Quote of the Day – How Freedom is Lost

 

I left the Soviet Union to escape communism, socialism, Marxism — whatever you want to call it. America was and still is the only place in the world you are truly free, and you are losing it. Now the evil is coming here; it is all around us, especially where I live in California. These people are ignorant, they have no historical knowledge, and they are very dangerous. The ideology is seductive to America’s naive youth and always ends up with people dead. – Svetlana, the pseudonym of a Soviet émigré to the United States, now in her 80s.

The quote comes from a woman interviewed for a Washington Times article on the seduction of socialism. They kept her name secret for fear of the consequences to her if they revealed it. The need for secrecy is real and all very soviet. A SJW mob would show no reluctance to dogpile an eighty-something woman who warns of the consequences of the mob’s actions.

To today’s youth, socialism is seductive. Your needs and even your desires get taken care of. All you need in exchange is to surrender your freedom. In an age of helicopter parents, freedom is something few experience while growing up. Their parents plan every aspect of their lives, controlling their children’s movements and contacts with others outside the house. The many hours of ranging the neighborhood unsupervised (as I and my brothers did in our childhood) are over. With it, so are any childhood experiences with freedom.

You do not miss what you never had. That is one reason the residents of Beijing and Shenzhen put up with restrictions far more onerous than the ones which have the residents of Hong Kong out in the streets. Those living in Beijing and Shenzhen have never experience freedom. Those in Hong Kong have.

The generation of Millenials now attending college is easily seduced by socialism’s siren call. Few have experienced true freedom. Additionally, the only societal framework most have lived in during their earliest years is socialistic. A family is a socialist organization: from which according to their abilities and to which according to their needs.

Dad (and today mom as well) went out and earned the resources that fed the family and provided for its needs. The members of the society, especially the children, had their needs provided for regardless of their ability to contribute to the family. In the bad old days, when things were tight, even the children were expected to work to provide to the best of their abilities. Even then, they did not receive resources based on what they contributed. They received resources according to their needs. In today’s resource-rich America, children, even teens, are often discouraged from working and saving. Why bother when the ‘rents bring in enough money to provide for their children? Isn’t providing for all your children’s wants and needs a demonstration that you are a good parent?

Yet however admirably socialism works in a family, it does not scale. Even in a village-level society it quickly devolves into tyranny as that society’s leaders decide their needs are more expansive (and important) than those of the other members of the society. They develop into the nomenklatura or good people or some form of aristocracy.

Which the pseudonymous Svetlana experienced first hand, but American’s naive youth have difficulty understanding.

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There are 13 comments.

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  1. Front Seat Cat Member
    Front Seat Cat
    @FrontSeatCat

    Wow! Both the quote, your post and the link to the Washington Times story, published just 8 days ago, are so powerful. The picture in the Times shows a protest and they’re waving a “Lenin” flag?? I had to look at the date thinking it was vintage – no such luck.  I was thinking these thoughts as I heard yesterday that some big dust was being kicked up by Antifa again in Portland this weekend. I wondered since when are thugs allowed to rough up our fellow citizens without being arrested? Why is Antifa allowed – they don’t protest peacefully.  

    The age of the people that the Washington Times reporter interviewed is key. She is 80. She experienced socialism and worse firsthand. That generation is dying off. Who will tell the stories then? 

    • #1
  2. Doug Watt Member
    Doug Watt
    @DougWatt

    There are voters that are looking for another mommy or daddy when they enter the voting booth. They are looking for love in the wrong place. Empowering faceless bureaucrats to satisfy all your needs, and wants and the misplaced belief in a collective conscience does not bode well for the individual.

    • #2
  3. Seawriter Contributor
    Seawriter
    @Seawriter

    Doug Watt (View Comment):
    Empowering faceless bureaucrats to satisfy all your needs, and wants and the misplaced belief in a collective conscience does not bode well for the individual.

    Nope.

    • #3
  4. Seawriter Contributor
    Seawriter
    @Seawriter

    Front Seat Cat (View Comment):
    I heard yesterday that some big dust was being kicked up by Antifa again in Portland this weekend. I wondered since when are thugs allowed to rough up our fellow citizens without being arrested? Why is Antifa allowed – they don’t protest peacefully.

