America II: The Rise of Stalin

Welcome to the USSA

America once was a thing,
Whose people sang “let freedom ring”,
For the lure of safety and freebies,
They cast off their liberties,
And soon were back under a king.

Some say that those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Others say that history doesn’t repeat, but it often rhymes. Whatever you believe regarding history, there are definitely similarities to be seen in the evolution of government over the years. I’d like to take you on a little trip down memory lane, or for many, into the memory hole in which they’ve lost their recollection of the past. I’m not talking about reciting a historical haiku or a sonnet of yesteryear written in iambic pentameter; no, this is more of a lamentable limerick.

We’ll start with a bit of Russian history, a history with which most should be, but many may not be familiar. For almost 400 years, from 1547 to 1917, Russia was a state ruled by autocrats called Czars (or Tsars - prior it was ruled by emperors, princes, and grand princes). It was, for all intents and purposes, a monarchy. In the early 1900s, the subjects grew increasingly discontented. Three political parties arose during this time: the Socialist Revolutionary Party, and the Social Democrats (or Russian Social Democratic Worker’s Party) which split into the Mensheviks and the Bolsheviks. While the ideologies and methodologies embraced by each of the groups differed, they all believed government needed to change and sought revolution. After a failed attempt at revolution led by Vladimir Lenin, the Bolshevik’s in October 1917 managed a coup d’état approved by Lenin and carried out by a small group of revolutionaries led by Leon Trotsky, overthrowing the provisional government.

Unfortunately, Democracy was only a fleeting thought. Though Lenin had posited that his revolution could result in a democratic republic that aligned with a Socialist agenda of focusing on the interests of the working class, he and the Bolsheviks believed Russia to be ready for socialism. Once the revolutionaries had seized control, power was soon after concentrated in the hands of “the Party,” which took on a sovereign role. Thus, the idea of Russia becoming a Democratic republic was quickly swept away on the winds of change and the Russians found themselves under yet another totalitarian regime.

“The Party” did not, however, immediately exert rule overtly. Instead, they exercised power indirectly through state institutions. Bolsheviks held positions that resulted in all decisions having to come through the Party. Believe it or not, they even permitted the Constituent Assembly, Russia’s first democratically elected legislature to meet - for one day. Then it was dissolved. After this happened, opposing political groups were outlawed, private property was socialized, non-sanctioned newspapers were shuttered, those remaining were heavily censored, and all opposition was suppressed. Most industry was nationalized. The economy was “centralized,” coming under complete control of the Party. Money became completely devalued. According to Britannica:

One of the most severe problems confronting the new regime was providing bread and other foodstuffs to the cities and the newly formed Red Army, because the peasants were unwilling to sell their produce for rapidly depreciating money (“coloured paper”) for which there was nothing to buy. Lenin resolved the problem by exceedingly brutal and ultimately counterproductive methods. He ordered peasants to surrender all “surplus” grain to state organs at prices that bore no relationship to its actual worth. To overcome peasant resistance, armed requisition detachments assisted by regular army units were sent to the villages to extract food. Peasants who resisted these expropriations were labeled “kulaks” (kulak is the Russian word for “fist”).

Religion was outlawed. It could not be allowed to vie against the State for the worship of its “citizens.” Many died during this period, as domestic opponents took their stand against the regime. Schools were nationalized and teachers ability to impose discipline removed. Admission to institutes of upper education no longer required merit - they were open to all. Ideological indoctrination ensued. As Lenin’s health began to fail, he relied more and more on Joseph Stalin who eventually succeeded Lenin, and who was arguably even more brutal than Lenin. Both held show trials in which their political opponents were quickly found guilty and eliminated. Between the two, power became fully concentrated in Moscow. The government grew larger as it took over the roles previously filled by private enterprise. The economy was centralized. Opposition was then completely stifled, and political dissidents were banished or disappeared. Collectivization was the order of the day, and Stalin set goals for completion by 1931. As this happened, Stalin developed a policy to liquidate the kulaks as a class. Stalin’s policies ushered in, in 1929, the Holodomor, the great famine that resulted in millions of deaths. Between Lenin and Stalin, tens of millions of Russians met their end.

This is a very brief and summary version of Russia’s history up through the early 1930s (there is much, much more information, but it is too lengthy to fit and not necessary to the conversation at hand). Now let’s look at a little American history. 

America (as we know it) began as thirteen British colonies. Though separated by an ocean, they were still under the rule of the British monarchy. Like the Russians, they grew increasingly discontented with their situation. Finally, when they decided they had had enough, the colonists revolted and freed themselves from the autocracy. Once they had won independence, they established a republic in which the people and the States would enjoy a representative government (one which many call “a democracy” - though it is far superior to democracy). For a long time, the people enjoyed liberty and prosperity under their Constitutional republic, but things began changing as little by little, representatives influenced by the likes of Marx were elected. In the 1950s, a man named McCarthy began sounding the alarm, but to little avail. This isn’t just antediluvian assonance.

As the situation continued to deteriorate, new generations of malcontents grew up and found their way into government. Now, like Lenin and the Bolsheviks, they are working hard to stage a coup. They seek to surreptitiously institute socialism. Under the guise of equity, they coerce businesses to do their bidding of implementing socialist policies. Under the banner of “the greater good,” they trample Constitutionally protected rights, using public corporations to censor the populace and propagate official narratives. They work toward eliminating private property. Starting to see the rhyme? Through regulation, they penalize non-favored industries, and they unconstitutionally provide stipends for pet projects. Power is becoming increasingly centralized; they need this to exert control - control of the economy, control of firearms ownership, control of free speech on social media and in public, control over thoughts themselves. Only the approved narrative will be permitted. Step out of line, oppose the Party, and you shall be attacked, litigated, jailed. The gulags are already being implemented, and many languishing in them who did little more than take selfies in a public building. We are being told that we have to eliminate the use of food source on which most (aside from vegans) rely, echoing the chorus of Russia’s Holodomor. This is intentional anachronous alliteration.

Hold on to the values on which the country was founded, or traditional religious values, and you may find yourself on a terrorist watch list. Proclaim those values, and you may receive a middle-of-the-night visit from the not-so-secret police, the FBI who has now taken on the role of both instigator and inquisitor. Show trials are held for political opponents to make an example of them - “don’t cross the Party.” To quote a song, “they say the next big thing is here, that the revolution's near, but to me it seems quite clear, that it's all just a little bit of history repeating,” though I would say rhyming rather than repeating. Eventually, if we remain on this path, the rest will rhyme. Expect further trials, imprisonments, disappearances, and outright death to those who will not comply. Yet another refrain from the earlier story. Are you hearing the historical harmonization? This is what happens under every totalitarian regime.

Most Americans believed that if communism could ever overtake the country, it would be like the movie Red Dawn (the original, 1984) with enemy paratroopers silently falling from the sky undetected until it was too late. Instead, they have been working quietly from within until the time was ripe for them to begin seizing the reins of power, not merely unhindered by those charged with defending the country, but by those so charged themselves. These have been aided by others who have “sworn” to uphold the Constitution, and by those who vote for them. Do we have any Wolverines among us (again, see Red Dawn), willing to risk their lives fighting for liberty as our founding fathers did, or will we make the choice to be kulaks? I, for one, will not be a kulak.

Don't let them complete the limerick, because unlike most, this one won't have a funny ending.

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Bonus limerick:

America, look near and far,
Is where the most-free people are,
For safety from plights
They gave up their rights, 
And ended up under a Tsar.