America barreling down road to collectivism

While most responsible people understand and follow the axiom to live within their means, there is no such restraint by government. The reason - it's not their money.

Trillions of federal dollars are now being doled out, but not to the supposed recipients of all of this grand compassion; rather the money is being squirreled into the secret nooks and crannies of Wall Street and to political special interests.

The Founders were virulently opposed to the idea of the federal government managing the economy of the nation. While the separation of church and state has become canonized in modern political dogma, the separation of economy and state is not given even the slightest nod.

We now have a government that authorizes itself to take ownership of one private entity after another, while promising that this is only the beginning. Driven by the feral instincts of the liberal political juggernaut, the federal government is assuming powers never granted to it by the Constitution.

In a recent editorial in the Russian publication Pravda titled, "American Capitalism Gone with a Whimper," the author marvels at the rapidity with which President Obama has moved to replace free market capitalism with his own version of enlightened Marxism.

The Russian people know firsthand about the tyranny of the state. Having suffered through over 70 years of communist rule, to them this is not just an abstract, academic utopian ideal as it is with our grandstanding, braggadocious president. Is America ready to join the ex-Soviet Union, China, North Korea, Cuba or Venezuela in the failed social experiment of collectivism? Somehow I doubt this is the change most Americans thought they were voting for.

Or are a majority of Americans so dulled by a lack of education, numbed by our excessively worldly culture, or so ignorant of the history and source of their freedoms and privileges that they would willingly surrender their liberty for a little perceived security? Seduced by vain promises, are the American people finally so gullible as to give collectivism a try?

The constitution of the Soviet Union was based on the Marxist doctrine that the state was responsible for the welfare of the people; to provide food, clothing, shelter, and medical care - the same things that any prisoner in jail would expect. To discharge that responsibility, the state must assume control of all aspects of the economy.

But government intervention in the economy can only result in the eventual destruction of the means of production, without which abundance and security for more than a few of the ruling elite is quite impossible. Just ask the Russians.

• Craig DeFriez is a structural engineer and a 20-year resident of Carson City.