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Checklist: America meets 90% of Karl Marx's demands

Kirk Elliott

I recently re-read "The Communist Manifesto" written by Karl Marx in 1848.

What I read was a bit shocking. Marx had "10 planks" that this evil manifesto was based upon and he advocated the use of any means to accomplish these socialist goals including violent revolutions. The planks are listed bellow, followed by my comment on how it applies to America today:

10 planks of communism by Karl Marx

1. Abolition of private property in land and application of all rents of land to public purpose.

Dr. Elliott's Comment: This is where eminent domain comes into the picture, and even property taxes. Once you own your property outright by paying off your mortgage, you still don't technically own it because the government could jack up property taxes so high that it makes it unaffordable to remain.

2. A heavy progressive or graduated income tax.

Dr. Elliott's Comment: Marginal tax rates increasing as income goes up IS a graduated income tax. This is in opposition to a more fair tax like a national sales tax or flat tax where a person is not taxed at a higher rate the more income they earn.

3. Abolition of all rights of inheritance.

Dr. Elliott's Comment: In the U.S. these can be seen as estate taxes (i.e. the death tax).

4. Confiscation of the property of all emigrants and rebels.

Dr. Elliott's Comment: This is nothing more than government seizures, IRS property confiscation and the 1997 Crime/Terrorist bill which calls for the imprisonment of terrorists (not such a bad thing), but also for those who speak out against the government. Your LIFE is the most valuable property you have, but the government has the right to take it away because of things that you may say. Consider Senate Bill 3081, the "Enemy Belligerent, Interrogation, Detention, and Prosecution Act of 2010," co-sponsored by Sens. John McCain and Joe Lieberman. The following is actual text from the bill that explains what a belligerent may be and the reasons they can be detained without due process: "(A) The potential threat the individual poses for an attack on civilians or civilian facilities within the United States or upon United States citizens or United States civilian facilities abroad at the time of capture or when coming under the custody or control of the United States… (B) The potential threat the individual poses to United States military personnel or United States military facilities at the time of capture or when coming under the custody or control of the United States…. (C) The potential intelligence value of the individual… (D) Membership in al-Qaida or in a terrorist group affiliated with al-Qaida… (E) Such other matters as the president considers appropriate. . ." [THIS IS WHERE THERE IS A MAJOR, MAJOR PROBLEM] This is very subjective and could include a multitude of things – even just disagreements on policy!

5. Centralization of credit in the hands of the state, by means of a national bank with state capital and an exclusive monopoly.

Dr. Elliott's Comment: This is an easy one. The Federal Reserve Act of 1913 created the Federal Reserve, and now the government owns many of the country’s largest banks via bailout money. Government control of private industry is just a polite way of saying FASCISM!!!!

6. Centralization of the means of communication and transportation in the hands of the state.

Dr. Elliott's Comment: The FAA, FCC, and the ICC (Interstate Commerce Commission) are all government entities that propose to regulate how we travel and what is said. There is nothing particularly disturbing about this now, but what about in the future? Could the government shut down communication or transportation for various people groups? Yes, they could pretty much do whatever they want. There is no competition here. There is no free market private entity as a choice. I thought the government made monopolies illegal? Oh, that's right they did, except for where they have a monopoly.

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.

Dr. Elliott's Comment: Recent events have made this one very disturbing. On June 9, 2011 President Obama signed into law Executive Order 13575 in which the intent is to seize greater power over "food, fiber, and energy." A great article explaining this was written by Raven Clabough and posted on the New American website.

8. Equal obligation of all to work and the establishment of industrial armies, especially for agriculture.

Dr. Elliott's Comment: Because of high inflation and higher taxes our society has been thrust into a dual income family at the minimum. In many instances both husband and wife have multiple jobs.

9. Combination of agriculture with manufacturing industries; gradual abolition of the distinction between town and country by a more equable distribution of the population over the country.

Dr. Elliott's Comment: I am not qualified to answer this question, as I don't really know of any combination of the two industries. In fact it seems what we have in this country is opposite as there seems to be a corralling of people into the urban areas. However, Executive Order 13575 mentioned in Plank 7 may be related to this.

10. Free education for all children in government schools and abolition of children's factory labor in its present form – combination of education with industrial production, etc.

Dr. Elliott's Comment: The public school system and the department of education indoctrinate our kids into the agenda that the federal government wants for our children. Both the national department of education and the state level departments of education adhere to an outcome based education model where excellence in not rewarded and lackluster performance is not dealt with in the proper manner so kids don't get their feelings hurt. The whole standard of "equalization" is drilled into our kids' heads through the public school system so by the time they graduate they are "socialized."

Analyzing where America is now

In the United States we fulfill Marx's 10 planks of a complete communist state on 1-8, and 10, kind of on 7 and maybe on 9. So, according to Marx's vision of communism we are about 90 percent there. Good grief! It's time to wake up and take action now before it is too late and the freedoms that we have come to expect in our beloved country are stripped away from us.

A Call to Action

The church needs to wake up and become active. We really need to become like a modern day Dietrich Bonhoffer, who spoke the truth in the midst of relentless opposition and persecution in Nazi controlled Germany. Gandhi once said that, "If all Christians acted like Christ the whole world would be Christians." GULP! What a slap in the face to us Christians. We need to love our enemies. We need to pray for those in authority. We are so willing to receive grace, but so unwilling to give it. If we as Christians would act like it, pray without ceasing, love until it hurts, and NEVER stop fighting for truth, we will be victorious.

But, we need to transform ourselves from the inside out. Transformed people transform families. Transformed families transform cities. Transformed cities can transform a culture, and with a transformed culture, a nation can be saved! God's Word in 2 Chronicles 7:14 should be our battle cry: "If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land."

What else can we do? Get involved and make our collective voice heard.

We do have the power to vote out the irresponsible government officials who are marching us down the road to serfdom. Inflation, high taxes, unemployment, a collapsing dollar, and soon to be rising interest rates will eventually destroy our investment portfolios unless there is a re-allocation into asset classes that do well during times of economic, political, geopolitical, and social turbulence.

The best asset class for this economy and for the foreseeable future is precious metals. Gold and silver have been averaging over 30 percent growth PER YEAR since 2002, and I expect this growth to persist for the next 5-8 years as the U.S. and global economies stagnate. Take advantage of this bull market. In a world full of bad news it is nice to know that not all is lost. There are still great investments.

We need to act now so everything we've worked our entire life to accumulate doesn't erode because of stupid public policy that we can't control in the short term. But, first and foremost, WE NEED TO GET ON OUR KNEES AND PRAY LIKE OUR LIVES DEPEND ON IT – BECAUSE IT DOES! Not just for us, but for the sake of future generations. The government is marching us down the road to serfdom, but that doesn't mean we have to join the parade. Time is short – be wise, be bold, be courageous, wake up and ACT!

Kirk Elliott, Ph.D., is an investment adviser with the McAlvany Financial Group in Durango, Colo. In addition to his weblog: www.kirkelliottphd.com, Dr. Elliott speaks frequently at conferences, radio and TV. Dr. Elliott and his wife are founders of Philanthropia, a 501(c)3 charitable foundation, and serves on the board of Patrick Henry College in Purcellville, Va.

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