Walking The Planks

Marx’s listed Ten Planks in his Communist Manifesto as:

Demand one: Restoration of the living wage. This demand can only be met by ending “Freetrade” by re-imposing trade tariffs on all imported goods entering the American market to level the playing field for domestic family farming and domestic manufacturing as most nations that are dumping cheap products onto the American market have radical wage and environmental regulation advantages. Another policy that must be instituted is raise the minimum wage to twenty dollars an hr.

Demand two: Institute a universal single payer healthcare system. To do this all private insurers must be banned from the healthcare market as their only effect on the health of patients is to take money away from doctors, nurses and hospitals preventing them from doing their jobs and hand that money to wall st. investors.

Demand three: Guaranteed living wage income regardless of employment.

Demand four: Free college education.

Demand five: Begin a fast track process to bring the fossil fuel economy to an end while at the same bringing the alternative energy economy up to energy demand.

Demand six: One trillion dollars in infrastructure (Water, Sewer, Rail, Roads and Bridges and Electrical Grid) spending now.

Demand seven: One trillion dollars in ecological restoration planting forests, reestablishing wetlands and the natural flow of river systems and decommissioning of all of America’s nuclear power plants.

Demand eight: Racial and gender equal rights amendment.

Demand nine: Open borders migration. anyone can travel anywhere to work and live.

Demand ten: Bring American elections up to international standards of a paper ballot precinct counted and recounted in front of an independent and party observers system.

Demand eleven: Immediate across the board debt forgiveness for all. Debt forgiveness of sovereign debt, commercial loans, home mortgages, home equity loans, credit card debt, student loans and personal loans now! All debt must be stricken from the “Books.” World Bank Loans to all Nations, Bank to Bank Debt and all Bonds and Margin Call Debt in the stock market including all Derivatives or Credit Default Swaps, all 65 trillion dollars of them must also be stricken from the “Books.” And I don’t mean debt that is in default, I mean all debt on the entire planet period.

Demand twelve: Outlaw all credit reporting agencies.

Demand thirteen: Allow all workers to sign a ballot at any time during a union organizing campaign or at any time that represents their yeah or nay to having a union represent them in collective bargaining or to form a union.

Whoops. Wrong list. Heh. Seriously though…

“A Marxist begins with his prime truth that all evils are caused by the exploitation of the proletariat by the capitalists. From this he logically proceeds to the revolution to end capitalism, then into the third stage of reorganization into a new social order of the dictatorship of the proletariat, and finally the last stage — the political paradise of communism.” – Saul Alinsky, “Rules For Radicals”

Or as Obama rephrased it, “Fundamentally Transforming America.“

So where are we in this ‘Fundamental Transformation?  Let’s walk The Planks and see if we fall into the water. Pardon me for my juxtaposition of pirates and communists – those knowing my sense of humor probably won’t be put off by this post. Yes, I admit it – I was dying to find some way to use all these pirate photos. Anyway…Here there be pirates:

Even as a Boy, he aspired to Piracy

1. Abolition of private property and the application of all rents of land to public purposes. The United States Federal government owns 30% of the land in this country, much of it in western states — where the bulk of our natural resources are. This is not an accident. On a smaller scale, we’ve just seen the Obama administration buying up foreclosed homes to rent back to their owners. This administration has also expanded free public housing to levels we’ve never seen  before. We’re halfway down this plank.

2. A heavy progressive or graduated income tax.  The United States has the number one highest progressive tax in the world according to the U.N. ranking.  It’s a progressive tax, by definition those making the  most are taxed the highest yet it is still not enough. This does not even include double dip taxes like Capital gains taxes. “Pay their fair share” and “Shared Sacrifice” indeed – Alinsky tactics. We’re halfway down this plank.

The Comrade-Pirate Secret Handshake

3. Abolition of all rights of inheritance. It’s called the Death Tax or Inheritance Tax if you prefer. In recent years we’ve had a mild reprieve from it, however don’t think that will last. Obama’s ‘budget‘ in 2010 stealthily tried to bring it back and if re-elected it will be. This is also linked to the first plank — its double taxation. Someone bought or earned whatever is being passed down and was already taxed on it before it came to you.

4. Confiscation of the property of all emigrants and rebels. Let’s play acronym soup: ATF, IRS, DEA. All have the power to seize property/assets of any kind.  Smaller scale version of them is the TSA who can not only confiscate your property but detain you as well. Don’t forget the TSA is tied to DHS – here’s to hoping none of us are the subject of a SARS report. Add the Federal Government’s power of Imminent Domain to this list.

5. Centralization of credit in the hands of the state, by means of a national bank with State capital and an exclusive monopoly. Three words: Bailouts, Federal Reserve.  What’s worse is our Government’s credit is no longer in our own control. We’ve reached the end of this plank and are teetering on the edge.

You mean it really is marked with an X?

6. Centralization of the means of communications and transportation in the hands of the State. Want to drive a cab? Start an airline? Own a TV station? Start up a radio station? These things require Federal Government application and approval from one or multiple entities. The FCC, DOT, FAA and sub-departments have created more red tape than we know what to do with. Now enter Net Neutrality into that mix – yikes. I mentioned the TSA already, but they also fit here. I think you’re getting the picture. We’ve reached the end of this plank and are overboard.

7. Extension of factories and instruments of production owned by the state, the bringing into cultivation of waste lands, and the improvement of the soil generally in accordance with a common plan. Atlas Shrugged was supposed to be a cautionary tale, not an instruction manual. Bailouts, Land grabs and ‘Rural Councils’, Oh my!  Freddie, Fannie, General Motors — all fine examples. The recent EPA attempts to choke coal out of business, thereby forcing plants to either close or sell is another. The government was all ready to go into the power business, how nice.

8. Equal liability of all to labor. Establishment of industrial armies, especially for agriculture. Executive Orders are neat little things that often fall under the radar. This one didn’t — The White House Rural Council. If you go back to plank one with the giant land grab out west and match it up with the areas targeted by this Executive Order, I bet there is quite a bit of overlap. This EO is a direct extension of the U.N.’s Agenda 21. Can’t blame him for trying to finish what Kennedy started with EO 11000.

Arrrrr, Pay yer Faire Share Matey!

9. Combination of agriculture with manufacturing industries, gradual abolition of the distinction between town and country, by a more equitable distribution of population over the country. On the Federal level, one calls this ‘Central Planning’. On the Local level, one calls this ‘zoning’.  Prominent departments involved are Interior, Agriculture, EPA and Labor. Some things to check out would be the Planning Reorganization Act of 1949, EO’s 11731, 11647, Public Law 89-136.

10. Free education for all children in public schools. Abolition of children’s factory labor in its present form. Combination of education with industrial production. With the formation of the Department of Education, schools now were subject to Federal guidelines, laws and the like.  Child labor disappeared rapidly once the Unions moved in. Trade schools, also called vocational schools, are seeing increased enrollment. Some of that increase can be attributed to the increase of Federally funded grants for these schools. At the same time, this administration is taking aim at “for-profit” colleges and private universities.

Just Imagine How Cool My Piratedential Library Will Be!

On second thought, maybe I didn’t post the wrong list in the first place.