Mr. Beck, the Christian Left, and the reigning sin of our age

By way of update: We give you Lady Malkin's - "The Pfelger-ization of the Catholic Church"

Mr. Glenn Beck is in no need of our defence. Suffice to say that, as regards “social justice” as defined by the Left, we concur with him entirely. Indeed, we have written similarly and extensively on many occasions ourselves. Here then, we write not to echo or attempt to add to Mr. Beck’s political analysis of “social justice” which is more than spot on; but to complement it with analysis of what we consider the fundamental theological flaw of the Left’s understanding of “social justice.”

One thing church-going advocates of justice Left or Right ought agree upon is that poverty is the result of immoral behavior. If we are to identify, condemn and root out such behavior among the rich and powerful, are we not obligated to do the same among the poor and powerless? The answer – presuming one is genuinely interested in justice – is “yes.” If a rich, white CEO is misleading board members to justify his preposterous salary to the detriment of the company he is leading, he ought be rebuked. If a poor, unmarried, black teen age girl is delivering her second severely pre-mature child at a cost of tens of thousands of dollars to Medicaid (i.e. tax payers), she ought be rebuked. This would be justice.

Behavior aloof or antagonistic to human dignity – be it directed outwardly or inwardly – is first and foremost an offense against God (i.e. Sin) and is therefore requisite of rebuke. Such rebuke is intended not to establish that the non-sinner is morally superior to the sinner in a particular instance, but to educate him to the error of his ways – as would a friend, a sibling, a spouse, a parent - and guide him back to the path to God. To believers this is true compassion, for the most loving and important act a soul can perform for another is that which brings them closer to God.

The Christian Left rejects all of this. Thoroughly secularized and steeped-in the Progressive mind-set, they have removed the spiritual dynamic from all understanding of human behavior. All that matters is the material: the level of income, the condition of the housing, the access to public amenities. It is forbidden to analyze to what extent “those less fortunate” are responsible for their own misfortune. To do so, we are told in no uncertain terms, is to show a “lack of compassion”, a “failing to understand”, “insensitivity” and, of course, in cases where the unfortunate are members of ethnic minorities, “racism.”

Is it any wonder then that in a nation that gives $300 billion a year in charity, and billions more through tax-funded government poverty programs, poverty persists? Indeed, many on the Left insist it is growing, as “the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.” If a man is never rebuked for picking the scab off his wound he will continue to bleed. If the human family forbids itself from rebuking the devastating effects of certain behaviors, that family will continue being devastated.

And when people are forced by law to fund programs that merely encourage and enable destructive behavior by masking their effects, we are hastening that destruction, more deeply embedding it into the culture, ensuring it will continue for generations to come, and - to those of faith – institutionalizing a grave sin against God and man. Thus Sister Angelica’s charge that “misplaced compassion” comprises the “reigning sin of our age.”

Gads. Are we suggesting then that social justice as defined by the Left is immoral? Yes. Not only because it perpetuates poverty, destroys lives and hope, greatly diminishes human achievement, dishonors the fruits of human labor, and breeds dependency that atrophies the human spirit, but most significantly because it eases men off the path to truth – God – which makes everyone poorer in the most absolute sense of the word.

On the occasion of this blessed Easter, let us pray that Reason, enlightened by God Almighty, be resurrected in the minds and hearts of all mankind so that true compassion and true justice once again be made the object of our ambition to virtue.

Cheers,

Charlie

At Least Marx Had Integrity

Granted Karl Marx was a bitter, self-loathing, misanthrope, half-crazed with envy and his own depraved world view, but at least he had integrity. When advocating the implementation of his beloved communism, for instance, he made no attempt to sugar coat what would be required:

“The proletariat will use its political supremacy to wrest, by degree, all capital from the bourgeoisie, to centralize all instruments of production in the hands of the state, i.e., of the proletariat organized as the ruling class; and to increase the total productive forces as rapidly as possible. Of course, in the beginning, this cannot be effected except by means of despotic inroads on the rights of property…”

While not quite promising the mass imprisonment, terror, and murder this process would necessitate, one can pretty much surmise as much from this and other such statements in Marx’s Communist Manifesto.

Today’s communists, however, are far more image savvy, realizing that having brought about the slaughter and ruin of millions upon millions of innocent human beings, collectivist ideologies can prove a tough sell. So a bit of Madison Avenue re-packaging has been done.

The sinister moniker of “communism” and the slightly less ominous “socialism” have been replaced with the sunny, “Progressivism.” Instead of wild-eyed ravings about the bourgeoisie, the proletariat, and oppressive class antagonisms, they opt for more lyrical terms such as “social justice”, and “multiculturalism.” Instead of Marx’ chilling but unmistakably clear rhetoric: “The theory of the communist can be summed up in the single sentence: abolition of private property”, Progressive’s prefer less confrontational terminology like “sustainable global community” and “promote the equitable distribution of wealth within and among nations.” And instead of presenting their collectivist demands to the world via a bellicose “Manifesto”, the Progressives are soft peddling theirs surreptitiously with the aid of the United Nations by means of a poetic and enchanting “Earth Charter.”

A masterpiece of abstruse, feel-good, New Age, leftist pappery, the seemingly innocuous Earth Charter is truly a wolf in sheep’s clothing, or more accurately a Bear in dove’s feathers. In short, the Earth Charter is nothing less than a call for the establishment of a supranational governing authority to dictate the production and distribution of wealth according to ill-defined and arbitrary “principles of sustainability.” Indeed, at its crescendo, the charter declares:

“In order to build a sustainable global community, the nations of the world must renew their commitment to the United Nations, fulfill their obligations under existing international agreements, and support the implementation of Earth Charter principles with an international legally binding instrument on environment and development.”

Beyond this obedience, the nations of the world (but mostly the United States) are also to disarm themselves to the satisfaction of these same arbitrary principles:

* Avoid military activities damaging to the environment.
* Demilitarize national security systems to the level of a non-provocative defense posture, and convert military resources to peaceful purposes, including ecological restoration.
*Eliminate nuclear, biological, and toxic weapons and other weapons of mass destruction.
*Ensure that the use of orbital and outer space supports environmental protection and peace.

Anyone possessing the slightest knowledge of human liberty, the brutal state-sponsored assaults upon it throughout the twentieth century, and the threats it faces in the twenty-first ought be chilled to the bone at such a statement. Yet, despite the best efforts of Conservative watchdogs and pundits (see excellent analyses here, here, here, and here) the Earth Charter continues to grow in both influence and endorsement. Numerous groups and organizations, from The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization UNESCO; to the U.S Conference of Mayors; to sweet little nuns across North America have thrown their hats and habits into the ring in support of this insidious fraud.

