“I
Survived Communism – Are You Ready For Your Turn?”
Part
1 | Part 2 | Part 3
By Zuzana Janosova-den Boer
A Guest Document (1)
Economic Consequences of Communism
Do you think communism failed because of oppression? No. You can
brainwash and threaten people, keep them dangling like puppets, until the supply of goods starts to
disappear. Economic reality always prevails.
“The
problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other’s people
money.” – Margaret Thatcher
The economic consequences of communism are always the same – poverty,
and this one comes with an ironclad guarantee – a lifetime warranty.
People always spend their own money more carefully than someone else’s.
Capitalism is about efficiency. Private businesses must spend their
capital very carefully. They cannot afford to make investments in their
business, unless they are sure it will be worth it. A mistake could
result in an increased price for their product, reduced cash-flow, loss
of competitiveness, eventual bankruptcy.
In a centrally planned economy, all production is controlled by
government. The revenue required to operate the government and the
economy is obtained through taxation. Because a centrally planned
economy is not subject to the laws of supply and demand, financial
goals become meaningless, since there are no penalties for not
achieving them. Thus, long-term government plans are never
fulfilled and financial goals are replaced by imaginary production
quotas. The result is profligate waste and inefficiency on a monumental
scale. Communism institutes mandatory employment with pre-determined
duties and salaries. The problem is lack of goods and services. Even if
you have money, you will have few opportunities to spend it for your
own benefit.
Both socialism and communism believe in the abolishment of private
business; economic resources may be ‘publicly owned’, but they are
controlled by government.
Communism is implemented in two stages.
During the first stage (socialism), wealth is distributed to people
according to their productivity. During the second stage (communism),
wealth is distributed according to individual need, but it is the government who decides what those
needs are, and if they even matter, not the individual. Remember
the key word: deception? Socialism equals communism. Any political
party or organization that advocates socialism is advocating communism.
If you think socialism cares about democracy or freedom, then reread “Stage 3: Revolution” above.
Life under Communism
What is life under communism like? In the Eastern Bloc countries,
shortages of basic goods began in the 1980s. People had to get up at 3
AM in order to stand in line for basic necessities: bread, milk, meat,
eggs, toilet paper, oil, et cetera.
You could stand in line for hours and not even get a chance to buy
something, once products ran out.
Other appealing aspects:
* Want an apartment? You can’t buy one;
real-estate markets don’t exist. You’ll probably get one (eventually)
for free, but the government will decide the size, type, location, as
well as your position in the queue, which may take years.
* Want a car? You must first submit an application, or buy a
permit, to buy a car from the government, then wait in line, for years.
The wait time might be 2-3 years, or it could be as long as 7-10 years.
* Want to use some recreational facilities (government built, of
course) for your vacation? You need to be approved by a labor union,
and wait.
* Want day-care for your child? Submit an application, and wait.
* Want a garage for your car? Submit an application, and wait. I
submitted an application for a garage in 1988. When I left Slovakia in
1997, I still had not received a response.
Sound idyllic? But here’s the best part: there’s no guarantee you will ever receive an apartment, car,
garage, daycare, recreation, or anything else you might want. If there
is any record (ever) of your non-compliance with
communist ideology, you will receive
nothing. As one communist leader informed me, after I refused to
become member of a socialist party: “Forget
about an apartment, forget about day-care, forget about a salary raise,
forget about any benefits.” Communism results in the poverty of an
entire society. By comparison, free-market capitalism has lifted
the highest number of people out of poverty in human history.
Corruption under Communism
Because of lack of goods and services, corruption and bribery become
endemic under communism. Of course, corruption also exists in
capitalist countries, but communism elevates it to a completely
different (systemic) level.
“It’s
not what you know, but who you know.”
To function, in order to survive, you must have a network of
connections, and pay bribes, for everything:
* Education may be for free, but
there’s no guarantee you’ll ever get into your desired school’s
program, even if you have top marks. The state might have different
plans for you, or for your child. But with good connections, and the timely delivery of a valuable gift to the school
principal or party leader, anything is possible.
