Why Do Socialists Distort Reality?

Harlingen, Texas, July 18, 2008: Many years ago while living in Japan, I noticed an unusual number of university students were among those who made up the crowds at socialist demonstrations.  I asked a professor at the University of Tokyo, Dr. Shiraishi, about this observation and found his reply quite interesting.  He told me that college students in Japan were quite poor.  The long hours of study made it next to impossible for them to obtain extra work to increase their meager monetary allowances

He said that just about all of his entering and second year students claimed to be socialists.  First of all, the socialists paid them to be part of public demonstrations.  Also, the students thought it was a very good idea to have a share of everything, since they had nothing at the time.  “The interesting thing”, said this educator, “is by the time these students were ready to graduate, most of them were already selected for employment and quite possibly a lifetime position with a good company, plus abundant fringe benefits.  You couldn’t find a socialist in the crowd.”

So, the socialist of Japan had distorted the reality of their appeal and strength by hiring poor college students to fill up very small ranks.  Once these same students came to realize where their future would prosper, nobody was interested in the “all-for-one, one-for all” mantra they had been chanting.

It seems the socialists of America use the same ploy.  They make appeals of equality and sharing the bounty of the nation to those who rank among the poor and disenchanted of our society.  When you have very little, it is nice to think you may be given a slice of someone else’s pie.  There is nothing wrong with having such belief, but the leadership and the elite of that clan should at least be honest in what they present to the public.

Not too long ago I wrote a commentary about Congresswoman Maxine Waters and her verbal slip where she uttered the word “socialize” and then tried to cover up her rant to the oil companies by saying the government should take over and “run” their businesses.  Note the change of term…run, instead of socialize.

Those who study the inner workings of the Democratic Party know they are primarily a socialist political organization.  The Democrats try to fool their public by keeping the word “socialism” out of all conversation.  Instead they claim to be “liberal”, and if that word starts smelling too bad, they are “progressive”.

Now comes a different kind of distortion.  It comes in the form of just plain disinformation.  It was in a Community Forum piece written by R. Gary Dean of Omaha, Nebraska in the Valley Morning Star.  He said, “Now that Mr. Segel has turned over Maxine’s ‘rock’ and found socialism lurking below, perhaps we should take a good look at what else was found.

“One way to compare democratic counties to socialist countries is to take a good look at the results of each. Starting with the United Nations Development Index – currently accepted as a good measure of the standard of living – we find that eight of the top ten countries are socialist.” He continues saying there is a question as to Switzerland, which is ranked seventh and if that country were included, nine out of the top ten are socialist.  He also points out the United States is ranked #12.  The interesting thing is, he fails to name those top ten countries, which he claims are socialist and are happy, peaceful and live better than Americans.  Well, I am happy to give you that information.

Ranked by the UN, as #1 is Iceland, which is a multi-party parliamentary form of government…not socialist.  At #2 is Norway, which is a monarchy, with parliamentary representatives.  There are some experts who consider it a socialist form of government.  The third ranked country by the UN is Australia, which is a federative constitutional monarchy under a parliamentary democracy…not socialist.

The country ranked #4 is Canada.  It has the formal title of Her Majesty’s Government in Canada and is a federation… not socialist.  At #5 is Ireland and #6 Sweden, who are both parliamentary democracies.  Switzerland at #7 (the questioned socialist country by Mr. Dean) is a direct democracy.  None are socialist.

Japan is ranked #8 and is a Constitutional Monarchy, as is #9, the Netherlands.  France is #10 and is considered a presidential democracy and #11 Finland is a democratic republic.  None are considered socialist.

The UN and Mr. Dean rank the United States as #12 on the Human Development Index.  In the latest edition of that list, published on November 27, 2007 this is how the top dozen countries were ranked, based upon a comparative measure of life expectancy, literacy, education, and worldwide standards of living.  It is the standard means for measuring well-being, child welfare and is used to measure whether a country is developed, developing, or under developed.  It is also used to measure the impact of economic policy on the quality of life.  Using its own formula #1 Iceland has a Human Development Index of .968, while #12, the United States has a HDI of.951 or a variance of .017, which is not a great span in the numbers game.

