Cum conduce spectrul comunismului lumea | Episodul 10: Infiltrarea în Occident - Partea a IV-a

Political Correctness, The Devil's Thought Police Communist countries practice strict control over speech and thought. However, since the 1980s, another form of speech and thought control has appeared in the West. Thought police use the banner of, quote, political correctness to run amok in the media, society, and education system, using slogans and mass criticism to restrain speech and thought. Even though many have already felt the evil power of this control, they have not grasped its ideological origins. Phrases such as political correctness, together with progress, and solidarity have long been used by communist parties. Their superficial meaning is to avoid using language that is discriminatory towards minorities, women, the disabled, and others. For example, Black people are to be called African-Americans. American Indians are to be called Native Americans. Illegal immigrants are to be called undocumented workers, and so on. However, the hidden implication behind political correctness is to classify individuals into groups according to their victim status. Those who are the most oppressed should, therefore, be accorded the most respect and courtesy. This judgment rendered solely on one's identity and disregarding individual conduct and talent is the basis of what's called identity politics. This style of thinking is extremely popular in the United States and other Western countries. According to such logic, Black lesbians who are oppressed along vectors of race, sex, and sexual preference are ranked at the forefront of victimhood. At the other extreme, White heterosexual males are considered the most privileged and, in the logic of victim politics, should be at the bottom of the totem pole. This type of classification is identical to what goes on in communist countries, where individuals were classified within the, quote, five classes of Red or the, quote, five classes of Black, according to their wealth and class status before the revolution. The Chinese Communist Party eliminated and oppressed landowners and capitalists because of their, quote, wrong class status, attacked intellectuals as the, quote, stinking old ninth, and chanted that, quote, the poor are the smartest, the nobles the dumbest. For complex historical reasons, including social and individual reasons, some groups have a lower political and socioeconomic position, which cannot be simply explained as oppression. But political correctness draws an artificial boundary in people's minds. It sets up an extreme, you're either with us or against us, code of morality, where subscribing to political correctness is considered to be moral, while those who dissent are accused of being racist, sexist, homophobic, anti-Islam, and so on. Universities, which should promote a culture of free expression, have become prisons for the mind. The world is silenced and unable to openly and sincerely grapple with a number of issues in politics, economics, and culture. In the name of political correctness, some organizations work to further push traditional religion out of the public sphere. Furthermore, some countries have expanded the definition of, quote, hate speech and implemented this expanded definition in law, thus using the law to force schools, media, and internet companies to conform. This is a step toward the same strictures on speech as found in communist states. After the 2016 U.S. presidential election, the United States became further divided, protest marches erupted in major cities, and violations of freedom of speech occurred with greater frequency. In September 2017, an appearance by conservative author Ben Shapiro, who had been invited to speak at the University of California, Berkeley, was derailed due to Antifa's threats of violence. Berkeley police stood ready and dispatched three police helicopters. The security measures were estimated to have cost more than $600,000. A reporter asked a young student protester, what about the First Amendment, to which the student replied that it was no longer a relevant document. Ironically, one signature event that marked the start of the student movement in 1964 was a fight for freedom of speech at Berkeley. These days, the left uses the right to speech in its attempts to deprive others of having a legitimate outlet for their own voice. In March 2017, American social scientist Charles Murray was invited to speak at Middlebury College in Vermont. While there, he was physically assaulted, and an accompanying professor at the college was injured. In March 2018, tenured professor Amy Wax of the University of Pennsylvania School of Law was relieved of some teaching duties after publishing a politically incorrect article. Other organizations acting under the banner of opposing hate speech have labeled regular conservative groups as hate groups. In addition, there have been cases of conservative authors and scholars being threatened about speaking at or attending various events. The intrusion on freedom of speech by the left is not part of normal debate between people with differing ideas. Instead, it's about the specter of communism, using people with ill intent, provoking them to obscure the truth and suppress righteous, or at least normal, voices. Political correctness, in essence, is about substituting deviant political and moral standards for righteous ones. It is the devil's thought police. 