Communist America

The bat-shit craziness of some people never fails to amuse me. A correspondent has sent me a list of the ten planks of the Communist manifesto, and how they have been implemented in the USA, at libertyzone.com.

They are, with my comments underneath each one:

1. Abolition of private property and the application of all rents of land to public purposes.
Americans do these with actions such as the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution (1868), and various zoning, school & property taxes. Also the Bureau of Land Management (Zoning laws are the first step to government property ownership)

This seems to be a failure in the perception of reality. The doctrine of eminent domain does exist in the US, but it is not being used to take control of all the land of the US in the hands of the government. Nor has private property been abolished – tax is not abolition – and while there are land taxes, they are not the same as all rents of land (all the profit it produces, as I understand it) going to the government.

I’m not sure what the Fourteenth Amendment has to do with this, as it deals with electoral apportionment and debts during Reconstruction.

2. A heavy progressive or graduated income tax.
Americans know this as misapplication of the 16th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, 1913, The Social Security Act of 1936.; Joint House Resolution 192 of 1933; and various State “income” taxes. We call it “paying your fair share”.

There are six brackets for US income tax, so you could describe it as graduated. Given that the highest of these kicks in at US$373,000, it can’t really be called progressive. Given that the highest rate is 35%, it can’t really be called heavy.

3. Abolition of all rights of inheritance.
Americans call it Federal & State estate Tax (1916); or reformed Probate Laws, and limited inheritance via arbitrary inheritance tax statutes.

There seems to be an ongoing confusion between the potential for something to happen and something actually happening. As people do actually inherit things in the US at the moment, this falls.

4. Confiscation of the property of all emigrants and rebels.
Americans call it government seizures, tax liens, Public “law” 99-570 (1986); Executive order 11490, sections 1205, 2002 which gives private land to the Department of Urban Development; the imprisonment of “terrorists” and those who speak out or write against the “government” (1997 Crime/Terrorist Bill); or the IRS confiscation of property without due process. Asset forfeiture laws are used by DEA, IRS, ATF etc…).

This would have been to stop capital flight, which is not what it is used for today. I am prepared to accept that there are problems in existing legislation, but insisting on paying tax is not the same as confiscation as property, IMHO.

5. Centralization of credit in the hands of the state, by means of a national bank with State capital and an exclusive monopoly.
Americans call it the Federal Reserve which is a privately-owned credit/debt system allowed by the Federal Reserve act of 1913. All local banks are members of the Fed system, and are regulated by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) another privately-owned corporation. The Federal Reserve Banks issue Fiat Paper Money and practice economically destructive fractional reserve banking.

Given that there is no exclusive monopoly on credit or a national bank or centralised credit, this fails. That doesn’t mean there aren’t problems with the Fed; just that it’s not Narodny Bank.

6. Centralization of the means of communications and transportation in the hands of the State.
Americans call it the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and Department of Transportation (DOT) mandated through the ICC act of 1887, the Commissions Act of 1934, The Interstate Commerce Commission established in 1938, The Federal Aviation Administration, Federal Communications Commission, and Executive orders 11490, 10999, as well as State mandated driver’s licenses and Department of Transportation regulations.

No, that’s regulation, not the means of communications or transportation. Regulation isn’t the same as ownership.

7. Extension of factories and instruments of production owned by the state, the bringing into cultivation of waste lands, and the improvement of the soil generally in accordance with a common plan.
Americans call it corporate capacity, The Desert Entry Act and The Department of Agriculture… Thus read “controlled or subsidized” rather than “owned”… This is easily seen in these as well as the Department of Commerce and Labor, Department of Interior, the Environmental Protection Agency, Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, Bureau of Mines, National Park Service, and the IRS control of business through corporate regulations.

As the original comment says, controlled or subsidised, which are different from ownership; there are not large, state-owned industries in the USA.

8. Equal liability of all to labor. Establishment of industrial armies, especially for agriculture.
Americans call it Minimum Wage and slave labor like dealing with our Most Favored Nation trade partner; i.e. Communist China. We see it in practice via the Social Security Administration and The Department of Labor. The National debt and inflation caused by the communal bank has caused the need for a two “income” family. Woman in the workplace since the 1920’s, the 19th amendment of the U.S. Constitution, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, assorted Socialist Unions, affirmative action, the Federal Public Works Program and of course Executive order 11000.

Equal liability of labor would be everyone having to work, not everyone who works having certain legal guarantees.

9. Combination of agriculture with manufacturing industries, gradual abolition of the distinction between town and country, by a more equitable distribution of population over the country.
Americans call it the Planning Reorganization act of 1949 , zoning (Title 17 1910-1990) and Super Corporate Farms, as well as Executive orders 11647, 11731 (ten regions) and Public “law” 89-136. These provide for forced relocations and forced sterilization programs, like in China.

Just doesn’t resemble the USA of today where there is, I’d venture, a major distinction between the great cities and small town America.

10. Free education for all children in public schools. Abolition of children’s factory labor in its present form. Combination of education with industrial production.
Americans are being taxed to support what we call ‘public’ schools, but are actually “government force-tax-funded schools ” Even private schools are government regulated. The purpose is to train the young to work for the communal debt system. We also call it the Department of Education, the NEA and Outcome Based “Education” . These are used so that all children can be indoctrinated and inculcated with the government propaganda, like “majority rules”, and “pay your fair share”. WHERE are the words “fair share” in the Constitution, Bill of Rights or the Internal Revenue Code (Title 26)?? NO WHERE is “fair share” even suggested !! The philosophical concept of “fair share” comes from the Communist maxim, “From each according to their ability, to each according to their need! This concept is pure socialism. … America was made the greatest society by its private initiative WORK ETHIC … Teaching ourselves and others how to “fish” to be self sufficient and produce plenty of EXTRA commodities to if so desired could be shared with others who might be “needy”… Americans have always voluntarily been the MOST generous and charitable society on the planet.

Well if free education and the abolition of child labour is communist, sign me up. The third I would say has happened to some extent with the rise of vocational training, but this doesn’t count as socialistic when the industries remain in private hands.

A lot of this is based on the notion that any taxation is theft; as this seems to be the sine qua non of communism, this would make the vast majority of the world communist. Saudi Arabia, which doesn’t tax its citizens, wouldn’t be. I submit that this viewpoint is of minimal use.

xD.