This is due largely to the standard pathologies of contemporary society: “Go-Green” bandwagonism, mindless pacifism, lack of serious consideration of what implementation of the Earth Charter would actually require, and – of course – ignorance of history. But more than all this, the Earth Charter’s advance is due primarily to the shrewd advocacy and network building of its weighty founders.

The Earth Charter is the brainchild (i.e. Frankenstein) of he-of-the-unfortunate-birthmark: former General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev. He is not alone. Joining Gorby in creating and infusing this doctrine is Canadian billionaire socialist Maurice Strong , and American socialist billionaire Steven Rockefeller of the inimitable Rockefeller Brothers Fund, (Mr. Rockefeller also serves on the Board of billionaire socialist, George Soros’, the Soros Economic Development Fund. It is difficult to imagine Mr. Soros does not have his slimy hands all over this initiative as well.)

But unfortunate bed fellows and ominous warnings from wingnut neo-con reactionaries such as ourselves are insufficient to counter the somnambulistic effects of the Earth Charter’s Phil Collins-meets-Walt Disney language. Very well then. We encourage one and all to read the essays of the Earth Charter’s founders and supporters themselves, for no more damning evidence can be found that this movement is a very real threat to human dignity, liberty, and well-being. (Well actually it can. But this is a good place to start.)

For our own part, we provide the following analysis, which brings us back to our friend Karl Marx.

Echoes of Marx

In the Marxist tradition, we have taken it upon ourselves to confiscate the intellectual property of the Earth Charter and reorganize it as we bloody well please; in this case according to Marx’s "Ten Measures" by which the communists will “wrest, by degree, all capital from the bourgeoisie” and “centralize all instruments of production in the hands of the state.” We believe, even a brief perusal of the following will make clear the chilling degree to which the Earth Charter “principles” resonate with Marx’s vision and his prescription for implementing it. .

MARX MEASURE #1: ABOLITION OF PROPERTY IN LAND AND APPLICATION OF ALL RENTS OF LAND TO PUBLIC PURPOSES.

Corresponding Earth Charter Happy-Speak

· Promote the equitable distribution of wealth within nations and among nations.

· The dominant patterns of production and consumption are causing environmental devastation, the depletion of resources, and a massive extinction of species. Communities are being undermined. The benefits of development are not shared equitably and the gap between rich and poor is widening. Injustice, poverty, ignorance, and violent conflict are widespread and the cause of great suffering. An unprecedented rise in human population has overburdened ecological and social systems. The foundations of global security are threatened. These trends are perilous—but not inevitable.

· Fundamental changes are needed in our values, institutions, and ways of living. We must realize that when basic needs have been met, human development is primarily about being more, not having more.

· We affirm the following interdependent principles for a sustainable way of life as a common standard by which the conduct of all individuals, organizations, businesses, governments, and transnational institutions is to be guided and assessed.

· Promote social and economic justice, enabling all to achieve a secure and meaningful livelihood that is ecologically responsible.

· provide social security and safety nets for those who are unable to support themselves.

· Accept that with the right to own, manage, and use natural resources comes the duty to prevent environmental harm and to protect the rights of people.


MARX MEASURE #2: A HEAVY PROGRESSIVE OR GRADUATED INCOME TAX.

Corresponding Earth Charter Happy-Speak

· Eradicate poverty as an ethical, social, and environmental imperative.

· Empower every human being with the education and resources to secure a sustainable livelihood, and provide social security and safety nets for those who are unable to support themselves.

· Enhance the intellectual, financial, technical, and social resources of developing nations, and relieve them of onerous international debt.

· Provide all, especially children and youth, with educational opportunities that empower them to contribute actively to sustainable development.

· Adopt lifestyles that emphasize the quality of life and material sufficiency in a finite world.

· Promote the equitable distribution of wealth within nations and among nations.

· Internalize the full environmental and social costs of goods and services in the selling price, and enable consumers to identify products that meet the highest social and environmental standards.

· Affirm that with increased freedom, knowledge, and power comes increased responsibility to promote the common good.

· Promote social and economic justice, enabling all to achieve a secure and meaningful livelihood that is ecologically responsible.

· Secure Earth's bounty and beauty for present and future generations.

· Recognize that the freedom of action of each generation is qualified by the needs of future generations.

· Strengthen local communities, enabling them to care for their environments, and assign environmental responsibilities to the levels of government where they can be carried out most effectively.

· Place the burden of proof on those who argue that a proposed activity will not cause significant harm, and make the responsible parties liable for environmental harm

· This requires a change of mind and heart. It requires a new sense of global interdependence and universal responsibility.

· we must find ways to harmonize diversity with unity, the exercise of freedom with the common good, short-term objectives with long-term goals

· Adopt at all levels sustainable development plans and regulations that make environmental conservation and rehabilitation integral to all development initiatives.

· We must realize that when basic needs have been met, human development is primarily about being more, not having more.

· To realize these aspirations, we must decide to live with a sense of universal responsibility, identifying ourselves with the whole Earth community as well as our local communities. We are at once citizens of different nations and of one world in which the local and global are linked. Everyone shares responsibility for the present and future well-being of the human family and the larger living world.

· it is imperative that we, the peoples of Earth, declare our responsibility to one another, to the greater community of life, and to future generations.

· The benefits of development are not shared equitably and the gap between rich and poor is widening.

· we affirm the following interdependent principles for a sustainable way of life as a common standard by which the conduct of all individuals, organizations, businesses, governments, and transnational institutions is to be guided and assessed.

· Transmit to future generations values, traditions, and institutions that support the long-term flourishing of Earth's human and ecological communities.

· provide social security and safety nets for those who are unable to support themselves.

MARX MEASURE #3: ABOLITION OF ALL RIGHTS OF INHERITANCE.

Corresponding Earth Charter Happy-Speak

· An unprecedented rise in human population has overburdened ecological and social systems. The foundations of global security are threatened. These trends are perilous—but not inevitable.

· Everyone shares responsibility for the present and future well-being of the human family and the larger living world.

· Recognize that the freedom of action of each generation is qualified by the needs of future generations.

· Ensure universal access to health care that fosters reproductive health and responsible reproduction.

· Adopt lifestyles that emphasize the quality of life and material sufficiency in a finite world.

· Our cultural diversity is a precious heritage and different cultures will find their own distinctive ways to realize the vision.

MARX MEASURE #4: CONFISCATION OF THE PROPERTY OF ALL EMIGRANTS AND REBELS.

Corresponding Earth Charter Happy-Speak

· Towards this end, it is imperative that we, the peoples of Earth, declare our responsibility to one another, to the greater community of life, and to future generations.

