Jul 21, 2020 | Healthcare, Liberty Articles
By Harold Pease, Ph.D.
Last April the Washington Post published an article “Will Americans wear masks to prevent coronavirus spread?” It listed a variety of reasons why some will not wear masks. Unfortunately it missed the main one—masks help make and keep America afraid. The media, WHO and the CDC have been wrong on virtually every aspect of the virus, from early estimates of American death predictions from 2 to 3 million to even the practicality of wearing a mask. For many wearing masks represents submission to those with little regard for the Bill of Rights, not selfish insensitivity to others who might get the virus from the unmasked, as those who wish to take our liberty openly say.
One bluntly said, “If Donald Trump had not been elected president it would not be hyped.” Another, “Nothing more will be said of it if Joe Biden is elected president.”
The media began with the horrific death prediction of millions. When those numbers were not high enough opponents did two things to inflate them: one by counting deaths with Covid-19 as the same as those dying from Covid-19 and two, infecting nursing homes with patients with the virus. Turns out that more than 40% of those dying were in nursing homes. When a drug used to treat malaria—hydroxy-chloroquine—was found to cure the coronavirus as well, instead of excitement over the finding, the media and their accomplices unsuccessfully did everything to discredit its use. Clearly their agenda was to make and keep Americans afraid.
It is clear to most that the virus had been weaponized for the election of 2020. It damaged Trump’s best economy in U.S. history, nearly ended the popular Trump rallies, justified Biden’s non-aggressive presidential campaigning because of his obvious cognitive failings, provided the rational for three or less presidential debates and vote by mail efforts—all benefiting the Democrat Party.
The absolute best strategy for keeping Americans afraid is to keep them wearing and practicing the symbols of fear—masks, distancing, partially closed churches and in small groups. It is a constant reminder that the emergency is present and ongoing. The next best is to keep children from returning to school. That there exists no science that keeping children out of school is a benefit to them does not matter, nor that virtually all of Europe has opened their classrooms.
Nor did it matter that the Asian Pandemic of 1957 with a death of 116,000 Americans, or the Hong Kong Pandemic of 1968 with 100,000 deaths, may still be more than the 130,000 dying from Covid-19, subtracting at least 25% of those who did not actually die from Covid-19, but with it. The populations were much lower then and they wore no masks, closed no businesses, restaurants, churches, sporting events, schools, colleges or large gatherings. The population of America is 328,239,523. Do the math, dividing this number by 130,000 deceased equals .0004 X 100 =.04%—infinitesimally low. Dividing by the three million who got it, and recovered, .009 or 0.9% is not even 1% of the population.
This is why the vast majority of Americans cannot identify a family member or close friend dying from Covid-19. Still, the Left has Americans paralyzed and perpetually afraid. The death rate of the flu two years ago, 61,000, did not even make the news, but this is a presidential election.
Again the media have lost credibility. The same sources now pushing the narrative that those not wearing masks are doing so because of their selfishness and insensitivity toward others are the same people and outlets that were wrong at every turn respecting the coronavirus.
But none of this is new!! We count nine times when these same media outlets, organizations, and persons attempted to upend, even by coup d’etat, the 2016 presidential election.
Let’s review these attempts three happening simultaneously before Trump took office. Spygate the Trump Tower wiretapping, demonstrations in cities all over the United States (presumably funded by George Sores, to refuse the results of the 2016 election with signs “Not My President”), and finally, the Republican “Never Trumpers” movement. Once inaugurated the effort to get someone in his administration to declare him unfit so as to use the 25th Amendment to remove him followed. Then the Russia Hoax and the resultant 2 1/2 year Robert Mueller Investigation. This followed by disclosure of the FBI/CIA Coup attempt to unseat him, next the Ukrainian Hoax, followed by the failed Impeachment attempt. Nine easily documented attempts to remove Trump from office. On issues relating to Trump it is hard to find anything upon which these media were accurate.
Trump endured three congressional investigations: the Mueller and Horowitz Reports, each exonerating him, and the US Senate Impeachment trial acquitting him. Trump suffered more unjustified opposition/persecution than all U.S. presidents combined.
