Bunker Mulligan "Let us endeavor so to live that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry." ~Mark Twain

This weekend, I spent some time with Bogey, playing golf and moving furniture. In between, we had a few miles of driving together. We listened to a wide variety of music. Austin is really a music city. One song came on the radio which really interested him. I can’t remember the name of the performer, but the song was put together from lyrics written by Pete Seeger. After his death, Seeger’s wife gave this writer some lyrics and said, “Please put these to music. Pete never had the chance.”

Bogey made a comment about Seeger being a Communist. I think he was expecting to get a rise out of me. I explained why I felt it wasn’t a big stretch to understand why people would follow communist doctrine in the 1930s. Labor unions were gaining strength, and around the world there was a sense of anguish over the Depression. People were looking to the government to solve their problems, and Marxist theory was appealing. I told him something else that surprised him. There has never been a communist government, because that is an oxymoron. It was not something anyone had ever explained to him.

We called the USSR communist, and China, and Vietnam, and Cuba. But they aren’t. They are Socialist. We use the term “Communist” because the rulers of those countries belong to the Communist Party. Socialism is the final step toward communism.

It is also the primary feature of fascist states. I always find it amusing that die-hard socialists call everyone else fascist. Ever heard of the National Socialist Party? Sure you have; NAZI is the more familiar term.

Where communism and fascism split in their socialistic pursuit is in the eventual form of government. Fascists believe in strong nationalism, and communists don’t. Well, I guess that’s wrong. I can’t think of any nation more nationalistic than the Soviet Union.

I guess it has more to do with economics. Yeah! Fascists want national corporations to be in the hands of individuals, but controlled by the government, and communists want the state to own and operate everything. Hmmm. I think that’s wrong, too. I forgot about China.

The real difference is that socialism, according to Marx, is to evolve into communism once everyone is equal. Each will produce according to his ability, and each will receive according to his need. Because everyone has the same as everyone else, there will be no crime. Everyone will drive a Ford Taurus (because that’s what the majority decided), so there will be no reason to steal someone else’s car. Of course, if someone gets their hands on a BMW, theft might again become an issue. No. That cannot happen in a communist world because the entire world will be communist and nobody will be building BMWs. When the State “withers away”, there is communism in place of socialism.

So, there will be no need for a government of any kind. Peaceful anarchy. That is communism.

Bogey was pleased about learning something new. He, like me, cannot understand how any sane person in this country could now follow the Communist Manifesto. He commented that the principles of communism have been completely discredited.

But they haven’t been. There are still some who follow this dream. But the biggest danger is the even larger group wanting to go just to the edge. Socialism is a parasite, and it consumes all. We have not had socialist governments in this world long enough to draw any solid conclusions, but I think the trend is visible. A century ago, Europe was the richest area of the world. They have been trending down since Marxist ideas began to take hold. Canada was once on the growth side, lagging the US, but growing just the same. Canada is on the downswing economically. The Soviet Union imploded. China changed direction and its economy is booming (taking over Hong Kong certainly helped).

Socialism cannot survive without a host. The biggest potential host in the world is the US. And the only way for socialism to feed off this host is through the UN or changes in our government which are more Euro-friendly. Socialism IS communism, with a supportive government. We just need to be sure our government isn’t socialist-friendly. Our trend is certainly that direction, and a lot of politicians want to see it go that way.