Anatomy of a Bolshevik

Posted: October 30, 2010
1:00 am Eastern

By Alex Markovsky
© 2010
To say that Obama is a Bolshevik may sound extreme, but as someone who grew up in the former Soviet Union and holds degrees in economics and political science from the University of Marxism-Leninism, viewing the American political landscape through red communist glasses reveals a scary reality: The United States elected a radical socialist government committed to the transformation of the American capitalist free-enterprise system into an egalitarian society driven by a state-controlled political economy.

As Patrick Henry said: "I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided; and that is the lamp of experience. I know of no way of judging of the future but by the past."

Obama's objectives, strategy and tactics bear a mirror resemblance to the Bolsheviks who seized power in Russia in 1917 to establish a totalitarian communist rule. I recognize familiar patterns and appreciate their irresistible inducements.

The great historical irony is that unlike the Russian people, who understood the perils of socialism and fought the Bolsheviks in a bloody three-year cινιℓ ωαr that by some estimates took 15 million lives, the freedom-loving Americans simply voted themselves into socialism. The communist leaders from Lenin to Brezhnev are turning in their graves watching what proved impossible for the Soviet Union to accomplish with all its military might and nuclear arsenal being enacted by a duly elected American president with the support of American voters.

Are we headed for a nαzι-style totalitarian abyss? Find out in "Defeating the Totalitarian Lie: A Former Hitler Youth Warns America"

Obama came on the American scene at the right time: The lack of education, historical perspective and political literacy turned the American electorate into what Bolshevik Trotsky called the "voting herd." The combination of impending economic crisis and the weak candidacy on the Republican side created fertile ground for a talented demagogue to seduce the nation.

Obama's agenda reads as if it came straight out of the University of Marxism-Leninism. There is nothing new here but the striking parallels between the Russian Bolsheviks and Obama's government: both utterly convinced in their own uncompromising righteousness and their fanatic belief in economic equality, and both equally obsessed with power and control.

To control the masses, as the Bolsheviks' teaching goes, the leader should instill fear and hope. There is plenty of hope in the "Audacity of Hope" and plenty of fear being peddled in the president's speeches and actions. He has been frightening the country with the threat of such enemies as Wall Street, the undue influence of big corporations, special-interest groups and the so-called extremists of the tea party.

The other important criterion for the socialist egalitarian dream to succeed is that the government needs to take control of the economy and dominate everyday life by making its citizens dependent on the government. The Bolsheviks' promise of a social paradise was a lure to make Russia's citizens dependent on government handouts. To accomplish this, Lenin said, "Debauch the currency to overturn the basis of society." The Bolsheviks created hyperinflation that made the currency, the Russian ruble, worthless, thereby destroying personal wealth. Russia's economy was paralyzed, and the Bolshevik government was able to solidify their control over all aspects of their citizens' life.

Obama is clearly following Lenin's script, spending and printing money at unprecedented levels. The plan is simple: Replace American self-reliance with government dependency.  Increasing government spending in ever growing numbers – be it for bailouts, stimulus plans, health care, manure management, tattoo removal, condoms or solar energy – is the program; the area doesn't really matter. The objective is to spend until the country is in such debt as to result in default or hyperinflation, causing the destruction of our currency and the obliteration of wealth. The more the American people are indebted to government, the more they will turn to the government to save them, assuring Democratic one-party rule for the future.

In a sense, Obama is taking a page from the playbook of FDR, who successfully exploited economic difficulties to ensure the Democratic Party's continued domination and to have the voters appoint him president for life.

Historically, democracies failed as a permanent form of government. As soon as politicians discover that they can buy votes, offering the voters largesse from the state treasury, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits. Eventually, the situation becomes unsustainable and a democracy collapses, followed by dictatorship.

The slogan of the original tea party was "No taxation without representation." The objection at the time was to being taxed and not having a say in their governance. Today, we face a different and more subtle problem: "Representation without taxation." When almost 50 percent of Americans do not pay income tax, they are voting to spend other people's money.  The Democratic Party has successfully corralled these voters with promises of a better life, a socialist paradise if you will, of free health care for all, better job benefits for workers, stronger unions and a government that will pass laws to pay for all of this out of our own treasury. In addition, de facto millions of Americans are already getting their needs met from various government-sponsored social programs.

This segment of the population is happy to have Obama make us who are unequally rich equally poor. This explains why even in an economy with an unlimited deficit, where jobs have ground to a halt and the future is bleak, the president still enjoys a 47 percent approval rating.

If Obama's Grand Plan succeeds, this great tragedy will run its predictable course: high taxation, hyperinflation, depleting savings and the devaluation of the dollar, prolonged economic stagnation and the destruction of our democracy, all culminating in one-party rule for all Americans in a social-democratic Obama era. For many, a better life awaits in the short run. In the long run, however, as we well know, history usually repeats itself – first as a tragedy and second as a farce.

As a Russian journalist recently wrote: "The proud American will descend into slavery without a fight, beating his chest and proclaiming to the world how free he really is."

Or, on the other hand, perhaps Obama's short reign will turn out to be the best thing to happen to this country. The 2008 elections was a political wake up call for this nation, like Pearl Harbor or 9/11. In the elections next week, and in those in 2012, American may choose to pursue the utopian Marxist working people's paradise of equality in poverty, or perhaps they will face reality and regain their democracy so that the country can thrive and prosper for another 200 or so years.

Either way, this is a turning point in our history.