9. The Spread of Socialism in Europe The Socialist International grew from the Second International, founded by Engels in 1889. When the Second International was established, there existed more than 100 political parties around the world that were founded on Marxism. Of them, 66 were ruling parties that adhered to socialism in their respective countries. The name Socialist International originated in 1951 after World War II, and the organization consisted of social democratic parties from around the world. There are socialist parties descended from the Second International everywhere in Europe, with many of them even becoming ruling parties. The early socialists included Lenin, who encouraged violent revolution, and people like Karl Johann Kautsky and Eduard Bernstein, who promoted progressive reform. Within the Socialist International, socialist democracy and democratic socialism have been almost identical. They both promote the idea that socialism is the new system that will replace capitalism. Currently, the Socialist International consists of more than 160 organizations and members. It is the largest international political organization in the world. The European Socialist Party, active in the European Parliament, is also an ally of the Socialist International. Its members are the social democratic parties of the EU and surrounding countries. It was established in 1992, and its members can be found in most leading European organizations, including the European Parliament, the European Commission, and the European Council. As of now, the European Socialist Party has 32 member parties from 25 countries of the EU and Norway, as well as 8 associate members and 5 observers, for a total of 45 political parties. It engages in an immense range of activities. The main objectives, claimed by the European Socialist Party itself, are to strengthen the socialist and social democratic movement within the EU and throughout Europe, and to develop close cooperation between member parties, parliamentary groups, and the like. Essentially, it works to vigorously promote the socialist cause. The Swedish Social Democratic Party, the ruling party of Sweden, openly claims that it uses Marxism as its theoretical guide. During the several decades under its rule, it promoted the socialist ideologies of equality and welfare. Portraits of Marx and Engels still hang in the party's halls today. The guiding principles of the UK's Labour Party are based on Fabian Socialism. As discussed earlier, Fabian Socialism is simply another version of Marxism, but one that stresses using gradual methods to affect the transition from socialism to communism. It also advocates high taxes, high welfare benefits, and other socialist ideas. The Labour Party has been the ruling party of England many times in recent decades, and always advocated Fabian Socialist ideas. The British Communist Party has also been very active in trying to influence British politics, even running its own newspaper, The Morning Star. The party was established in 1920, and during its peak, its members were elected to the House of Commons. At the start of recent elections in England, the British Communist Party suddenly announced that it intended to support the leading left-wing politician of the Labour Party. One important member of the Labour Party has spent 40 years promoting socialism and the nationalization of assets. In September 2015, he became head of the Labour Party, with an overwhelming lead of 60%. When a BBC reporter inquired about his views on Marx, he praised Marx as a great economist and a, quote, fascinating figure who observed a great deal and from whom we can learn a great deal. The Socialist Party is France's largest centre-left political party, and a member of the Socialist International and Party of European Socialists. Its presidential nominee was elected to lead the country in 2012. Italian veteran communist Antonio Gramsci not only founded the Communist Party of Italy in 1921, but also served as its general secretary. Up until the 1990s, the Communist Party of Italy was very active, for a long time maintaining its position as the country's second-largest political party. In 1991, the party was renamed the Democratic Party of the Left. Germany is no exception. It is the birthplace of Marx and Engels, and home to the influential Frankfurt School, another expression of Marxism. Other European countries, like Spain and Portugal, have active communist political parties with significant influence. All of Europe, not only the countries of Eastern Europe, is dominated by communism. Non-communist countries in Northern Europe, Southern Europe, and Western Europe are all intentionally or unintentionally promoting and hosting communist ideologies and policies. To say Europe is, quote, in enemy hands is not an exaggeration. 10. Why do we fall for the devil's tricks? American sociologist Paul Hollander, in his book Political Pilgrims, told the stories of many young intellectuals enamoured with communism who travelled to the Soviet Union, Maoist China, and communist Cuba. While horrifying abuses were taking place, these young political pilgrims were shown none of it, and, upon their return to their countries, enthusiastically wrote books glorifying socialist policies. Communist ideology is an ideology of the devil, and as time has passed, people have seen increasingly clearly that everywhere communism goes, it is accompanied by violence, lies, war, famine, and dictatorship. The question is, why are there still so many people who wholeheartedly help the devil spread its lies, even becoming its obedient tools? In the United States, for example, people of different time periods were attracted to communism for different reasons. The very early members of the Communist Party USA were immigrants. Their economic status was low, and it was hard for them to blend into the community. They thus joined the party mainly due to influences from their homelands, primarily Russia and Eastern European countries. After the Great Depression, the influence of Marxism in the West dramatically increased, and almost the entire intellectual class in the West began a leftward turn. Numerous intellectuals went to visit the Soviet Union and, after returning home, gave speeches and wrote books promoting communist ideology. Those involved included many influential thinkers, writers, artists, and reporters. The Baby Boomer generation entered college during the 1960s, growing up in post-war affluence, yet they were misled by communist-inflected ideologies into taking up other countercultural stances in the form of anti-war protests, feminism, and the like. The next generation of students was taught left-leaning material right out of their textbooks because their teachers were the tenured radicals. Thus, communism's long march through the institutions had finally succeeded, beginning a cycle intended to reproduce and maintain itself forever. In a book dedicated to exposing