- The Nature of Dialectical Materialism and the Left.
- How Barbara Lee Carries Water for those Leftists
who Hate Religion.
- Only the Educational Voucher System
can Save our Children, Prepare them for Fulfilling
Work, and Teach them Right from Wrong.
The Hard Left has long indulged in a far-reaching campaign
to take over the Democrat Party. Those who vote Democrat
but do not believe in the anti-free market, anti-American,
anti-religious policies of the so-called progressives,
had best begin taking this more seriously and act to prevent
them, or the Democrat Party stands to go the way of the
Whigs.
Many
who vote Democrat most of the time probably think their
party still reflects the goals of FDR, JFK, and the like. Unfortunately,
the true Liberal politician, in the proud tradition that
flourished from John Stuart Mill to Hubert Humphrey, no
longer carries any weight in the power structure of the
party. We find the prime example of this in the sad
case of Senator Joe Lieberman, only six years ago the candidate
for Vice President, and one of the truly honorable men
in politics. Now the Hard Left wants to destroy him
because he does not march in lock step with their demands
to blame America first.
The
Hard Left does not represent a majority of the party, nor
does the party represent a majority of the voters in the
United States. Most who tend to vote Democrat do
so out of remembrance of the greats of the past, or because
they belong to an ethnic group or some other special interest
which the machine bosses have learned to manipulate with
ease. This is not the same as having an articulate
set of political positions. The Leftists, however,
have a loud voice, and they have what remains of the ideas
in the party. That these ideas do not usually attract
even a majority of the Democrat voters does not seem to
matter to them.
One of the factions within the Left, the Anti-church Materialists,
hates and despises religion above all things. These
activists are therefore a minority within a minority within
a minority, but they have had an extraordinary influence
on America over the last fifty years. They have removed
the Ten Commandments from our court rooms, and all traditional
training in right and wrong from our class rooms.
Leftists
like Barbara Lee depend upon the reactionary philosophies
of the nineteenth century for their fundamental beliefs. Marx
called this philosophy DIALECTICAL MATERIALISM. Much
of these ideas came about in reaction to the American Revolution
and all it represented. They attempted to drag humanity
backwards into the old ways of governance. THE DICTATORSHIP
OF THE PROLETARIAT, similar to Plato’s idea of Rule
by Philosopher Kings, would provide modern sounding cover
for dictators like Joseph Stalin and Adolph Hitler to take
power as the exponents of the iron laws of history. COMMON
OWNERSHIP OF THE MEANS OF PRODUCTION, required by “scientific
socialism,” allowed them to gather all wealth unto
themselves, whether in the name of International or National
Socialism. These are just new shades of lipstick
on a very old pig. Very few Americans buy this claptrap
any more. The Leftist politicians sell themselves
sometimes by masking the nature of their programs under
something that sounds better, like “Environmentalism,” or “Human
Rights,” but the goal is the same, more and more
government.
Another
aspect of Dialectical Materialist thought which did break
new ground involved the divorce between the secular intellectuals
and the religious intellectuals. In most previous
societies, the religious hierarchy and the bureaucrats
worked together to keep the artisans and the farmers in
their place at the bottom of the social scale. Starting
with Gutenberg, the commoners began to read the bible for
themselves, and had less need for the religious elites. Religious
leaders, after some reactionary grabs for power had failed,
began to identify again with the common man, as their teaching
usually would have them do. For instance, the newly
repentant religious leaders helped to lead the fight against
slavery in most countries.
Consequently, in the countries where the new slavery arose,
Germany, the Soviet Union, Cuba, China, and the rest, religion
became the major enemy. The Commissars and Gauleiters believed
that, under Dialectal Materialism, those who had taken
control under the Dictatorship of the Proletariat no longer
needed to share power with the religious. The anti-Religious
Left in America today has the same objective. Religious
people led the resistance to Hitler and Stalin both, and,
with leaders like John-Paul II, the believers eventually
triumphed. National Socialism and International Socialism
have collapsed, but Materialist hatred for Religion remains.
