An impoverished revolution

LARRY ANDERSON
Larry Anderson

The radical left is in love with the romance of revolution which is coupled with its revulsion for all things American. What lefties can’t change promptly within our political/social system, they attack relentlessly via sophisticated propaganda and protest.

So far, efforts to convert America to socialism have been largely nonviolent, but one senses impatience within leftist ranks. How much longer can the downtrodden be expected to suffer within a racist, capitalistic country before all take to the ramparts?

Well, I submit that while the left is working tirelessly to bring down Donald Trump and to right all those wrongs his presence suggests, the left’s revolution is an impoverished one. Revolution requires discontent and while there is always some within every society, there isn’t enough here nor will there be.

The Russian revolution a century ago was triggered by an archaic economic/ruling system. Industrial workers had no rights; peasants toiled with little compensation within a feudal agricultural scheme that created wealth for a protected land class while workers suffered from overwork and starvation. Said revolution was timely, even if it turned out to be the wrong kind. One form of oppression became another.

The problem for lefties today is there is no rigid class system within America as there has been in other countries ripe for revolution. A person born into poverty here isn’t locked into it for a lifetime as people once were. Entrepreneurship, education, and the opportunities provided by an open economic structure can lift one up. A middle class worker with an idea can become an upper class success story. Economic triumph is encouraged, not suffocated by a creaky socialist ideology preaching sameness.

Try as the left might to portray modern America as an oppressive country built on selfishness and exploitation, the evidence isn’t readily noticeable. Too many are doing well.

Some past revolutions were triggered by a political system based on heredity. Ours is not. Our political system is based on elections. If we don’t like who is holding office, every four years or so we can toss them like yesterday’s junk mail.

Political rigidity is missing in America. Revolutionaries can’t complain about the status quo effectively when the people have the authority to expel those causing mischief. The power to rebel is contained within the ballot box.

In America, the people already hold power. There is no need to revolt to get what one already has.

The left fusses over economic inequality as if they have discovered some systemic conspiracy designed to oppress a discontented majority, but there are no serfs in America. Minimum wage workers don’t stay so; they move up and move on. Ours is a fluid system that rewards participation. It is not, nor should it become, a system that rewards incompetence or inflated self worth. That is the liberal domain.

Revolution isn’t required for a person to change who she/he is in this country. Those most evidently in the lowest economic class is he who has a smart phone over a year old. The poor aren’t so much when compared to the truly impoverished in other parts of the world.

Revolution sometimes occurs when people feel threatened, but our system is no threat to us. If a job is lost, temporary aid is provided. If a hurricane strikes, the trucks are on their way. If terrorists attack, aid and sympathy pour in. What gets broken gets fixed although, these days, it is never fast enough.

If one is unhappy with America, perhaps the real issue is with the ones complaining because the truth is this is a successful country that looks after its people and works for a good future. The fact is its most reactionary element is the left locked into fossilized notions of what works.

That said, the impoverished revolution still knows how to sow dissent, create factions within our population, promote the culture of victims and entitlement, insult and attack our institutions, revise our history, foster a dysfunctional government, endlessly attack the president they despise, and end our freedoms progressively. They are doing what past revolutionaries have done within their more volatile cultures.

The left in America wants to create volatility.

It is our job to stop the aforementioned. That may require a revolution of sorts. You can start by not listening to phony leftist propaganda and by challenging the legitimacy of their positions. Also, listen to your grandparents and remember who you are. Peace and prosperity will follow a generous feeling of a job well done.

Larry W. Anderson is a retired educator, author and Bearcat.