(ThyBlackMan.com) My most recent column brought out some crazies, largely due to the attention-catching headline that included a reference to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the youngest member of Congress. For the record, columnists do not write headlines. That is the job of the editor or another specialist.
That column really was’t about Ocasio-Cortez, although the young do tend to believe that the world revolves around them. Nevertheless, she received a lot of publicity, largely from lazy writers and political pundits parroting her Twitter remarks. I was called a neanderthal, dumb, delusional, a tool of the patriarchy, racist, a bigot and a number of other names I cannot mention here.
Why is it that liberals feel it is necessary to call you names when they disagree with you politically?
My column was about the Girl Scouts and my dismay over the sharp left turn taken by the organization that was an important part of my youth. Scouting used to be about God and country. Now country has been replaced by internationalism, and God in the Girl Scout Promisehas an asterisk, meaning you are free to substitute anything for the great I AM.
When you boil it all down, there are only two value systems: One recognizes a creator God and the moral absolutes in His word. The other is that of atheism or secular humanism, which makes the individual the arbiter of right and wrong. This is not to say that atheists are necessarily immoral. It’s just that in this value system you are free to set your own standards; everything is situational, anything goes.
Our country is not a theocracy. It is a democratic republic where individuals are free to believe as they choose, and I’m thankful for that. However, for those parents who believe in God, I and many others believe the Girl Scouts organization is no longer a good fit. That is why, in 1995, a group of former Girl Scout leaders and area representatives founded American Heritage Girls which is now in every state of the union and 15 countries.
Likewise, when you boil it all down, there are only two economic systems: socialism and capitalism. It has been said, “If you’re not a socialist before you’re 25, you have no heart; if you are a socialist after 25, you have no head.” While the words vary, with “liberal” and “Democrat” often substituted for socialist, the message is the same. When you are young and idealistic, you want everyone to have everything for virtually nothing. As you get older you realize that this is not only impractical, it is impossible.
In socialism, the government (public) owns the property and the means of production and sets the price for goods and services. In capitalism, the people own the property and the means of production, and the price of goods and services is set by the free market. While free-market capitalism is not perfect, it provides the highest standard of living in the world.
Socialism eventually takes away incentive and requires most of its subjects’ money. It then gives way to communism or Marxism where those in control of the government must rule with an iron hand. The standard of living of the ruler or rulers in this system is markedly different from the general populous.
Ocasio-Cortez calls herself a democratic socialist and, along with Bernie Sanders, is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America. So what is the difference between a socialist and a democratic socialist? The end goal is the same. However, democratic socialists plan to take control of their government slowly through the ballot box, instead of a sudden revolution as the DSAUSA website explains, “At the root of our socialism is a profound commitment to democracy, as means and end. As we are unlikely to see an immediate end to capitalism tomorrow. …”
The United States is further down the road to socialism than some might imagine. Until 1999, the House Progressive Caucus was an official part of the DSAUSA, with Nancy Pelosi listed as a prominent member of the executive committee. However, once exposed, it disappeared from the DSAUSA website and reappeared (minus Pelosi who became speaker of the House) as an official arm of the House Democratic caucus.
Today, besides Ocasio-Cortez and Sanders, there are 96 declared progressive (socialist) Democrats. All are in safe Democratic districts.
Ocasio-Cortez points to Great Britain as her model for socialism, a nation further down that road than we are. Former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher did her best to warn us and her country about the major problem with this system, stating, “You eventually run out of other people’s money.”
Written by Jane Chastain
Official website; http://twitter.com/janechastain