So what is the main reason so many refuse to wear masks? Americans cannot be convinced that politicalization of the coronavirus is not the 10th attempt to oust Trump and bring down America and the anarchists the 11th. Many feel used, betrayed and undefended as they watch these same sources excuse non-wearing of masks for rioters and anarchists but condemn such for the rest. If most cannot identify a family member that has died from this pandemic after almost six months of headlines of death, why would they trust these falsifying sources? To many the preservation of the Bill of Rights and not wearing the symbols of control and fear are all they have to resist those who want to make and keep Americans afraid and take our liberty.
Dr. Harold Pease is a syndicated columnist and an expert on the United States Constitution. He has dedicated his career to studying the writings of the Founding Fathers and applying that knowledge to current events. He taught history and political science from this perspective for over 30 years at Taft College. Newspapers have permission to publish this column. To read more of his weekly articles, please visit www.LibertyUnderFire.org.
May 25, 2020 | Economy, Healthcare, Liberty Articles
So many things are hitting us fast, hard and from all directions. It is increasingly difficult to sift through the messages to find truth as everything—even a virus—has been weaponized. So honest people have to ask, “Is this about the election or the virus?” Who benefits most?
I was a boy when the Asian Flu Pandemic, originating in Singapore, attacked America leaving 116,000 dead in 1957. I was in college when more than 100,000 people in the U.S. died of the highly contagious Hong Kong Flu in the 1968 Pandemic (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). I contracted both. Both exceeded the death rate of COVID-19.
No one spoke of shutting down the economy, businesses, schools and churches. The media did not frighten us with nightly death tallies and Congress did not rush forward with grants and loans valued at 4 trillion dollars to help ease difficult times. People were not quarantined to their homes for weeks—even months. No-one wore face masks or social distanced six feet from others. No one was arrested for going to work or being on public beaches. No governors openly violated the 1st and 4th Amendments of the Constitution. We did not stop shaking hands or attending public dances. NOBODY WAS PARANOID OF NORMAL CONTACT.
Nor did we do any of these things just two years ago when 61,000 people died of influenza in the 2017-18 flu season or last year when 34,000 died of the same. It was life. The media in modern history had never focused on the body count of flu that takes thousands each year—until now. Nobody thought to benefit politically.
Until now no country self destructed their economy over a pandemic. They came and went and the economies thereafter remained good because we let them alone. Even the Twenties were prosperous times following the Spanish Flu of 1918 that took approximately 675,000 in the United States of a much smaller population. As bad as that was, at least six times worse in death, we did not shut down the economy by governmental decree, make it unlawful to go to work and church, or violate the Bill of Rights.
So why now? Because we have been made to be afraid and stay afraid.
Death in America with the present Wuhan Coronavirus is, as of May 20, 2020, at 90,340. “Now we know that it’s likely to be closer to maybe a really aggressive flu season” (Ingram Angle, April 23, 2020). This is the number who died WITH COVID-19. The number who died FROM COVID 19 is at least 25% less—probably far less.
What we know now of the Wuhan Coronavirus is that children are only minimally affected and unlikely to pass it on and that it overwhelmingly takes those over 65 with preexisting conditions. The Journal of American Medical Association, April 22, 2020, concluded that 94% of coronavirus patients in New York City hospitals suffered from preexisting conditions.
The odds of you dying from this virus from those contracting it “can vary from, at most, eight-tenths of a percent in New York City to two-one-hundredths of a percent in Phoenix.” (“An Advantaged Disease, Indeed.” By William J. Bennett & Seth Leibsohn, April 06, 2020).
What we know now is that states like South Dakota and Georgia, without lockdowns damaged their economies least. States like Florida and Texas that protected the aged had minimal death rates next to states like New York City and New Jersey.
So again, is this about the election or the virus? In the questions below which political party benefits most from making a “somewhat normal” pandemic into the most fearful event in a century so close to an election?