* Health care may be for free, but if you want your doctor to be sober
for your surgery, better pay up. Paying bribes to doctors in cash or
gold was common in the Eastern Bloc. I was even told how much I must
pay by the doctor himself.
* Police are a special case: corrupt, enjoying their power
immensely. Did you speed? Your choice is between a lesser bribe
and much more expensive ticket. No court, no argument, no place to
complain.
* Need anything from government employees? Good luck. Communists
invented stamps of different sizes and shapes. To get your document (or
permit) stamped, you must pay a bribe.
* Want a new book, new clothes, or a better piece of meat? Better know
the saleswoman and be really
nice to her.
* Your car has broken down and needs repair? Oh dear, now you’re in
real trouble. Leaving a car in a repair shop entails the risk of good
(functioning) components in your car being secretly replaced by
inferior (or non-functioning) ones. The good components will be sold or
exchanged for other goods. This is how exchange markets work under
communism.
Due to lack of goods, everyone steals. We used to say: “Who is not
stealing from the State is robbing his own family”. Without
connections, you will remain in a queue for a very long time.
And finally, here’s a truly delicious irony for you. Do you think
communists care about the environment? I remember hills near chemical
plants laid bare, denuded of vegetation by polluted air and acid rain
from towns where heavy metals were produced, places where aluminum had
poisoned the ground-water, cities where the haze from industrial smog
was so thick you couldn’t see through it, and it hung there for months,
places where noxious compounds in the air forced residents to wear
face-masks. Naturally, there were environmental
laws, all conveniently ignored, in the name of glorious socialism.
The worst part is fear, of
being arrested, of being tortured, of dying as a political prisoner in
a prison, labour camp or uranium mine (slow death from radiation
poisoning), incarceration in an insane asylum (you have to be crazy to
oppose the regime), or of the same thing happening to someone you love.
Fear is the primary tool for keeping people silent and obedient. Those
who do not comply are interrogated, tortured, intimidated, put under
surveillance as MUKL
(destined for liquidation) by the Secret Police, or just killed
(quicker and much easier). Those political prostitutes called informers are everywhere,
especially universities. They’ll report everything you do or say.
Forget about freedom, of action, speech or even thought. The Party
controls everything, and you voted
for them, didn’t you?
“Freedom
is a fragile thing and is never more than one generation away from
extinction. Those who have known freedom, then lost it, have never
known it again” – Ronald
Reagan
How many people have been murdered in capitalist countries for not
being supporters of capitalism? How many have been murdered by a
capitalist state for being anti-capitalist? If we turn the
questions around and ask how many have been murdered in communist
countries, the answer is between 80 to 100 million, globally.
We are currently in the
second stage (destabilization) of the new
green communism.
Are we so gullible that we can be taken without one shot, as Khrushchev
predicted? Have we all taken our (many) freedoms for granted? Are we
prepared to gullibly give up those freedoms to those advocating
‘socialism’, or are we prepared to resist the tide of radical leftism?
Socialism equals communism – and after reading this article, I hope you
have no illusions about what it is or where it leads.
Canadians will soon have the chance to demonstrate if, and how much,
they treasure their freedom.
Good luck, Canada!
Zuzana
Janosova-den Boer
NOTES
(1) Retrieved
from spencerfernando.com, 10-Aug-2021 (dated 3-Jan-2019 in the
source)
(2) Introductory paragraph from
the same source (1)
(3) Source of the last three
paragraphs
(4) Interview
with the co-chair of the UN IPCC Working Group III, in 2010, with the
Swiss newspaper Neue Zürcher
Zeitung
(5) In
May 2012, a grade-3 class took to the streets of Toronto with signs, to
protest the construction of the Northern Gateway pipeline
(6) In
2011, in Laval, Quebec, a six-year-old boy was disqualified from a
teddy-bear contest because a Ziploc was found in his lunch instead of a
reusable container
(7) Yuri Bezmenov, on
“Useful Idiots” and the True Face of Communism
Published in mgr.org on August 10th, 2021
The M+G+R Foundation
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