Marx, a leading light in nineteenth century thought, did
say that RELIGION IS THE OPIATE OF THE PEOPLE. He
certainly did not want to share power with any other societal
group, especially one which had reacquired a concern for
the true interests of the common man. When we say
that those who follow this aspect of Marxist thought are
anti-church, in fact they really oppose all religious thought. He
did not say “High Church Episcopalianism is the opiate
of the people,” but included all religions. Leftists
therefore work against Buddhists as well as Baptists.
Anyone
on the Left, anyone who calls themselves Progressive, anyone
who wants to take power based on any aspect of this philosophy,
must carry water for their anti-religious allies. Some
Leftists may go to church and even believe in some of the
teachings of their faith, although others do so just to
grab hold of the assets of the church to be sure. No
matter, if they preach and practice Leftism, they inevitably
help those who want to destroy our churches, synagogues,
temples, and mosques.
Indeed,
this aspect of 19th Century Materialism encompasses more
of the overall scope of the philosophies of the Left than
Marx alone. The other two great exponents of nineteenth
century thought, Freud and Darwin, concentrated more on
pulling down religion than did Marx or his allies. Those
who believe in the pseudo-science of the Victorian era,
sometimes called “Scientific Optimism,” tend
to become more rabid about the anti-religious aspects of
materialism than do the pure socialists. No matter
how little Freud or Darwin contribute to our society, indeed,
no matter how much worse they make life for most of us,
the Leftists insist on the rectitude of these beliefs with
an almost mystical fervor. You can not challenge
them on this aspect of their narrow minded ideology because,
according to them, the First Amendment clearly denies the
right of religious people to speak in the public marketplace. They
seem surprised when religious people react to their prejudices
by trying to speak up for their own point of view, which
happens to be one of traditional morality. Traditional
moriliry has no place in “science,” as Freud
and Darwin surely proved.
How
does this anti-Church stand work out in our lives and what
should we do about it? Let us look at one important
issue, that of education reform and the voucher system.
American
children entering our K-12 Public School System perform
equal to or better than the students in the other advanced
nations. This parity continues to about the fourth
grade level. By eighth grade, American children have
fallen behind. By the twelfth grade, US performance
comes in at or near the bottom in most studies. Oddly
enough, over the next twelve years, as the graduates of
public school enter the workforce and get retrained by
their employers, this turns around. By the time they
hit thirty years of age, the poorly educated Americans
become the most productive workers in the world. Clearly,
the fault lies with the Public Education system, not with
the children, the parents, or the employers. We need
reform now. But this does not fit the goals of the
American Left.
Most
of the public school teachers in the Oakland-Berkeley area
follow the Leftist ideology. They want to make their
charges slaves to the dictates of this reactionary nonsense. They
have no interest in giving children the skills they need
to succeed in business, since Capitalism is theft to them. They
do not care about any education that involves doing the
right thing, as traditional morality has no place in their
world view. Politicians on the Left are content to
let the students get poor training, since they can more
easily delude the ignorant and the wicked into following
them. Needless to say, many young people in our area
come out of these schools joining gangs, taking drugs,
having casual sex, not understanding how to get a job,
and indulging in violent behavior. Letting their
children go to public school takes a risk that no careful
parent should have to take.
Children
who go to Private Schools or who get Home Schooled have
far fewer such problems than those who go to Public Schools,
and learn far more. Private schools average about
$5,000 cost per pupil per year. Public Schools spend over
$10,000. We can still give parents the choice of
sending their children to the failed public school, maybe
across town based on some bussing scheme, if that is what
they choose. We can also offer them a voucher for
$5,000 which will let them send the same child to a local
academy, perhaps at their Church. Most would trust
their Pastor before they would trust an Educrat. This
system would save the taxpayer about $5000 for every child
who chose the private school option, whether at a Church
or not.
If
you ask Barbara Lee whether she would support helping our
children by giving money to your church to open a day school,
better using the real resources of the cities this way,
or empowering your personal religious leader and increasing
the use of the one institution in your neighborhood which
really serves the people, she will say “No!” She
will vote for continuing the failed system as it is. She
supports the Educational Establishment over your children. Our
community has endured horrible crises lately with gangs,
drugs, and failing schools, but she will never do anything
about it as long as it means acting contrary to wishes of
her Leftist allies.
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