How do you kill the greatest economy, the greatest unemployment records, and Trump’s gigantic rallies attended by 20% Democrats, just prior to the election? Why are blue state governors so slow to open their economies before November 3, if possible? Which party is most advantaged by an economy unable to get back to normal?
How would fear of human contact and normalcy cause the people to want mail-in voting, which is said to advantage one political party—especially in swing states?
Which is advantaged by keeping the people in fear? Why is the CDC so adamant about counting deaths WITH COVID-19 rather than only deaths FROM COVID-19? Why did Democrat governors send COVID patients to nursing homes in Washington, Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey especially when, in the latter two the hospital ship Comfort was available but mostly unused? Was it to inflate the death numbers? Why is the proven and vastly effective drug hydroxychloroquine opposed by Democrat media outlets and governors?
How more easily could the Democrat media shift the narrative from the alleged Biden-Burisma-Ukraine and China Scandals and divert investigations on FBI and DOJ and alleged FISA corruption to COVID-19? Finally, how better could the media shelter Biden from past corruption, obvious cognitive problems, and coming devastating debate performance?
So, is this about the election or the virus? Given the fact that Trump has been the target of constant Coup d’etat attempts to remove him by the same media who hyped the fear on this virus, I think it fair to pose this question.
Author
Dr. Harold Pease is a syndicated columnist and an expert on the United States Constitution. He has dedicated his career to studying the writings of the Founding Fathers and applying that knowledge to current events. He taught history and political science from this perspective for over 30 years at Taft College. Newspapers have permission to publish this column. To read more of his weekly articles, please visit www.LibertyUnderFire.org.
May 4, 2020 | Healthcare, Liberty Articles
Two Bakersfield California physicians, Dan Erickson and Arten Massihi, recently reported, “We’ve seen 1227 deaths in the state of California. That means you have a 0.03 chance of dying from COVID-19 in the state of California,” and for the state of New York,” the highest in the land, “19,410 out of 19 million people, which is a 0.1% chance of dying from COVID….” This is, of course, of those infected. But this remains less than the seasonal flu of 2017-18 when “about 62,000 deaths, or 0.13 chance of death from flu in the United States. So the lethality of COVID-19 is much less”—even in New York City. The seasonal flu even had a vaccine to limit contagion, COVID-19 did not.
The doctors explained how the immune system works and how it naturally adapts to the environment. “When you’re a little child crawling on the ground, putting stuff in your mouth, viruses and bacteria come in, you form an antigen antibody complex, you form IgG, IgM, this is how your immune system is built.” Dr. Dan Erickson continued, “When you take human beings and you say go into your house, clean all your counters, wipe all of them down, you’re going to kill 99% of viruses and bacteria. Wear a mask, don’t go outside. What does that do to our immune system? Our immune system is used to touching. We share bacteria, staphylococcus, streptococcal bacteria, viruses, we develop an immune response, dealing to this stuff.”
So why is sheltering in place not always good? “When you take that away from me,” Erickson continues, “My immune system drops as I shelter in place…. You keep me there for months, it drops more. Sheltering in place decreases your immune system and then as we all come out of shelter in place with a lower immune system, and start trading viruses, bacteria, what do you think’s going to happen. Disease is going to spike. And then you’ve got disease spike amongst the hospital system.…” His answer, we “should lift this ban because the data is showing us it’s time to lift” (Physician video at https://youtu.be/xfLVxx_lBLU).
YouTube just removed the physician’s video with the message [This video has been removed for violating YouTube’s Community Guidelines]. This is not the view that the Democratic news outlets are likely to allow their people to see. YouTube only censors political content they consider to be on the right side of the political spectrum. However a five minute portion of the physician’s video can be found at https://www.banned.video/watch?id=5ea5cbfb028f5600167acf89. under the title “We Are Being Set Up For The Biggest October Surprise In American History” but it too may vanish soon by YouTube censors.
Nor will we know from the doctors that the epidemic is descending at a very rapid pace. The doctors reported, “The hospitals their ICU’s are empty, essentially, and they’re shutting down floors, they’re furloughing patients, they’re furloughing doctors because we just don’t have the volume. We are busy with paperwork for COVID.” They spoke of the pressure upon them to list COVID as the cause of death when other factors could have been the cause. None of this fits the panic narrative the censors wish us to continue.
