The Marxist model

I have received the following comments from an American  reader.  I think they nail Leftism well

Marx himself did not believe in Marxism. He laughed at people who believed in it.

If we want to understand how the great totalitarian machine is able to morph and shift and change with the times, we must go to its soul. At bottom Marxism is a strategy behind which stands a pathological desire for absolute power and global destruction.

The outward phenomenon of Marxism is merely the intellectual camouflage of the politically self-actualized psychopath. Here is the outward expression of his rationalization for murder, for seizing power.

This outward expression has changed time and time again, but its spiritual essence is always the same.

And we always seem to miss the point of it. We always seem to address the inner thoughts and intentions of people who are assumed to believe or not believe in a set of “principles.”

But this is an error. We do not understand these people at all! The communist does not take ideas seriously. He is serious only about power and strategy.

A mask is not an idea. A strategy is not a principle. These are tools, weapons, methods.

Marx did not believe in his tools. He used them, and his followers used them, until the tools of the hour no longer served their purpose.

Then the old tools, the old weapons, were discarded for a new set of weapons – “new lies for old.”

Those who talk about belief or disbelief are only talking about the superficial shell of the thing, which can be replaced with a new shell – a new outward appearance.

If Marx did not believe in Marxism, then the true Marxist should not believe in it either. It is a sorry swindler who believes in his own swindle.

Behind the shell of the communist's outward pretenses we find the same core phenomenon: the malevolent soul of the destroyer, the envious lusting for power and revenge, the hatred of the good for being the good.

And in this soul’s self-affirmation we find, curiously, a reformulation of the same old totalitarian themes; the same old bag of tricks for debasing and leveling humanity.

All that being said, the outward shell of the supposedly debunked Marxism is by no means out of the game. Out-and-out communism could return to power at any time.

The various outer shells – the rationales and swindles – may change and shift as circumstances require; yet the driving force from within remains ever constant, ever alert to new opportunities. Marxism is strategy, not belief.

That is why Mao Zedong said, “Marxism is better than a machine gun.”

One does not believe in a machine gun. One uses it, merely, to neutralize an enemy.

One must keep in mind the usefulness, in this regard, of ideological mortars and howitzers and atomic bombs – the whole arsenal of political correctness.

Via email

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Trump endorses GOP bill to slash legal immigration by more than half

"They're not going to come in and immediately go and collect welfare"

At the White House on Wednesday President Donald Trump unveiled a major overhaul of the U.S. immigration system. Trump endorsed GOP legislation that aims to slash legal immigration levels by more than half and introduce a “merit-based” system that prioritizes high-skilled immigrants for entry.

Standing next to Sens. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., and David Perdue, R-Ga., the president said the RAISE Act (Reforming American Immigration for Strong Employment Act) would be the “biggest change in 50 years” to the U.S immigration system.

“The RAISE Act will reduce poverty, increase wages and save taxpayers billions and billions of dollars,” Trump said. The current immigration system, according to Trump, “has not been fair to our people, to our citizens, to our workers.”

“This legislation demonstrates our passion for struggling American families,” he added.

The two Republican senators “have been working closely” with White House adviser Stephen Miller, who is “known for his hawkish stance on immigration,” according to Politico. Miller is also one of the key architects of the president’s travel ban of citizens from six Muslim-majority countries.

The merit-based system the legislation proposes would “increase the number of green cards — which allow for permanent residency in the U.S. — that are granted on the basis of merit to foreigners in a series of categories including outstanding professors and researchers, those holding advanced degrees, and those with extraordinary ability in a particular field,” according to Politico.

While many economists and business leaders have supported a merit-based approach to immigration, similar to the processes in Canada and Australia, the plan to “slash the number of green cards from 1 million a year to 500,000 over the next decade” poses a major risk to the economy, economists said. The Post elaborated:

The RAISE Act will face plenty of opposition from congressional Democrats, and even some Republicans, as well as immigrants rights groups and business leaders. “[T]he bill’s prospects are dim in the Senate, where Republicans hold a narrow majority and would have difficulty getting 60 votes to prevent a filibuster,” the Post reported.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., has already expressed concern over the bill’s drastic cuts to immigration, arguing the cuts would be “devastating” to his state’s economy. “I’ve always supported merit-based immigration. I think we should always want to attract the best and brightest to the United States,” Graham tweeted. “Unfortunately other part of proposal reduces legal immigration by half including many immigrants who work legally in Ag, tourism, & service.”