    Because Antifa serves those who currently rule Portland. That is the story with Brownshirts everwhere.

    • #4
  5. Quietpi Member
    Quietpi
    @Quietpi

    Seawriter: Dad (and today mom as well) went out and earned the resources that fed the family and provided for its needs.

    But, really, who is it that now provides for the children’s needs?  I had school lunches.  Now there’s free school breakfast, lunch and in some cases dinner.  After all, the single parent is working, and doesn’t have time to prepare meals that meet the state’s nutritional standards.  

    • #5
  6. Rodin Member
    Rodin
    @Rodin

    (sigh)

    • #6
  7. David Foster Member
    David Foster
    @DavidFoster

    A therapist who has a lot of experience working with millennials said:

    On any given day, a handful of millennials will come into my office and express their most pressing concerns: “I’m worried I’ll never make enough money to retire.” “I feel like a failure.” “I don’t know if I’m setting up my adult life the right way.”

    But the complaint they bring up the most? “I have too many choices and I can’t decide what to do. What if I make the wrong choice?”

    Fear of Freedom?

    • #7
  8. Bob Thompson Member
    Bob Thompson
    @BobThompson

    Quietpi (View Comment):

    Seawriter: Dad (and today mom as well) went out and earned the resources that fed the family and provided for its needs.

    But, really, who is it that now provides for the children’s needs? I had school lunches. Now there’s free school breakfast, lunch and in some cases dinner. After all, the single parent is working, and doesn’t have time to prepare meals that meet the state’s nutritional standards.

    That indicates the destruction of the family is working to the advantage of the state.

    • #8
  9. Front Seat Cat Member
    Front Seat Cat
    @FrontSeatCat

    David Foster (View Comment):

    A therapist who has a lot of experience working with millennials said:

    On any given day, a handful of millennials will come into my office and express their most pressing concerns: “I’m worried I’ll never make enough money to retire.” “I feel like a failure.” “I don’t know if I’m setting up my adult life the right way.”

    But the complaint they bring up the most? “I have too many choices and I can’t decide what to do. What if I make the wrong choice?”

    Fear of Freedom?

    How many generations past wish they had those problems, as well as current generations in repressive countries?

    • #9
  10. Vectorman Inactive
    Vectorman
    @Vectorman

    The Quote of the Day series is the easiest way to start a fun conversation on Ricochet. There are many dates open on the August Signup Sheet. We even include tips for finding great quotes, so choose your favorite quote and sign up today!

    • #10
  11. OmegaPaladin Moderator
    OmegaPaladin
    @OmegaPaladin

    Socialism only works where resources are relatively plentiful and the people involved are tightly connected.

    At that point, it doesn’t feel like socialism.  It feels like sharing and cooperation.  And it is more efficient than capitalism at these tiny scales because there is no real knowledge problem, and you can’t really get a market going at that level.  

    So when young people hear that socialism is sharing / cooperation, they think that is great.

    The way around it is to talk about the difference.  It’s not mom, it’s a faceless bureaucrat.  The government does not care about you.

    • #11
  12. namlliT noD Member
    namlliT noD
    @DonTillman

    Along these lines…

    I highly recommend “Former Soviet Citizen” Vladimir Jaffe’s YouTube channel.

    https://www.youtube.com/user/pp000610/videos

    He goes into socialist demonstrations in Manhattan and interviews people on camera.  And the results are fascinating.  Just dive in and watch.

    (Hmm, there sure seems to be a lot of socialist demonstrations in Manhattan.)

    Someone in the podcast business (ahem…) should consider interviewing him.  He has an impressive story.

    • #12
  13. Cow Girl Thatcher
    Cow Girl
    @CowGirl

    But the complaint they bring up the most? “I have too many choices and I can’t decide what to do. What if I make the wrong choice?”

    Are they talking about having too many good choices? Maybe they don’t understand that it’s okay to make a wrong choice now and then. Many times a person can do something else to change that decision, and go in a different direction. Sometimes, even, a good choice will, later, no longer appeal to you, and you can make a change. 

     

    • #13
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