Another way to measure quality of life is by the immigrant population.  Just how many people have tried to take advantage of the quality of life offered by a particular country?  The United States, according to our UN experts, has 38,355,000 legal immigrants.  We also have another estimated 12 million illegal immigrants all-trying for a slice of the American pie.  Our #1 ranked Iceland has a total of 23,000 immigrants.  The United States leads the world in accepting immigrants, while Iceland is listed as #154 on the UN Population List.

To make sure everyone has complete information on this topic, the top ten socialist countries Mr. Dean is so proud of are Cuba, North Korea, Venezuela, China, Vietnam, Syria, Belarus, Laos, Zambia and Turkmenistan.  The highest ranking of these socialist countries on the UN index is Cuba at #51 with all the remainder declining in the index to Zambia at #165.

Those who still have questions on socialist distortions should contact Mr. Dean, wherever he is.

[0] Trackbacks   [0] Pingbacks

Can America Afford Another Failed Marriage?

Harlingen, Texas, July 8, 2008:  When I view what is happening to America during this presidential election campaign, I can’t help but feel our country is headed toward one of those failed marriages we all know occur all too frequently.

Men and women, the world over, have become the wreckage of such relationships.  Most of you know what happens.  One person tries to woo another person.  He or she says all the right things, makes all the right moves, and has a song to sing that is filled with all the right lyrics.  This person presents a wonderful appearance and the sweetest sounding of voices.  The other party is deeply smitten.

Now for the individual who is so deeply charmed by this courtship, all who voice opposition or concern become harsh and unbelievable.  It is only after the marriage vows and a short honeymoon have taken place that reality starts to rear its ugly head.

Soon that innocent partner starts to look at things below the surface in the character and conduct of this new mate.  The right things are no longer spoken.  The right moves have become distorted.  That sweet song now resounds flatly and that long admired appearance and wonderful voice have disappeared forever.

Barrak Obama’s courtship of America strikes me as one of those relationships many of us used to warn our friends and loved ones to turn away from before they were severely burned. 

It also brings back to mind that most of those warnings went unheeded.  The wooed party embraced with affection the one initiating the courtship.  For all too many who entered into such dangerous relationships the end result was extreme pain, financial ruin, emotional scars, lost faith, and tattered lives that would take decades to repair.  It was only after everything had crashed and burned that they turned back to you with the words, “I should have listened to what you were telling me.”

By now all of America knows Obama is courting it.  The things any country or any person in a new relationship do not know about him now become an important, if not the supreme issue.  Is everything he says the truth, or is he presenting those right words and right moves just to woo the country?  Is his song really sweet, or is it the same old lies coated in a gloss to capture our hearts?  Will accepting him and what he says result in all of us being faced with a fraud and a charlatan dressed in a Brooks Brothers suit?

Failed marriages are filled with the pain of cheating, falsehoods, frauds and philandering. Some even experience the trauma of multiple crimes.  Many of these relationships have reeked such havoc on the other partner that recovery was next to impossible.  At this precarious time in our country, can America really afford another failed marriage?

[0] Trackbacks   [0] Pingbacks

More Anger and Demands from the Right

Harlingen, Texas, July 6, 2008:  To say that conservatives are displeased with the GOP candidate for president would be a gigantic understatement.  Those considered to be the demented Republican leadership who believe the right wing of the party will soon forget are wrong again. Conservatives are well aware the same people who have managed to lose everything that was accomplished during the Reagan years are once again ignoring them.

Those who carry the conservative banner know that when their brand of politics is placed on the front burner…and followed to the letter, Republican candidates win every time.  They also know that those who moved away from traditional conservative positions and failed to keep promises made to the American people lost, and lost big.

“Now these same misguided and befuddled leaders think they can win the hearts and minds of the USA, by placing before the public a Republicrat”, say Harlen Marshall, a Navy veteran from Brownsville, Texas.  “They have given us John McCain, who isn’t even a good Republican-Lite.  He is trying to woo the center, the left and the right, all at the same time.  One would think that any knowledge of history would have shown him that nobody can be everything to everyone.”

The conservative base really has no interest in the slip-shad campaign of nothingness McCain is currently waging.  There is no way he is going to put out a clarion call and rally the troops with the right-left-center package he is bringing to the table.  If McCain, and by the same token every candidate running under the Republican banner want any chance to win in November, all had better trumpet as loudly as possible their return to conservative sanity.

