There was no "basic misunderstanding" of economic systems on my part.
During the Communist Revolution in Russia, even Lenin knew the word "communism" had negative connotations, so he described them as "social democrats" in order to deceive the world.
What needs to be set straight is the author's continued use of the words "democratic government" when describing communism.
The only democratic element of the Communist Politburo was the unanimous support for every one of Lenin and Stalin's plans to murder or starve their own people. Not one Politburo member was allowed a vote contrary.
America has never had to "balance" freedom and capitalism: capitalism is freedom itself, having existed long before governments. Socialism/communism, however, cannot exist without authoritarian government.
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Governments do not become authoritarian when an elite political or economic group decides to use governmental functions to further their own economic ends. They become authoritarian once their failed policies of centralized planning can no longer be hidden from exposure to truth and reality.
We are in the midst of one of those times now.
The writer would have us believe that history can be erased as easily as it is in some public education textbook.
Sorry, it cannot, as long as anyone refuses to allow the embers of truth to die out.
We are in the midst of one of those times now, too.
Tony Bauer
Nisswa, MN
