Thank you Myrna Knigge for your comments last week, I always enjoy reading what the other side thinks. It's unfortunate nobody else stepped up with the courage to pen the opposing viewpoint I trolled for the week before.
I’m afraid it’s obvious that despite spending high school English classes learning compassion instead of writing, I am good at neither. My only hope is that China and third world countries stop achieving brilliant success in education despite shoestring budgets. If we are lucky they will forget that knowledge matters and focus on compassion. That way they will be nice to us as we slave for their companies within a decade.
I’m flattered Myrna that you took me seriously, as I didn’t figure anyone did. It was nice of you to mention my knowledge of fascism and communism. However, I dug out my report cards and it turns out I received a D in every civics class I ever took.
Due to my low IQ and apparently non-existent EQ (Emotional Quotient), I gave up on making the test I promised. Instead I’ll simply cut and paste some quotes which say it all.
Here are some quotes from famous socialists/communists:
“From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs.” - Karl Marx (Inventor of communism)
“The production of too many useful things results in too many useless people.”
Karl Marx
The theory of the Communists may be summed up in the single sentence: Abolition of private property.
Karl Marx
The way to crush the (Rich) is to grind them between the millstones of taxation and inflation.
Vladimir Ilyich Lenin 1st dictator of USSR
The death of one man is a tragedy. The death of millions is a statistic.
Joseph Stalin 2nd dictator of USSR
“There is only one way to kill capitalism – by taxes, taxes, and more taxes.” – Karl Marx
”We are going to tax and tax, and spend and spend” –Franklin Delano Roosevelt
”We can't be so fixated on our desire to preserve the rights of ordinary Americans ...” – Bill Clinton (USA TODAY, 11 March 1993, page 2A)
“We must stop thinking of the individual and start thinking about what is best for society." (Hillary Clinton, 1993)
“We're going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good." -- Hillary Clinton, 2005.
Generally the folks above believed the average person not capable of taking care of themselves, and that the role of government is to redistribute wealth away from the rich.
Here are quotes from famous fascists:
"The truth is that men are tired of liberty."
Benito Mussolini
"We have buried the putrid corpse of liberty." ~ Benito Mussolini (1883-1945)
"It is thus necessary that the individual should come to realize that his own ego is of no importance in comparison with the existence of his nation; .... we understand only the individual's capacity to make sacrifices for the community, for his fellow man." (Adolph Hitler, 1933)
The fascists above agree with communists in that the nation should win in its struggle against the individual, but they disagree with communists on matters of ownership. Fascists allow private ownership, but believe any production and profits from that ownership belong to the government.
Below are famous liberty quotes:
“Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! …. give me liberty or give me death!” - Patrick Henry
"The course of history shows that as a government grows, liberty decreases." – Thomas Jefferson
"I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them." – Thomas Jefferson
“The policy of the American government is to leave their citizens free, neither restraining nor aiding them in their pursuits.” – Thomas Jefferson
“The smallest minority on earth is the individual. Those who deny individual rights, cannot claim to be defenders of minorities.”
Ayn Rand
"If we restrict liberty to attain security we will lose them both." Benjamin Franklin
“Liberty is not collective, it is personal. All liberty is individual liberty.” CALVIN COOLIDGE (1873-1933), U. S. President, Speech, 1924.
The folks above believe the individual should win its eternal battle against the state.
I possess excellent stories of widespread Barley Yellow Dwarf Virus and Stripe Rust in SD wheat fields. I even personally discovered a brand new strain of BYD in wheat. (Yay!!)
The Problem with writing about this is simple. I drive 100,000 miles a year looking at crops and am widely considered the foremost knowledgeable person on western row crop production. I write my stories on Saturday to unwind. The last thing I want to think about is crops, let alone write about them.
In the past I used to find other ways to unwind, and trust me, a tornado did less damage. We can argue all day long about what is best for society, but there’s no question that me plunking away in front of a computer is the least destructive thing I’ve ever done. Be glad I write these stories. Be very glad.