· Fundamental changes are needed in our values, institutions, and ways of living. We must realize that when basic needs have been met, human development is primarily about being more, not having more. We have the knowledge and technology to provide for all and to reduce our impacts on the environment. The emergence of a global civil society is creating new opportunities to build a democratic and humane world. Our environmental, economic, political, social, and spiritual challenges are interconnected, and together we can forge inclusive solutions.

· To realize these aspirations, we must decide to live with a sense of universal responsibility, identifying ourselves with the whole Earth community as well as our local communities. We are at once citizens of different nations and of one world in which the local and global are linked. Everyone shares responsibility for the present and future well-being of the human family and the larger living world.

· a common standard by which the conduct of all individuals, organizations, businesses, governments, and transnational institutions is to be guided and assessed.

· Accept that with the right to own, manage, and use natural resources comes the duty to prevent environmental harm and to protect the rights of people.

· Affirm that with increased freedom, knowledge, and power comes increased responsibility to promote the common good.

· Promote social and economic justice, enabling all to achieve a secure and meaningful livelihood that is ecologically responsible.

· Adopt at all levels sustainable development plans and regulations that make environmental conservation and rehabilitation integral to all development initiatives.

· Establish and safeguard viable nature and biosphere reserves, including wild lands and marine areas, to protect Earth's life support systems, maintain biodiversity, and preserve our natural heritage.

· Control and eradicate non-native or genetically modified organisms harmful to native species and the environment, and prevent introduction of such harmful organisms.
· Take action to avoid the possibility of serious or irreversible environmental harm even when scientific knowledge is incomplete or inconclusive.

· Place the burden of proof on those who argue that a proposed activity will not cause significant harm, and make the responsible parties liable for environmental harm.

· Adopt lifestyles that emphasize the quality of life and material sufficiency in a finite world.

· Guarantee the right to potable water, clean air, food security, uncontaminated soil, shelter, and safe sanitation, allocating the national and international resources required.

· Adopt lifestyles that emphasize the quality of life and material sufficiency in a finite world.

· Internalize the full environmental and social costs of goods and services in the selling price, and enable consumers to identify products that meet the highest social and environmental standards.

· Promote the equitable distribution of wealth within nations and among nations.

· Ensure that all trade supports sustainable resource use, environmental protection, and progressive labor standards.

· Require multinational corporations and international financial organizations to act transparently in the public good, and hold them accountable for the consequences of their activities.

· Affirm the right of indigenous peoples to their spirituality, knowledge, lands and resources and to their related practice of sustainable livelihoods.

· Protect and restore outstanding places of cultural and spiritual significance.

· Institute effective and efficient access to administrative and independent judicial procedures, including remedies and redress for environmental harm and the threat of such harm.

· Strengthen local communities, enabling them to care for their environments, and assign environmental responsibilities to the levels of government where they can be carried out most effectively.

· Protect wild animals from methods of hunting, trapping, and fishing that cause extreme, prolonged, or avoidable suffering.

· Avoid or eliminate to the full extent possible the taking or destruction of non-targeted species.

· This requires a change of mind and heart. It requires a new sense of global interdependence and universal responsibility. We must imaginatively develop and apply the vision of a sustainable way of life locally, nationally, regionally, and globally.

· This can mean difficult choices. However, we must find ways to harmonize diversity with unity, the exercise of freedom with the common good, short-term objectives with long-term goals. Every individual, family, organization, and community has a vital role to play.

· In order to build a sustainable global community, the nations of the world must renew their commitment to the United Nations, fulfill their obligations under existing international agreements, and support the implementation of Earth Charter principles with an international legally binding instrument on environment and development.

MARX MEASURE #5: CENTRALIZATION OF CREDIT IN THE BANKS OF THE STATE, BY MEANS OF A NATIONAL BANK WITH STATE CAPITAL AND AN EXCLUSIVE MONOPOLY.
Corresponding Earth Charter Happy-Speak

· Ensure that economic activities and institutions at all levels promote human development in an equitable and sustainable manner.

· Promote the equitable distribution of wealth within nations and among nations.

· Ensure that all trade supports sustainable resource use, environmental protection, and progressive labor standards

· Enhance the intellectual, financial, technical, and social resources of developing nations, and relieve them of onerous international debt.

· Require multinational corporations and international financial organizations to act transparently in the public good, and hold them accountable for the consequences of their activities.

· To move forward we must recognize that in the midst of a magnificent diversity of cultures and life forms we are one human family and one Earth community with a common destiny. We must join together to bring forth a sustainable global society founded on respect for nature, universal human rights, economic justice, and a culture of peace.

· The global environment with its finite resources is a common concern of all peoples. The protection of Earth's vitality, diversity, and beauty is a sacred trust.

· The dominant patterns of production and consumption are causing environmental devastation, the depletion of resources, and a massive extinction of species. Communities are being undermined. The benefits of development are not shared equitably and the gap between rich and poor is widening. Injustice, poverty, ignorance, and violent conflict are widespread and the cause of great suffering. An unprecedented rise in human population has overburdened ecological and social systems. The foundations of global security are threatened. These trends are perilous—but not inevitable.

· The choice is ours: form a global partnership to care for Earth and one another or risk the destruction of ourselves and the diversity of life.

· Fundamental changes are needed in our values, institutions, and ways of living.

· We must realize that when basic needs have been met, human development is primarily about being more, not having more. We have the knowledge and technology to provide for all and to reduce our impacts on the environment. The emergence of a global civil society is creating new opportunities to build a democratic and humane world. Our environmental, economic, political, social, and spiritual challenges are interconnected, and together we can forge inclusive solutions.

· To realize these aspirations, we must decide to live with a sense of universal responsibility, identifying ourselves with the whole Earth community as well as our local communities.

· We are at once citizens of different nations and of one world in which the local and global are linked. Everyone shares responsibility for the present and future well-being of the human family and the larger living world.

· we affirm the following interdependent principles for a sustainable way of life as a common standard by which the conduct of all individuals, organizations, businesses, governments, and transnational institutions is to be guided and assessed.

· Accept that with the right to own, manage, and use natural resources comes the duty to prevent environmental harm and to protect the rights of people.

· Promote social and economic justice, enabling all to achieve a secure and meaningful livelihood that is ecologically responsible.

· Adopt at all levels sustainable development plans and regulations that make environmental conservation and rehabilitation integral to all development initiatives.

· Ensure that decision making addresses the cumulative, long-term, indirect, long distance, and global consequences of human activities.

· Promote the development, adoption, and equitable transfer of environmentally sound technologies.

· Internalize the full environmental and social costs of goods and services in the selling price, and enable consumers to identify products that meet the highest social and environmental standards.

· Ensure universal access to health care that fosters reproductive health and responsible reproduction.

· Support international scientific and technical cooperation on sustainability, with special attention to the needs of developing nations.