Todd Schulte, the president of Mark Zuckerberg’s immigration reform advocacy group FWD.us, has said that the immigration slashes “would severely harm the economy and actually depress wages for Americans,” which is the exact opposite of the rhetoric touted by the Trump administration about economic growth.

“President Trump has always been correct when he repeatedly said he does NOT want to cut legal immigration. Not only do immigrants help grow the economy overall, but immigrants drive up wages for the overwhelming majority of Americans, and significantly so in areas and industries with more immigrants, where wage growth has outpaced the country overall,” Schulte said, according to a press release.

SOURCE

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Republicans as Democrats lite

Veronique de Rugy
   
Despite a mountain of historical evidence that the Republican Party doesn’t seriously stand for smaller government and individual liberty, I maintained some hope that this time would be different. With the GOP’s retaking control of Congress and the White House, I actually thought Obamacare could be repealed and maybe even replaced with free market health care reforms. But though the night is still young in terms of the GOP’s latest return to power, Republicans have quickly demonstrated that I should have trusted my usual pessimism, because it’s clear that they’re not guided by any principled support for limited government.

Though a few congressional Republicans sincerely believe in markets and freedom, the party is largely dominated by pretenders and outright statists. One need only look back to when Republicans last controlled Washington. Republicans and the George W. Bush administration massively increased spending and the federal debt.

Military spending skyrocketed to pay for dubious wars. Corporate welfare, including farm subsidies, thrived. The federal government became more involved in what should be local matters, such as education. And civil liberties were trampled on under the guise of “homeland security.” The GOP not only failed to tackle unsustainable growth in federal entitlement programs but also expanded them by creating Medicare Part D.

An amazing thing happened, though, when Barack Obama was elected and the Democrats regained control of Congress. Republicans suddenly remembered the horrors of federal overspending, mounting debt and the endless intrusion by the federal government into every aspect of our lives. Republicans lambasted the notion that Keynesian-style big-government spending would boost the economy. They decried Obamacare and the Democrats’ love for “socialized medicine.” They bemoaned continuous growth in federal debt and conveniently laid the problem at Obama’s feet.

Then another amazing thing happened: Donald Trump was elected, and the GOP was once again in charge. Almost immediately, Republicans began touting increased military and infrastructure spending to create jobs and spur the economy — the very Keynesian-inspired policies they attacked when advocated by Democrats. Even the small number of federal program terminations proposed by the Trump administration were too much for congressional Republicans. Nope — when it comes to the federal budget and yet another looming brush-up against the federal debt ceiling, Republicans reveal that they’re content to maintain an untenable status quo, despite all the lip service paid to the dangers of big government over the years.

Yes, as part of the failed attempt to repeal and replace Obamacare, the GOP did include Medicaid reforms intended to slow the spending growth for the federal/state entitlement program that provides health care for those with lower incomes. There are many problems with the program, which is in dire need of reform. But the same can be said about Medicare and Social Security, which congressional Republicans — and Trump, for that matter — have made clear they won’t touch. (Remember then-vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan’s emotional attack on President Obama for allegedly cutting Medicare during the 2012 campaign?)

What about the GOP’s supposedly bread-and-butter issue of tax reform? Regardless of how big or small the positive economic feedback to any tax cuts would be, the bottom line is that serious, permanent spending cuts must be part of the equation. But as we have repeatedly seen, Republicans are so unwilling to shrink the size of government that they already waved the white flag and are actively advocating a new source of revenue to “pay for” tax reform. Indeed, I fear that the recent fight over the inclusion of a border adjustment tax to generate revenues is only the beginning. At the rate we’re going, it may not be long until the GOP gets on board with a value-added tax or carbon tax!

For all of the GOP’s deriding of Democrats over the years for being “tax-and-spenders,” the sad reality is Republicans are on their way to earning the same label. We might only be six months into the return of Republican rule, but it’s already looking as if this second go-round of Republican control in Washington this century could end up being as disastrous — if not more — than the first one. But as the saying goes, fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me. I don’t intend to be fooled twice, and I hope I’m not alone.

SOURCE

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