Ted Cruz, a Cuban-American who’s running for President, wrote the following about children in Communist Cuba:
Children were taught to spy on their parents and to report anything they said that was disloyal to [Fidel] Castro. Churches were closed, and faith was aggressively persecuted. My grandmother told a story of Castro’s soldiers coming into classrooms carrying machine guns. They told the kids to close their eyes and pray to Jesus for some candy. The children did so, and no candy appeared. They then told the kids to pray to Castro for candy; while their eyes were closed, the soldiers quietly put candy on each child’s desk.
It’s a brilliant story about how Communism works.
And it applies no less to America, especially under Obama.
Imagine the story going this way:
Children were taught, in Common Core mandated school programs, to question their parents and to report anything they said that was disloyal to Obama, or to the federal government. Independent thought was discouraged, whether through objective reasoning or faith-based religious doctrines. They told the kids to close their eyes and pray to Jesus for some health care. The children did so, and no health care appeared. They then told the kids to pray to Obama for health care; while their eyes were closed, the soldiers quietly put free health care insurance cards on the childrens’ desks. Lo and behold, there was health care.
America is becoming more socialist all the time. No, it’s not exactly like Cuba. But the underlying methodology and attitude are exactly the same.
Of course, the only way to attain candy, health care, or anything of value is to produce, create and purchase it. Nothing comes from nothing. Whether you shut your eyes and ask Jesus to bring something, or shut your eyes and hope for Obama to bring it, somebody has to create it. And it’s neither Jesus nor Obama.
The only alternative to religion (or socialism) is reason. Reason, which is not faith based, can establish objective truth or falsehood. Through science and business, reason makes things possible. Many agree with this approach, and many others prefer to substitute religion for the use of reason. Still others use a combination of the two.
Regardless of where you stand on religion or reason, there’s little or no room for either of these approaches under a socialist empire. Socialism is a religion of government. It demands obedience, and faith — not in a supernatural being, but in the unlimited power and worthiness of government. Government is the religion of socialism.
In the case of Cuba, the fixation was on Castro. Once he seized power in Cuba, it mattered little whether people retained admiration for him, or not. Guns took over. Under socialism, might makes right.
It’s the same in America, only more gradual and more pretentious. In America, socialism is incremental and “progressive” — like a disease. The end result will be the same.
Voters are initially asked to believe in some good or service to be handed to them by the government. It’s claimed that if they do the equivalent of closing their eyes, those goods and services will appear. “You don’t need the magic of prayer,” the socialist democrat-republicans proclaim. “All you need is the power of Obama.” Or Hillary, or Bush, or whomever the next socialist-in-chief will be. Or the power of a legislative edict to wish into existence whatever one desires. The authorities will take care of the dirty work.
Congress and the Supreme Court, as we know, willingly comply. They used to operate as a check on the movement towards socialism, but we can no longer count on them, not based on the last few years.
That’s why our problems in America run deeper than politics. It’s why no election, not even the next one, will fix it. Only people changing their minds will fix anything. No candidate — even if we had a good one — can make us change our minds. We have to do it ourselves.
The problem is psychological and, ultimately, philosophical and ideological. There’s no escaping this fact. Most of us are ruled by our emotions. And all of our emotions are ruled (implicitly) by ideas.
More and more of us are becoming the equivalent of those children, closing our eyes and trusting that somehow the government will deliver us relief from pain, relief from hardship and — ultimately — relief from the responsibility of having to earn a living and care for oneself.
Americans of earlier generations would be shocked. America was the one place never vulnerable to such a pathology of selfless submission. Not everyone has this mentality, but more do than ever before. It has been a very gradual development.
Once the principle of “close your eyes and wish for candy” is established by the government and internalized by enough people, then totalitarian rule — of the sort found in Cuba — is only a matter of time.
If you will not think or produce for yourself, then someone else must do it for you. Once you permit someone (or Someone) else to produce everything for you, then you will permit the same Someone to rule every aspect of your life.
Freedom requires reason. Socialism requires faith — in the power of government, which means the power of brute force. There’s nothing enlightened or progressive about Obama, or about socialism. Just look at what happened in Cuba.
You can follow Dr. Hurd on Facebook. Search under “Michael Hurd” (Rehoboth Beach DE). Get up-to-the-minute postings, recommended articles and links, and engage in back-and-forth discussion with Dr. Hurd on topics of interest. Also follow Dr. Hurd on Twitter at @MichaelJHurd1