· Guarantee the right to potable water, clean air, food security, uncontaminated soil, shelter, and safe sanitation, allocating the national and international resources required.

· Empower every human being with the education and resources to secure a sustainable livelihood, and provide social security and safety nets for those who are unable to support themselves.

· Promote the contribution of the arts and humanities as well as the sciences in sustainability education.

· This requires a change of mind and heart. It requires a new sense of global interdependence and universal responsibility. We must imaginatively develop and apply the vision of a sustainable way of life locally, nationally, regionally, and globally.

· Life often involves tensions between important values. This can mean difficult choices. However, we must find ways to harmonize diversity with unity, the exercise of freedom with the common good, short-term objectives with long-term goals. Every individual, family, organization, and community has a vital role to play.

MARX MEASURE #6: CENTRALIZATION OF THE MEANS OF COMMUNICATION AND TRANSPORT IN THE HANDS OF THE STATE.

Corresponding Earth Charter Happy-Speak

· We urgently need a shared vision of basic values to provide an ethical foundation for the emerging world community.

· Transmit to future generations values, traditions, and institutions that support the long-term flourishing of Earth's human and ecological communities.

· Take action to avoid the possibility of serious or irreversible environmental harm even when scientific knowledge is incomplete or inconclusive.

· Place the burden of proof on those who argue that a proposed activity will not cause significant harm, and make the responsible parties liable for environmental harm.

· Ensure that decision making addresses the cumulative, long-term, indirect, long distance, and global consequences of human activities.

· Internalize the full environmental and social costs of goods and services in the selling price, and enable consumers to identify products that meet the highest social and environmental standards.

· Adopt lifestyles that emphasize the quality of life and material sufficiency in a finite world.

· Advance the study of ecological sustainability and promote the open exchange and wide application of the knowledge acquired.

· Support international scientific and technical cooperation on sustainability, with special attention to the needs of developing nations.

· Recognize and preserve the traditional knowledge and spiritual wisdom in all cultures that contribute to environmental protection and human well-being.

· Ensure that information of vital importance to human health and environmental protection, including genetic information, remains available in the public domain.

· Empower every human being with the education and resources to secure a sustainable livelihood, and provide social security and safety nets for those who are unable to support themselves.

· Require multinational corporations and international financial organizations to act transparently in the public good, and hold them accountable for the consequences of their activities.

· Eliminate discrimination in all its forms, such as that based on race, color, sex, sexual orientation, religion, language, and national, ethnic or social origin.

· Uphold the right of everyone to receive clear and timely information on environmental matters and all development plans and activities which are likely to affect them or in which they have an interest.

· Integrate into formal education and life-long learning the knowledge, values, and skills needed for a sustainable way of life.

· Provide all, especially children and youth, with educational opportunities that empower them to contribute actively to sustainable development.

· Promote the contribution of the arts and humanities as well as the sciences in sustainability education.

· Enhance the role of the mass media in raising awareness of ecological and social challenges.

· Recognize the importance of moral and spiritual education for sustainable living.

· Ensure that the use of orbital and outer space supports environmental protection and peace.

· We must deepen and expand the global dialogue that generated the Earth Charter, for we have much to learn from the ongoing collaborative search for truth and wisdom.

MARX MEASURE #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.

Corresponding Earth Charter Happy-Speak

(See entire Earth Charter!)

· Adopt patterns of production, consumption, and reproduction that safeguard Earth's regenerative capacities, human rights, and community well-being.

· Act with restraint and efficiency when using energy, and rely increasingly on renewable energy sources such as solar and wind.

· Internalize the full environmental and social costs of goods and services in the selling price, and enable consumers to identify products that meet the highest social and environmental standards.

· We urgently need a shared vision of basic values to provide an ethical foundation for the emerging world community.

· To move forward we must recognize that in the midst of a magnificent diversity of cultures and life forms we are one human family and one Earth community with a common destiny. We must join together to bring forth a sustainable global society founded on respect for nature, universal human rights, economic justice, and a culture of peace.

· We have the knowledge and technology to provide for all and to reduce our impacts on the environment.

· Accept that with the right to own, manage, and use natural resources comes the duty to prevent environmental harm and to protect the rights of people.

· Affirm that with increased freedom, knowledge, and power comes increased responsibility to promote the common good.

· Promote the equitable distribution of wealth within nations and among nations

· Ensure that all trade supports sustainable resource use, environmental protection, and progressive labor standards.

· Require multinational corporations and international financial organizations to act transparently in the public good, and hold them accountable for the consequences of their activities.

· Implement comprehensive strategies to prevent violent conflict and use collaborative problem solving to manage and resolve environmental conflicts and other disputes.

· Promote social and economic justice, enabling all to achieve a secure and meaningful livelihood that is ecologically responsible.

· Recognize that the freedom of action of each generation is qualified by the needs of future generations.

· Adopt at all levels sustainable development plans and regulations that make environmental conservation and rehabilitation integral to all development initiatives.

· Establish and safeguard viable nature and biosphere reserves, including wild lands and marine areas, to protect Earth's life support systems, maintain biodiversity, and preserve our natural heritage.

· Our environmental, economic, political, social, and spiritual challenges are interconnected, and together we can forge inclusive solutions.

· To realize these aspirations, we must decide to live with a sense of universal responsibility, identifying ourselves with the whole Earth community as well as our local communities.

· Manage the use of renewable resources such as water, soil, forest products, and marine life in ways that do not exceed rates of regeneration and that protect the health of ecosystems.

· Manage the extraction and use of non-renewable resources such as minerals and fossil fuels in ways that minimize depletion and cause no serious environmental damage.

· Control and eradicate non-native or genetically modified organisms harmful to native species and the environment, and prevent introduction of such harmful organisms.

· Take action to avoid the possibility of serious or irreversible environmental harm even when scientific knowledge is incomplete or inconclusive.

· Place the burden of proof on those who argue that a proposed activity will not cause significant harm, and make the responsible parties liable for environmental harm.

· Ensure that decision making addresses the cumulative, long-term, indirect, long distance, and global consequences of human activities.

· Prevent pollution of any part of the environment and allow no build-up of radioactive, toxic, or other hazardous substances.

· As never before in history, common destiny beckons us to seek a new beginning. Such renewal is the promise of these Earth Charter principles. To fulfill this promise, we must commit ourselves to adopt and promote the values and objectives of the Charter.

MARX MEASURE #8: EQUAL OBLIGATION OF ALL TO WORK. ESTABLISHMENT OF INDUSTRIAL ARMIES, ESPECIALLY FOR AGRICULTURE.

Corresponding Earth Charter Happy-Speak

· Promote social and economic justice, enabling all to achieve a secure and meaningful livelihood that is ecologically responsible.