communism, Masters of Deceit, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, whose tenure ran 37 years, classified communist activists into five groups. Open party members, underground party members, fellow travelers, opportunists, those who support the party for self-interest, and dupes. In reality, there are very few extremely evil and die-hard communist activists. It's much more the case that the majority of communist party members were simply taken in. American journalists John Silas Reid and Edgar Snow played major roles in promoting communist ideology around the world, with Reid's book Ten Days That Shook the World, and Snow's Red Star Over China. Reid is one of the three Americans who was buried in the Kremlin wall necropolis, meaning that he himself was a communist activist. His description of the October Revolution was not an objective reporting of the actual events, but carefully crafted political propaganda. Snow was a fellow traveler of communism. In 1936, the interview outline he provided to a CCP member included questions in a dozen areas including diplomacy, defense against enemy invasion, views on unequal treaties, foreign investment, views on Nazis, national socialists, and more. Later, Mao Zedong met Snow in a cave home at Shanbei, the northern portion of Shanxi province, to answer questions so that a favorable impression of the CCP could be created. The young and naive Snow was used as a tool by the treacherous CCP to broadcast its carefully crafted lies to the world. Yuri Bezmenov, a former KGB spy, recalled his experience of receiving foreign quote friends when he worked as a spy. Their schedule was partially arranged by the Foreign Intelligence Service of the Russian Federation. Their visits to churches, schools, hospitals, kindergartens, factories, and more were prearranged. Those involved were communists or politically trustworthy and had undergone training to make sure they would speak with one voice. He cited as an example the time when Look, a major American magazine in the 1960s, sent journalists to the Soviet Union and ended up printing materials prepared by Soviet security forces, including photos and print copy. Thus, Soviet propaganda went out into the public under the name of a U.S. magazine, misleading Americans. Bezmenov said that many journalists, actors, and star athletes can be excused for being blind to the realities while visiting the Soviet Union, but that the behavior of many Western politicians was unforgivable. They wove lies and sought cooperation with the Soviet communists for their own reputation and profit, he said, calling them morally corrupt. In the book, You Can Still Trust the Communists to be Communists, Dr. Fred Schwartz analyzed why some young men from wealthy families became fond of communism. He listed four reasons. First, disenchantment with capitalism. Second, belief in a materialist philosophy of life. Third, intellectual hubris. And fourth, an unfulfilled religious need. Intellectual hubris refers to the experience of young people from the ages of about 18 to 20 who easily fall prey to communist propaganda due to their partial understanding of history, their anti-authoritarian resentment, and their desire to rebel against tradition, authority, and the ethnic culture they grew up in. An unfulfilled religious need refers to the fact that everyone has a kind of religious impulse inside them, driving them to transcend themselves. However, atheism and the theory of evolution instilled by their education make them unable to derive satisfaction from traditional religions. The communist fantasy of liberating mankind takes advantage of this latent human need and serves as their substitute religion. Intellectuals tended to be fooled by radical ideologies. Such a phenomenon has drawn the attention of scholars. In his book, The Opium of the Intellectuals, French philosopher and sociologist Raymond Aaron pointed out that on one hand, 20th century intellectuals severely criticized the traditional political system, while on the other hand, they generously tolerated or even turned a blind eye to the dictatorship and slaughter in communist states. He saw the left-wing intellectuals who turned their ideology into a secular religion as hypocritical, arbitrary, and fanatical. In his book, Intellectuals from Marx and Tolstoy to Sartre and Chomsky, Paul Johnson, a British historian, analyzed the lives and radical political views of Rousseau and the dozen intellectuals who followed him. He found that they shared the fatal weaknesses of arrogance and egocentrism. In his book, Intellectuals and Society, the American scholar Thomas Sowell also illustrated extensively the extraordinary arrogance of these intellectuals. Since the 1960s, communism has engaged in a large-scale invasion of American education. Even worse, many young people, bombarded by left-wing media and given a simplified education, indulge in television, computer games, the internet, and social media. They get turned into, quote, snowflakes, people who lack knowledge, a global perspective, a sense of responsibility, a sense of history, and the ability to cope with challenges. With communist or communist-derived ideologies instilled in them by their parents' generation, they become indoctrinated and henceforth use a warped framework for evaluating the new facts they see and hear. That is, communist lies have formed a film around them, preventing them from having a clear view of reality. To deceive people, the demon has extensively exploited the human weaknesses of stupidity, ignorance, selfishness, greed, and naivety. Meanwhile, idealism and romantic fantasies of a beautiful life have also been taken advantage of. This is the saddest of all. Communism is a demonic ideology that does not belong to any traditional culture in human society. Since it seeks to work against human nature, it can never be organically developed by man, but must be enforced and instilled from the outside. Under the influence of atheism and materialism, contemporary academia and education have abandoned the belief in gods. Blind belief in science and the worship of so-called human reason make it possible for people to become slaves of this demonic ideology.