A Look At Two Past Presidents And Socialism

President Gerald Ford once said that a government big enough to give you everything you want is big enough to take it from you. No doubt the government cannot give anyone anything that it first does not take from American citizens themselves.

From the way things are being run in Washington by President Obama, Speaker Pelosi and Harry Reid if our nation is not already a Socialist society it is definitely headed in that direction at a fast pace.

Socialists advocate the creation of a society in which wealth and power are distributed evenly. In order for this to be achieved the “haves” must give up some of what they have so that it can be given to the “have nots.” Liberal politicians serving on the national level are the ones who push for such a plan.

The socialist theory does have a certain appeal to those who are on the receiving end of the unmerited goodies and fail to realize such can cost them their freedoms. One of the biggest threat to the free market economy that has prospered since our beginning has been that the government would take over the healthcare system. Activities of the Obama administration have put our entire economic system on the block.

With the government bailouts that have occurred and more possible bailouts ahead in the future, this direction will only serve to take from businesses who strive to be successful and independent and give to businesses that for the most part have caused their own financial problems.

We all know the story how Cuba wound up as a socialist society. The U.S. assisted Cuba in its liberation from Spain more than one hundred years ago. U.S. businesses invested in Cuba’s economy and along with a strong economic injection from tourism, a healthy middle class developed and things were going well in Cuba. Then Fidel Castro and his band of malcontents managed a successful takeover of U.S. businesses and installed their socialist society. The U.S. threw up an economic embargo and Russia stepped in to help Cuba’s economy. When the collapse of the USSR assistance to Cuba declined then the additional misery began.

A more recent example of evolving socialism was Venezuela where Hugo Chavez tried to get his people to allow him another term as president so that he could complete his social reform before going out of office. His opponents called his reelection proposals anti-democratic, unconstitutional and against the nation’s best interest.

Let me close my column this week with some comments made by the late President Ronald Reagan. The resurgence of interest in Reagan’s life and ideas and the celebrations of his leadership have been sparked as a result of the 100th anniversary year of his birth.

President Reagan remained a courageously consistent conservative no matter how much the left attacked him. He was secure in his beliefs and never changed them to appease his opponents.

Some of his remarks on courage are, “Those who say we’re in a time when there are no heroes, they just don’t know where to look.” “The future doesn’t belong to the fainthearted; it belongs to the brave.” “No people who have ever lived have fought harder, paid a higher price for freedom or done more to advance the dignity of man than Americans.”

With each passing year, more and more Americans are realizing that Ronald Reagan’s principles are timeless and we need them now more than ever.