· Eradicate poverty as an ethical, social, and environmental imperative.

· Guarantee the right to potable water, clean air, food security, uncontaminated soil, shelter, and safe sanitation, allocating the national and international resources required.

· Empower every human being with the education and resources to secure a sustainable livelihood, and provide social security and safety nets for those who are unable to support themselves.

· Recognize the ignored, protect the vulnerable, serve those who suffer, and enable them to develop their capacities and to pursue their aspirations.

· Promote the equitable distribution of wealth within nations and among nations.

· Ensure that all trade supports sustainable resource use, environmental protection, and progressive labor standards.

· Promote the active participation of women in all aspects of economic, political, civil, social, and cultural life as full and equal partners, decision makers, leaders, and beneficiaries.

· Honor and support the young people of our communities, enabling them to fulfill their essential role in creating sustainable societies.

· Provide all, especially children and youth, with educational opportunities that empower them to contribute actively to sustainable development.

· Support local, regional and global civil society, and promote the meaningful participation of all interested individuals and organizations in decision making.

· Strengthen local communities, enabling them to care for their environments, and assign environmental responsibilities to the levels of government where they can be carried out most effectively.

· We must join together to bring forth a sustainable global society founded on respect for nature, universal human rights, economic justice, and a culture of peace.

· The resilience of the community of life and the well-being of humanity depend upon preserving a healthy biosphere with all its ecological systems, a rich variety of plants and animals, fertile soils, pure waters, and clean air.

· The choice is ours: form a global partnership to care for Earth and one another or risk the destruction of ourselves and the diversity of life. Fundamental changes are needed in our values, institutions, and ways of living.

· The emergence of a global civil society is creating new opportunities to build a democratic and humane world. Our environmental, economic, political, social, and spiritual challenges are interconnected, and together we can forge inclusive solutions.

· To realize these aspirations, we must decide to live with a sense of universal responsibility, identifying ourselves with the whole Earth community as well as our local communities. We are at once citizens of different nations and of one world in which the local and global are linked. Everyone shares responsibility for the present and future well-being of the human family and the larger living world. The spirit of human solidarity and kinship with all life is strengthened when we live with reverence for the mystery of being, gratitude for the gift of life, and humility regarding the human place in nature.

· We urgently need a shared vision of basic values to provide an ethical foundation for the emerging world community. Therefore, together in hope we affirm the following interdependent principles for a sustainable way of life as a common standard by which the conduct of all individuals, organizations, businesses, governments, and transnational institutions is to be guided and assessed.

· We must imaginatively develop and apply the vision of a sustainable way of life locally, nationally, regionally, and globally.

· Every individual, family, organization, and community has a vital role to play. The arts, sciences, religions, educational institutions, media, businesses, nongovernmental organizations, and governments are all called to offer creative leadership. The partnership of government, civil society, and business is essential for effective governance.

· In order to build a sustainable global community, the nations of the world must renew their commitment to the United Nations, fulfill their obligations under existing international agreements, and support the implementation of Earth Charter principles with an international legally binding instrument on environment and development.

· We must imaginatively develop and apply the vision of a sustainable way of life locally, nationally, regionally, and globally.

· In order to build a sustainable global community, the nations of the world must renew their commitment to the United Nations, fulfill their obligations under existing international agreements, and support the implementation of Earth Charter principles with an international legally binding instrument on environment and development.

MARX MEASURE #9: COMBINATION OF AGRICULTURE WITH MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES; GRADUAL ABOLITION OF ALL THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN TOWN AND COUNTRY BY A MORE EQUABLE DISTRIBUTION OF THE POPULACE OVER THE COUNTRY.

Corresponding Earth Charter Happy-Speak

· Fundamental changes are needed in our values, institutions, and ways of living.

· Adopt at all levels sustainable development plans and regulations that make environmental conservation and rehabilitation integral to all development initiatives.

· Establish and safeguard viable nature and biosphere reserves, including wild lands and marine areas, to protect Earth's life support systems, maintain biodiversity, and preserve our natural heritage.

· Control and eradicate non-native or genetically modified organisms harmful to native species and the environment, and prevent introduction of such harmful organisms.

· Manage the use of renewable resources such as water, soil, forest products, and marine life in ways that do not exceed rates of regeneration and that protect the health of ecosystems.

· Prevent pollution of any part of the environment and allow no build-up of radioactive, toxic, or other hazardous substances.

· Adopt lifestyles that emphasize the quality of life and material sufficiency in a finite world.

· Promote the equitable distribution of wealth within nations and among nations.

· Protect and restore outstanding places of cultural and spiritual significance.

· Strengthen local communities, enabling them to care for their environments, and assign environmental responsibilities to the levels of government where they can be carried out most effectively.

· To move forward we must recognize that in the midst of a magnificent diversity of cultures and life forms we are one human family and one Earth community with a common destiny. We must join together to bring forth a sustainable global society founded on respect for nature, universal human rights, economic justice, and a culture of peace.

· The dominant patterns of production and consumption are causing environmental devastation, the depletion of resources, and a massive extinction of species. Communities are being undermined. The benefits of development are not shared equitably and the gap between rich and poor is widening. Injustice, poverty, ignorance, and violent conflict are widespread and the cause of great suffering. An unprecedented rise in human population has overburdened ecological and social systems. The foundations of global security are threatened. These trends are perilous—but not inevitable.

· Recognize that peace is the wholeness created by right relationships with oneself, other persons, other cultures, other life, Earth, and the larger whole of which all are a part.

MARX MEASURE #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, ETC.

Corresponding Earth Charter Happy-Speak

· Provide all, especially children and youth, with educational opportunities that empower them to contribute actively to sustainable development.

· Empower every human being with the education and resources to secure a sustainable livelihood, and provide social security and safety nets for those who are unable to support themselves.

· Eliminate discrimination in all its forms, such as that based on race, color, sex, sexual orientation, religion, language, and national, ethnic or social origin.

· The arts, sciences, religions, educational institutions, media, businesses, nongovernmental organizations, and governments are all called to offer creative leadership. The partnership of government, civil society, and business is essential for effective governance.

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In conclusion, we call to your attention one particular Earth Charter “principle” - under Section II. Ecological Integrity – which, for its deliberate lack of specificity, we find especially distressing:

Control and eradicate non-native or genetically modified organisms harmful to native species and the environment, and prevent introduction of such harmful organisms.

Given the tone and rhetoric of so many of this warmed-over manifesto’s chief advocates, is it preposterous to question whether or not this dictum might be applied to human organisms? Were the Europeans, after all, not a “harmful non-native organism” to the native Americans and to the Australian Aborigines? Is human population itself not a “non-native organism” in so many corners of the Earth to which it ventures and seeks to live?