Harry G. Riley is a retired Army colonel who earned his undergraduate degree in political science and did his graduate studies in public administration.  On the battlefield he earned the Silver Star, the Legion of Merit and the Bronze Star.  Just as he was in the front lines when in combat, Colonel Riley maintains a front rank position in conservative politics.  He is one of the organizers of the national counter-protest Gathering of Eagles, an army of veterans who wage counter demonstrations against the anti-war leftists.

Harry Riley is now leading what could very well be a conservative revolt.  The Internet is filled with military retirees, veterans, reservists and patriotic Americans of every stripe all responding to his call.

Says Riley, “John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee must agree to abide by a list of demands to attract conservative voters. “ The colonel feels that voting by accepting McCain’s current positions on major issues would not be to elect McCain, but to defeat Obama.  That would be a losing strategy.

He also feels that if McCain and the RNC accepted these conservative positions and demands, merely as a ploy to obtain votes and then developed what he calls “political amnesia” on their commitment, it would result in severe repercussions beginning with the 2010 Congressional elections.

What do conservatives want to see in the candidate they support?  They want an absolute, unequivocal commitment that we will Drill America, Drill Now, and Pay Less.  They can no longer accept the position we are now in, sitting on trillions of cubic feet of our own natural gas and billions of barrels of our own oil, while at the same time begging Arabs for more.

They want the same absolute, unequivocal commitment to build more refineries, upgrade existing refineries, develop clean, safe nuclear power, and disengage from initiatives that require more fuel than they produce.

They insist on a rock-solid commitment that the borders be closed and no illegals will get any amnesty or special consideration ahead of those waiting to enter this country legally.

The remainder of their list is equally strong.  They demand an absolute, unequivocal commitment:
…. that employers of illegals will be prosecuted.
…. that federal funding will be withdrawn from “sanctuary cities.”
…. that only strict constructionist federal and Supreme Court judges will be nominated and supported in hearings.  Conservative activists strongly believe that abiding by our Constitution built this country and that it will work for our future.
…. that no new tax bills will be signed.
…. that there will be no carbon tax schemes and no “so called” global warming or climate change agreements catering to fear mongers claiming man-made climate change.
…. that all earmarks will be vetoed.
…. that Social Security will be reformed and made solvent to end any scheme that will devastate the retirement of so many people.
…. that all forms of abortion will be opposed and embryonic stem cell research will also be opposed, but adult stem cell research will be supported.
…. that there will be opposition to same sex marriage, civil unions of same sex couples and support for marriage as a union between one man and one woman.
…. that there be an absolute commitment to retain “under God” in our pledge of allegiance and that our coins retain “in God we trust’.
…. that there be a relentless commitment to support an official renewed emphasis on POW and MIA recovery efforts and an apology from Senator McCain for his unacceptable conduct toward POW/MIA activists.
…. that active military, veterans, retirees and their family members receive priority consideration for health care, compensation, all earned support, equivalent to the priority given to secure our nation.
…. that if United States security is threatened, before American military forces are committed, Congress will issue a Declaration of War.

It is Riley’s belief and the feeling of numerous voters on the right that when John McCain and the Republican National Committee make these strong commitments they can earn the support of our nation’s conservatives for the party and for the candidacy.  Without such pledges, the Republican Party can look forward to a very bleak November.

[0] Trackbacks   [0] Pingbacks

One Man's Life of Mission

Harlingen, Texas, July 3, 2004:  “The bus maneuvered through narrow streets and on bumpy roads in a seemingly endless trip through pine woods and little hamlets.  Finally after 45 minutes of rattling and swaying, racing downhill and creeping uphill, the bus stopped at the top of a mountain:  Chiboj!”

This is how an elderly medical doctor, Enrique Trapp, describes his side trip to a small village, during a Protestant Medical Mission to San Raymundo, Guatemala.  It was his second year to join this humanitarian mission.  Prior to these medical journeys, he had been part of two Catholic Missions to Guatemala in 2003 and 2004.  In 1996 he was also on another Catholic Medical Mission to the same country.  Between those years, he joined two similar missions to Peru.

Even in its poverty, Dr. Trapp still loves Guatemala.  “I love the fabulously beautiful landscape and vegetation, it lovely people, especially the indigenous Mayan people.  I do not miss a single opportunity to return.”

