While most of us find it frightening to watch as Congress and the executive branch attempt to dismantle our system of government, it is nonetheless fascinating as well.  To see a system of government that has worked so well for so long being taken down (if the attempt is successful) is a historical event of unprecedented significance.

If the constitution is the strong and wonderful document that my generation believes it to be, then even this newest onslaught of attacks against it will not stand.  The constitution was written to protect citizens from government intrusion into private life and to strike down any decision made by government that will eventually lead to  tyranny and/or dictatorship. Most of what is being done by this administration has never been tested in the courts. The government take over of private industry should be struck down so long as we have the constitution as our rule of law.

My topic today, however, isn’t can a government take-over of our system hold up in court, but rather how we got to this point in the first place.

It seems to me that propaganda was the tool used by those seeking power to establish a  mind-set whereby many Americans would passively watch and actually believe that government intrusion is a good thing.  The infiltration of college faculties with liberals who hold a far-left agenda has been to a large extent a catalyst for the kind of “change” we see in Washington today. A large segment of media having sold out to the left is another factor. The ‘news’ on most networks and many newspapers has been obviously leftist for sometime and as Thomas Paine told us, “The pen is mightier than the sword.” Left wing thinkers took advantage of this and somehow managed to get other liberals in position to control a large segment of journalism.

Prior to the sixties, Americans were taught how each form of government works and also were made to study the countries that have adopted or had a form of government imposed upon them.

A study of Russia and how Russians lost their freedom was a part of the school curriculum.  A first hand look at dictators was a part of this curriculum and we knew that Lenin sought power over the people.

 ”The point of the uprising is the seizure of power; afterwards we will see what we can do with it.” Vladimir Lenin

Later, it was common knowledge that in the Soviet Union, people were persecuted if they dared speak against the government or worship God openly. We saw pictures of the long lines of people trying to buy necessities. 

We were allowed to know that under men like Stalin, millions died and:

With Joseph Stalin in control, the Soviet Union began a period of radical social and economic change, punctuated with cruel executions and deportations of the upper classes. The lower classes were then forced into group farms, to guarantee the nationalization of the entire economy. Millions died from famine and the resulting food shortages, but the Soviet Union’s most feared leader staunchly stuck to his political ideals, and met all resistance with still more deportations and executions.

Another well-known dictator was Adolf Hitler, who after gaining the power he desired, used fear and intimidation to force the German people to turn in their neighbors and even family members if they were Jewish or harboring Jews.  Hitler’s tactics were not a secret. Americans understood how Hitler used charisma, propaganda, and brain washing tactics to gain power. This power was so strong that it forced soldiers and citizens to aid and abet him as he rounded up, tortured, and killed 5,709,329 Jewish people.

 All of  this happened after the writing of our constitution. Our founding fathers had other examples of dictators and tyrants and their cruelty to mankind which compelled them to prayerfully declare that ours was to be a nation of free men and women.

Capitalism is the only system that has ever allowed movement from the lower class to the higher class in one generation without the use of force. Barack Obama would not be able to take over private sector and destroy our system of capitalism and free enterprise if a long propaganda war had not been first waged.

It is my prayer that America’s youth will wake up and choose to study and support our constitution and demand that our leaders govern by it and defend and protect this powerful document.

For your own free copy, write to the Heritage Foundation.