. she simply could not understand that socialism is the opposite of freedom.

well done.

Bloviating Zeppelin said...

People: Z writes a CAUTIONARY TALE about something the likes of which most people couldn't care less: HISTORY. If there is something western nations -- hell, most all nations -- fail to take into account is HISTORY. Theirs and the history of others. The GDR and those living within that one-time barbed-wire and walled off boundary KNOW what it was like to live UNDER a socialist environment.

Limited government, prosperity, capitalism and freedom -- we'll have to ensure falling trade, massive tax increases, suppressed freedoms and, likely, another terrorist catastrophe before we see THOSE subjects back again.

One thing we may have on our side is this: it took a Carter for us to acquire a Reagan.

We've not yet hit bottom. In my opinion, that much is clear. But the wave is growing, ladies and gentlemen; the wave and the response to the First Act of "change" is brewing.

BZ

shoprat said...

When people refuse to learn from history then it will be repeated. Sadly this time we could be the victims of a lesson that others refuse to learn.

EDGE said...

Ah socialism, what a great idea that was.

WomanHonorThyself said...

brilliant expose!..publish this please!

Anonymous said...

Mr. Z excellent analysis and a perfect essay depicting the idiocies of socialism. Too bad there are people that still do not get it.

Ottavio (Otto) Marasco said...

Chilling however well founded scenario, take a bow Mr. Z.

This blog post deserves widespread circulation.

CJ said...

Sounds right on to me.

Is this possibly a sign of where we're headed?

http://www.pubrecord.org/nationworld/530-pentagon-training-20000-soldiers-to-work-inside-us-by-2011.html

Z said...

CJ....this is incredible:

20,000 soldiers IN THE UNITED STATES by 2011 to PROTECT US FROM WITHIN?

WHAT???

Can we trust this? On paper, the idea's not hideous, but with obama in charge? Remember, his friend Ayers suggested we would probably have to kill 25 MILLION Americans, give or take, because they might not want to go along with the America Ayers et al envision.

Ya, they'll take our guns away (like I had one!) and then arm 20,000 soldiers ???

Wouldn't American soldiers rise up against a leadership that wanted Americans patrolled, so to speak? WOULDN"T THEY??

Robert said...

How quickly we allows ourselves to forget/ignore the lessons of history. Even more tragic is forgetting them when those lessons exacted an enormous price.

Ducky's here said...

Bush's worst mistake was not helping keep Chavez out of power during that brief time pro-democracy forces had him overthrown.

-----------------------

Are you serious? Daddy Bush was down there on "sport fishing" trips three times in the weeks before the attempted coup.

Like everything else the CIA has tried to pull off in the last eight years it failed.

We are thoroughly implicated in assisting to create Hugo's paranoia and as always with George, making a bad situation worse.

miradena said...

Thank you and kudos to Mr Z!
The parallels you have drawn are stark and staggering - and this should indeed be a wake-up call for any American who is walking through this political storm with their eyes wide shut. (...) "We knew that it was bad when we were separated by an impenetrable wall." I am extremely fearful that the Obama administration will swiftly succeed in constructing a figurative wall. Sadly, the writing may already be upon it.

Anonymous said...

Ducky, can you name a dictator who is not paranoid?

So now Bush is responsible for Hugo Chavez? Regardless of what Obama may think, the President of the United States is NOT king of the world.

Wasn't that Democrat icon Jimmy Carter in Venezuela telling the world that Chavez' election was fair and above board?

Pris

Mike said...

Excellent post, Mr. Z!

Anonymous said...

Two little words describe it best:

SOCIALISM SUCKS

I don't need to know anymore. Just RESIST it as much as you can, even though it's all around you trying to pull you into its roaring stream.


You know Socialism can't be a good thing, because Socialists never have a Merry Christmas. In fact they are never grateful or glad about ANYTHING. Instead they tend to be hateful even when they win, because they can NEVER have or get ENOUGH.

Socialism is a disease.

Socialism is all about what YOU ought to give to ME. It's abject selfishness made to appear respectable.


Christianity is all about what GOD gave YOU and what you ought to give HIM in return.

Happiness is found more easily in giving than getting. Only children think otherwise.


Enjoy Christmas. Love Christmas. Give till it hurts, and your reward will be great.

~ FreeThinke

Pat Jenkins said...

well done mr.z!! let us only hope that chavez's control, as some recent elections in venezuela have shown is happening, continues to unravel!

Gayle said...

Sorry I'm getting over here so late. This is an astounding piece of work, Mr. Z. Absolutely brilliant!

Gayle said...

Sorry I'm getting over here so late. This is an astounding piece of work, Mr. Z. Absolutely brilliant!

Gayle said...

Sorry I'm getting over here so late. This is an astounding piece of work, Mr. Z. Absolutely brilliant!

Z said...

Gayle....I GET IT!! YOU LIKE IT (Smile!) Haha..I know it was error to print 3 times but I thought I'd leave it for the humor value.

Thanks, honey! I thought he did a bang-up job, too. I'm so glad you did!!

Superb Jon said...

Catholics destroyed American industry. They find American cars too advanced for them to use or their mechanics to fix. They are too busy generating vacuous, casuistrous blather. Ellis Island Popeholes brought in FDR. Carolignian Brzezinski spawned Zia al Haq, Khomeini, and bin Laden - breaks up superpowers via Aztlan and Kosovo as per Joel Garreau's Nine Nations. Brzezinski, Buckley and Buchanan winked anti-Semitic votes for Obama, delivered USA to Pope's feudal basket of Bamana Republics. Michael Pfleger and Joe Biden prove Obama is the Pope's boy. Talal got Pontifical medal as Fatima mandates Catholic-Muslim union against Jews (Francis Johnson, Great Sign, 1979, p. 126), Catholic Roger Taney wrote Dred Scott decision. John Wilkes Booth, Tammany Hall and Joe McCarthy were Catholics. Now Catholic majority Supreme Court. NYC top drop outs: Hispanic 32%, Black 25%, Italian 20%. NYC top illegals: Ecuadorean, Italian, Polish. Ate glis-glis but blamed plague on others, now lettuce coli. Their bigotry most encouraged terror yet they reap most security funds. Rabbi circumcizes lower, Pope upper brain. Tort explosion by glib casuistry. Bazelya 1992 case proves PLO-IRA-KLA links.