The physician was joined on this mission trip by a team of 28 people, including dentists, hygienists, a pharmacist and his wife.  He explained that he appreciated Hadda coming all the more because he knew she had considerable discomfort in walking for any length of time. 

The big question on many minds is “Why would an 83 year old physician from Harlingen, Texas subject himself and his wife to harsh travel and primitive conditions, just to ease a little bit of pain and suffering.  Those who know this man also know the answer without even stating the question.  For more than 50 years he has served as a medical doctor in the Out Patient Clinic of Rio Grande State Center and the South Texas Health Care System.  This is a state operated medical facility that has provided medical treatment to thousands upon thousands of indigent people and working poor.  Doctor Trapp sees his periodic medical missions as a similar service to other people in need of his care.

The journey to Chiboj was just one stop on his travels. The mission was headquartered in San Raymundo, a town that also had little in the way of medical facilities. It does have the skilled help of Joyce Gring, a dedicated missionary and RN, who has served the community for the past 13 years.  She assisted the team in setting up its clinic, sorting and inventorying medications and assembling equipment for laboratory tests.  Nurse Gring also started processing the patients.  Soon the clinic was packed with people.  The medical mission was in operation.

From that primary clinic and headquarters, smaller teams spanned out to even more primitive locales.  For medical services in Chiboj a three-person team of the doctor, a retired veterinarian and a third year Guatemalan medical student were selected. “We set up our clinic in about a 7 x 10 feet room, with an adjoining bathroom, but no running water”, says Trapp. “A table to examine patients and two chairs.  About 8 to 10 people were waiting. ‘We can take it leisurely, we thought.’ But, the more patients we saw, the more lined up.”

During the remainder of that working day 56 patients were seen.  About one third were adults the remainder being children and infants.  Enrique Trapp, the only medical doctor on the mission, treated people with respiratory tract infections, gastrointestinal problems, non-specific diarrheas, parasitosis, gastritis, arthritis and high blood pressure in the elderly.

One elderly woman walked with a severe limp. He asked what happened?
“Oh, doctor”, she replied. “I broke my hip 25 years ago, but there was no medical attention was available.”

Another woman had a well-healed abdominal scar from a Hysterectomy.  The stitches were still in the scar.  She was asked when she had received the operation.  She responded that it had been five years ago, but since the stitches didn’t bother her, she didn’t bother them.

These people had been evicted from their land in a fertile valley to the ridgeline of a hill.  According to the missionary pastor that regularly served the community, the villagers were chased from their lands by a military force using threats to machetes, clubs and other weapons.  They were given the hilltop as compensation and told the government would provide water and electricity.  That promise was never kept.

Trapp and his team moved on to a remote locale identified only as Loma 3.  Another group from their mission was already in the village building stoves, leveling a floor, laying cement block and installing steel building siding.  In a neighborhood of thatched huts, this would be a building where food could be prepared much more efficiently than the current method of cooking over open fires.

This very poor village had an unbelievable number of children, but the poorest parents refused to send them to school, because their labor is needed in the fields.  The site also brought a similar mix of patients, including diabetics, orthopedic problems and even a gynecological concern that had to be referred to another team, expected to arrive in about a month.

As the team concluded its humanitarian journey to Guatemala, Enrique Trapp, who lived in that country from age 3 to 17, reflected on the real question of the hour.  Did they make a difference?

His personal answer to that question is, “I think, we have been good ambassador of this great Country, especially at a time when we are being blamed for about everything going wrong in the world.  (We do this by) Showing interest, compassion and willingness to help. Have we helped the disadvantaged spiritually to get on the right track?  Have we made a difference in the state of their health?  Here and there, yes.  With the relatively small problems, yes.  But in the big picture?”

Doctor Trapp, with the knowledge formed from a lifetime of service to humanity believes health providers from everywhere, along with governmental resources should join forces and make these contributions to the poor of the world even more meaningful.  While he waits for this to happen, he will continue his daily care of those from among the working poor and indigent community at the Rio Grande State Center/South Texas Health Care System Out Patient Clinic…. And perhaps, just perhaps…undertake another medical mission.

[0] Trackbacks   [0] Pingbacks