Such questions will, of course, be laughed off as rabid paranoia. That is until such time as no one is laughing at all.

Cheers,

Charlie

Dereliction of duty: The Catholic Health Association

UPDATE: An amendment to protect the conscience of patients and health care providers was defeated on April 2 by a vote of 56-41. At long last the Catholic Health Association opts to get in the game. Too little, too late?

One thing that can be said for President Obama, he certainly is making it difficult for the American Catholic Left to maintain its charade of being actually Catholic.

From the battle of Notre Dame, to the Bishop’s being exposed for directing millions in congregational contributions to ACORN, to the dirty little realization that 54% of Catholics voted for a pro-infanticide presidential candidate because social justice peddlers assured them he was “the real pro-life candidate”, the fact that the Church in America is lousy with Marxists using Christianity as a tool to con the unwitting and unsuspecting into buying their Leftist anti-Christianity is becoming plain for all to see.

The latest case in point.

In early March the Obama Administration announced its intentions to rescind the Department of Health and Human Services Provider Conscience Rule. In short, this rule, enacted in December 2008, was an attempt to bolster and clarify laws created in the wake of the Roe v. Wade decision. Forecasting the coming perfect storm of a Democrat majority congress; a recklessly disinterested electorate; and the most pro-abortion president-elect in American history hell bent on health care reform about to take office; the outgoing Bush administration issued the Provider Conscience Rule as a last ditch effort to preserve something of the sovereignty of faith-based health care in America.

Not surprisingly numerous organizations are expressing outrage over Obama’s call to rescind the rule. The Catholic Medical Association , the Heritage Foundation , even the more-often-Lefty-than-not United States Council of Catholic Bishops are aggressively mobilizing grassroots opposition to the move, encouraging one and all to make their objections known via websites such as The Catholic Medical Association’s Freedom 2 Care.org and Heritage’s A Doctor’s Right.com. They note with great urgency the period for public commentary on this decision ends April 9. We certainly join them in their invitation for your participation.

And yet, thus far, one key player remains curiously absent in this battle: the Catholic Health Association (CHA). CHA is, according to its website, the nation's largest group of not-for-profit health care sponsors, systems, and facilities. But, despite CHA’s previous support for passage of the Conscience Rule, little to nothing about its rescission appears on their website other than a dismissive three paragraph statement assuring member health care facilities that it’s nothing at all to worry about and that CHA will handle all commentary to HHS, thank you, no need for you little people to bother yourselves about all this.

Strange. Why the relative lack of concern? Why the distinctly different tone? Many seem to believe that Catholic health care– a reality in America since 1727 – is entering the fight for it’s very survival; not an unreasonable presumption given the Obama administration’s aggressive action and rhetoric regarding abortion legislation, embryonic stem cell research, charitable giving, and increased federal power in health care governance. Now this. And yet the leading advocacy arm of the Church’s health care ministry in America pooh-poohs the issue with a brief dismissive statement?

One reason, perhaps, is that CHA is simply too busy with far more important advocacy efforts such as Climate Change, Islamic Perspectives on addressing cultural and religious diversity in physician relationships, and, of course, government run health care.

Alas, the sticky wicket! The Conscience Rule rescission decision was announced literally during President Obama’s sham forum on health reform. Yet, Sister Carol Keehan, president and chief executive officer of CHA who attended the event, mentions not a word of the issue in her review of the forum. There is instead only glowing appraisal of Mr. Obama’s commitment to making Clintonian health care reform the law of the land.

It would seem objecting to Mr. Obama’s aggressive pro-abortion agenda at this juncture would prove injurious to the progress CHA has made in advancing its primary advocacy objective: government run health care.

What does government run health care have to do with Catholicism? As much as climate change, social justice and multi-culturalism; which is to say, nothing. In fact, each of these courses necessarily lead to the antithesis of compassion and the protection of the dignity and well-being of each individual created in the image and likeness of God: the stated mission of Catholic health care.

It is the unstated mission of CHA and other Catholic Left organizations, however, which are at last coming to light.

So long as there remained in Washington a Conservative foothold ensuring authentic Judeo-Christian values were at play in the brawl of policy-making, the Catholic Left could safely indulge in its social justice fantasies and Marxist vagaries, knowing it would never be held publicly accountable for reconciling its rhetoric with Church doctrine and the teachings of Christ. But that foothold has broken loose. The fantasies and vagaries are being signed into law. It is time for the Catholic Left to reveal where its true allegiances lie.

And at this crucial moment, in the very battle one would presume it was created to lead, the Catholic Health Association has courageously opted to avoid the issue altogether. Most revealing indeed.


Cheers,

Charlie

Sacrifice, the “Common Good”, and Greater Evils

“My Father! If it be possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not My will, but Thine be done" (Mt. 26: 38-39).

Sacrifice. It is core to the extraordinary teaching of Christ. We are compelled to sacrifice by God’s commandment, love thy neighbor as they self, and the revolutionary insight that it is in giving that we receive.

No where in this transaction is there a role for the State.

The salvific quality of sacrifice – great or small – is in the individual creature surrendering his will to the will of the Creator by free choice. To be compelled to give by force of law is no sacrifice at all.

Herein lies the bitter heresy of the so called Christian Social Justice movement that provides “moral authority” to the rape of human liberty currently being arranged in the halls of government throughout the free world. No thinking free man would willingly sacrifice his hard earned wealth to the corrupt cesspits of waste and ruin that comprise the majority of today’s social justice industrial complex. But force him to fund them through taxation and declare that doing so is necessary in order to ensure justice, eradicate poverty, and save the planet, and what choice does he have?

This is extortion not sacrifice, for the element of choice – Liberty – is wholly absent from it. Entities which identify this process as “sacrifice” reveal the perverted state of their minds and souls. They make virtues of envy and materialism and condemn the exercise of liberty as sin. This they do, they say, in the name of the “common good.” But they are blind to the far greater evil they unloose in supplanting human liberty in the name of “righteousness.”

This is the great sin of our time, for those championing it, know of what they do. It could scarcely be made more plain than in the words of Pope Benedict the XVI in his first Papal Encyclical “Deus Caritas Est” of 2006.

“There is no ordering of the State so just that it can eliminate the need for a service of love. Whoever wants to eliminate love is preparing to eliminate man as such. There will always be suffering which cries out for consolation and help. There will always be loneliness. There will always be situations of material need where help in the form of concrete love of neighbour is indispensable. The State which would provide everything, absorbing everything into itself, would ultimately become a mere bureaucracy incapable of guaranteeing the very thing which the suffering person—every person—needs: namely, loving personal concern.

We do not need a State which regulates and controls everything, but a State which, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity, generously acknowledges and supports initiatives arising from the different social forces and combines spontaneity with closeness to those in need.

The Church is one of those living forces: she is alive with the love enkindled by the Spirit of Christ. This love does not simply offer people material help, but refreshment and care for their souls, something which often is even more necessary than material support.

In the end, the claim that just social structures would make works of charity superfluous masks a materialist conception of man: the mistaken notion that man can live “by bread alone” (Mt 4:4; cf. Dt 8:3)—a conviction that demeans man and ultimately disregards all that is specifically human.”

This Easter we pray that the Logos – the Word made Flesh, the Communion of Faith and Reason - be raised again in the hearts and minds of men, shedding the light of true freedom, and stirring them, as before, to fight all that would threaten their God given gift of Liberty.

Cheers,

Charlie

Bearing False Witness in the Name of The Lord

UPDATE: Brought to you by George Soros

The Convention for the Common Good, an alliance of several major Catholic social justice organizations, has at long last graced the American electorate with its “Platform for the Common Good” to enlighten those who may have been on the verge of voting incorrectly.

“We must set aside our individual wants and partisan views” declares the platform. But of course. One would expect nothing less from a group “inspired by faith and building on our nation’s founding principles.”

The very non-partisan, painstakingly centrist “Platform for the Common Good” was hammered out in Philadelphia this past summer, evidently to improve upon the work of the Framers in 1787. You see Madison, Hamilton, Franklin, Washington et al seem to have been a bit myopic in their efforts.

“Our founders had a powerful vision for this nation. We have struggled for more than 200 years to build on that vision – and to renew and perfect the early ideals by making them real not just for a privileged few, but for all who reside within our boundaries. Furthermore, in today’s world we know we cannot be content with just a limited national focus. We are linked globally and must engage that reality as well.”

Heretofore, says the “Platform for the Common Good”, America has failed to live up to its promise. But fear not, there is HOPE for CHANGE.

“By working for the principles contained in this Platform for the Common Good, we will become the country that we say we are, authentically affirming what our founders wrote with pride.”

This all sounds a bit familiar but we just can’t seem to place it. No matter. The Convention for the Common Good is doing God’s work, addressing multiple American social ills that are “inextricably linked.”

“For example, we could not separate problems in our immigration system from unfair trade polices and discrimination – or the massive funding of war from an underfunding of education, health, and other human programs.”

The distinctly non-partisan, meticulously non-ideological platform is then presented in a sort of quasi-U.S. Constitution format as clearly the conventioneers are vastly familiar with the parameters and ramifications of that particular document.

A few highlights:

· Better regulate corporations and financial institutions
· Enhance workers’ rights to join unions without fear of harassment
· Sign and ratify international conventions that promote economic justice and human rights
· Work to lessen income disparities and to reform tax policies that favor the wealthy and corporate interests
· Ensure immigrants’ (legal? Illegal? Not clarified) rights to fair wages and safe working environments, and the rights to organize and join unions
· Support and promote programs that promote a fair distribution of resources and serve vulnerable populations
· Create community zoning that encourages mixed-use and mixed-income development along with green spaces (Fortunately, ACORN’s got this pretty well all sewn up.)
· Ensure that convenient, safe public transportation is available in all communities
· Reduce the military weapons budget and invest in basic human needs
· Restore the constitutional balance of power between the executive and legislative branches on the responsibility for using military force
· End the U.S. occupation of Iraq, remove U.S. combat troops, and accept responsibility for assisting Iraqi refugees and rebuilding civil society
· Support human life and dignity by approving and funding programs that promote the dignity of all life (e.g. quality housing, child care, healthcare, and nutrition assistance.)
· Create green and public works jobs to reduce unemployment
· End tax loopholes and other incentives that make it easier for businesses to leave the U.S.
· Institute affordable, universal quality healthcare
· Fully fund anti-hunger programs like food stamps and infant nutrition programs
· Increase education funding
· Pay teachers fair and adequate wages
· Increase funding for safe, affordable housing, especially for people who are homeless, and ensure inclusionary housing (again ACORN has this all handled)
· Pass legislation to conserve resources and address global warming

And one of particular interest…

· Promote policies that prevent and reduce abortions by supporting women and families.
(Note here the use of the verb “reduce.” The verb “abolish” is not here employed as it is in reference to the death penalty. We are merely to “reduce” abortion. Recall that this is a political statement by official adjuncts of the Catholic Church. Hmmm. Again, this language seems so familiar? Images of Greek columns and throngs of devoted come to mind but … we simply cannot place it.)

Now there are those cynically minded individuals among us who might claim that this “Platform for the Common Good” is as non-partisan as Dr. Howard Dean’s speed-dial menu. Some might even claim that the majority of it was cut-and-pasted directly from the DNC 2008 platform entitled, “Renewing America’s Promise” and declaring that “A great nation now demands that its leaders abandon the politics of partisan division and find creative solutions to promote the common good.” Still others might claim that the Platform’s authors seek to exploit the politically unsophisticated (i.e. most of the electorate) through strategic employment of terms such as “justice”, “dignity”, “rights”, “fair”, and “equal” to convince them that it is their Christian duty to grant the Federal government still more taxing authority by which to confiscate and redistribute as they see fit the incomes of hard working Americans.

We, of course, would never stoop to such cynicism. After all, the Convention for the Common Good is comprised of high-profile Catholic religious organizations such as Pax Christi USA, Franciscan Action Network, NETWORK a National Social Justice Lobby and many others. A perusal of any one of their websites will quickly reveal these organizations’ Herculean efforts to embrace and weigh the full-spectrum of political perspective regarding the key issues of our time.

Nonetheless, we do feel the conventioneers may have overlooked an item or two in their efforts to improve upon the work of the Framers. Thus it is in that spirit of immaculate non-partisanship, transcendent of all ideological bias, established by the Convention for the Common Good, we present our own fantastically non-partisan, unbiased, and unspeakably fair-minded recommended additions to their platform.

· Peace through strength. Increase and maintain defense spending at about four percent of gross domestic product to replace aging weapons and platforms. There is evil in the world and it must be checked. As selfish people often employ violence to gratify their desires, we must be prepared to stop them in order to protect the innocent; locally, nationally, and internationally

· Create jobs and reduce poverty by making the Bush tax cuts permanent, thereby enabling those paying the majority of taxes (i.e. “the rich”) to invest and spend their money on products, services, and opportunities they feel will provide the greatest return on investment.

· Further reduce poverty by reducing taxes that affect those of lower income most acutely: property taxes, sales taxes, gas taxes

· Limit Federal government authority (and thus spending) according to the parameters originally prescribed by the Constitution, thereby minimizing the need for excessive taxation

· Reduce the cost of living – felt most keenly by those of lower income - by repealing the ethanol mandate, relaxing superfluous environmental regulations on energy producing companies, and allowing domestic energy production to reinvigorate its capacity

· Eliminate all welfare programs – for both individuals and corporations – as they succeed only in breeding dependence, corruption, and the immoral transference of private property

· Abolish abortion except in cases of rape or incest.

· Expose and federally prosecute those organizations and individuals found guilty of enriching themselves by exploiting the poor, often masking their activities behind terms such as “justice”, “dignity”, “rights”, “fair”, and “equal.”

Lastly, in keeping with the conventioneer’s clever Constitution motif, we would close with a quote from the father of said Constitution, Mr. James Madison.

“The government of the United States is a definite government, confined to specific objects. It is not like the state governments, whose powers are more general. Charity is no part of the legislative duty of the government.” - James Madison, before the House of Representatives, 1794

Now then, with these additions, we believe the “Platform for the Common Good” provides voters a truly non-partisan Catholic perspective on the key issues.

We expect to see them incorporated soon after hell freezes over.

Among the more brilliant operations carried out by the radical Left in the 20th century was their infiltration of American religious institutions. In the Catholic Church, this was done through the machinations of what is called “Liberation Theology.” Doing so has provided Marxists a direct conduit to the hearts and minds of America’s best, through which to demoralize and undermine their faith in the founding principles of their nation on a weekly basis.

Thus, today when presented with unabashed Leftism as in the “Platform for the Common Good” and told it is in fact “Catholic Social Teaching,” legions of faithful bat not an eye and march obediently to the polls to “vote their conscience,” convinced at long last that, in fact, Jesus Is a Liberal.

In their 1848 smash hit “Manifesto of the Communist Party”, Marx and Engels scoffed, “Nothing is easier than to give Christian asceticism a socialist tinge.” The genius of the modern Left was their realization that the opposite is also true: nothing is easier than to give socialist asceticism a Christian tinge.

And lo, one by one, foundational institutions such as the Catholic Church which once demanded and inspired the best in man, now seek only to enable the worst in him.

Cheers,

Charlie

The British Guide to National Ruin

Many are the instances where adult children pointedly eschew the profligate ways of their of their drunken and wayward parents. In his fascinating analysis, “The Decline of Britain: A Cautionary Tale for America,” Dr. Robin Harris, former policy advisor to Prime Minister to Margaret Thatcher and Director of the Conservative Party Research Department, urges America to do just that: observe and reject the socialism which has rendered old Mother England an economic, political, and social basket case.

“Consanguinity,” (common ancestry for those who are NOT George Will) “works both ways,” advises Dr. Harris. “What works in one of our countries has been shown to work in the other. But what fails in one country also fails in the other, and in crucial respects Britain is now failing. The country’s palpable decline from its prosperity and security of just two decades ago constitutes an awful but, if intelligently observed, timely and useful warning to America.”

Harris traces the “remarkable, but also indisputable” parallels of American and British economic and political cycles over the past forty years: regulation and taxation under Nixon and Heath; near bankruptcy under Carter and Callaghan; rebirth and prosperity with Reagan and Thatcher; the watered-down Conservatism of Bush and Major; the triangulation of Clinton and Blair, the War on Terror vigor of Bush and Blair; and now the lunge toward Marxism under Obama and Brown.

What has catapulted Britain into the lead in terms of economic disaster is her legacy of socialism, the roots of which Dr. Harris traces to World War Two.

“The Second World War was arguably the decisive event in the history of British collectivism. It increased public expenditure, taxation, and controls to previously unimaginable levels. The Left argued that total planning, which allegedly had won the war, could also secure universal prosperity. Churchill’s coalition wartime government, bowing to the prevailing ethos, laid foundations for the massive economic and social interventions that were later implemented by the postwar Labour government.”

Presaging Mr. Rahm Emanuel, Clement Attlee and crew let not the very good crisis of the war go to waste. They promised their shell-shocked and war-weary nation heaven on Earth and, having won a landslide victory as a result, implemented a welfare state agenda that nationalized the majority of the economy and made the citizenry dependent on government forever more. Bemused, alienated, and himself more than exhausted, Sir Winston could only watch from the back benches as his beloved Britain succumbed to the siren song of socialism. Later he, and even Lady Thatcher, could steer Britain toward free-market prosperity and credible self-defense, only within the confines of a thoroughly entrenched welfare state.

“Even the Thatcher years—again, despite Mrs. Thatcher’s own objections to the consensus—hardly shook the assumptions established at this time (1945) about what government was about.”

And herein lies the core of Harris’s warning to America: DO NOT let socialism into your home. It is a guest that will never leave!

“Britain’s experience offers a serious long-term warning because it shows how difficult it is for another Anglo–Saxon country to escape the legacy of socialism once that ideology becomes entrenched in attitudes and institutions.”

Harris observes that the Tea party movement is a distinctly and delightfully American phenomenon, which indicates the unlikelihood of socialism becoming entrenched in American attitudes. This is happy reaffirmation for those of us who nearly despaired one year ago that the Americans too had become inextricably infatuated by the wiles of the Nanny State. Where America is most vulnerable, however, is in her lack of focus and vigilance in ensuring that collectivist policies do not overwhelm her institutions.

“For the British, the danger is that they revert to collectivism by historically conditioned reflex,” writes Harris. “For Americans, the risk is different but real: It is, as Tocqueville warned, that they may gently and unwittingly slip into it.”

Alas, many of the Americans now crying out against the direction their nation is heading were the very same who voted-in the current occupants of the Executive and Legislative branches of their government. What were they thinking? They were not thinking. This is a dangerous game, for socialism has, in fact, made significant inroads into American institutions. Colleges and Universities, churches and synagogues, the news media, the entertainment industry, philanthropic foundations, even corporations are infested with collectivist thought, expressed through sham programs and initiatives bearing the banners of “diversity”, “sustainability”, and “social justice.”

Only now is the average American awakening to the malevolence these seemingly innocuous niceties possess. We must hasten this awakening. As more and more institutions surrender to collectivist pressure, the nearer to impossible it becomes to effectively oppose the trend, socially as well as politically.

“Conservative timidity is also understandable in straightforward electoral terms because of the sheer size of the public sector and the number of individual voters who are dependent in one way or another on public spending,” explains Harris. In other words, eventually the national motto becomes, if you can’t beat them, join them. Witness Britain’s “Conservative” Party.

The excesses of British government ignited the American Revolution, galvanizing the principles of limited government, no taxation without representation, and the rule of law in the hearts and minds of the American people. We join Dr. Harris and many others who continue to see the United States as the last best hope of mankind in hopes that, by her tragic example, Britain may do so once again.

Cheers,

Charlie