Recent studies on both coasts confirm that even under the most restrictive measures possible in New York and California, the virus slipped through. In Los Angeles where Mayor Eric Garcetti bragged about controlling 99.9% of the population through drones, licenses plate readings and cellphones and that he would “hunt down that last 1 %,” presumably for punishment, it got through.
“A new study by researcher’s at the University of SouthernCalifornia, tested large groups of people in Los Angeles County for coronavirus antibodies. They found that as of early April, up to 5.6 % of the entire county had contracted the illness. That means up to 320,000 adults in Los Angeles apparently had already had it. At the time the official number of infected people was about 8,000…. The virus had spread throughout a huge population right in the middle of the most restricted quarantine in American History” (Tucker Carlson Tonight, April 23, 2020). The lockdown did not and could not stop it.
Nor had herculean closedown measures slowed the virus in hardest hit New York. It came right through. Governor Andrew Cuomo cited a study showing antibodies to be 13.9 % of New Yorkers. He said, “That means 2.7 million people [were] infected statewide. That means with approx. 15,500 total fatalities, the death is approx. O.5% of people infected.” Again, it came right through. The immune systems of most everyone handled it fine, pretty much as it does the common flu—only 81 out of a 100,000 died. By comparison Florida’s death per 100,000 was 4. And South Dakota’s death per 100,000 was only 1 person (The Ingram Angle April 23, 2020).
Coronavirus deaths are serious, of course, even more so if you, or someone you love, was one of the fatalities. But science has not shown that shutdowns, or stay in place measures, worked and no area forced lockdown measures more than New York City and Los Angeles. It may be the worst thing we did. We should lift the ban immediately lest we spike other worse diseases as the doctors warned.
Dr. Harold Pease is a syndicated columnist and an expert on the United States Constitution. He has dedicated his career to studying the writings of the Founding Fathers and applying that knowledge to current events. He taught history and political science from this perspective for over 30 years at Taft College. Newspapers have permission to publish this column. To read more of his weekly articles, please visit www.LibertyUnderFire.org.
Author
Dr. Harold Pease is a syndicated columnist and an expert on the United States Constitution. He has dedicated his career to studying the writings of the Founding Fathers and applying that knowledge to current events. He taught history and political science from this perspective for over 30 years at Taft College. Newspapers have permission to publish this column. To read more of his weekly articles, please visit www.LibertyUnderFire.org.
Apr 13, 2020 | Economy, Healthcare, Liberty Articles
When President Donald Trump mobilized a health squad to advise him and the nation on the seriousness of the coronavirus epidemic he was given projections of death vastly exceeding the number of Americans who died in the 1918 Spanish Flu Pandemic. Initially these numbers were 2.2 million Americans. These later were reduced to 240,000. The latest IHME model, just out, has it at nearly 82,000 by August 1, 2020.
Now let’s be clear! All these numbers are unacceptable and involve real people: fathers, mothers grandparents and occasionally a child but always someone loved. Life matters. Any death is serious, of course, but this is only 20,000 more than death from the flu season of 2017-2018.
Why does this matter? Because it was these extreme projections of 2.2 million that were used as cause to shut down the economy and increase our indebtedness by perhaps $4 trillion dollars—an indebtedness more than all wars combined in American history.
What also concerns me is that most Democratic media outlets fed these panic inducing death counts from day one, even before evidence confirmed them. They now seem almost disappointed 1) with these new lower numbers, 2) that a drug used to treat malaria, hydroxy-chloroquine, is able to treat also the coronavirus, and 3) that this crisis is going to go away far too early. Democrats still can not give Trump a win on managing this crisis. They loaded Congress’s 2 trillion dollar relief bill with pork that had nothing to do with the virus itself, but did prolong passage of the bill designed to help millions of Americans desperately needing it.
My biggest concern, however, remains the weaponization of death projections seemingly to keep hysteria alive and well—and for what possible purpose? Who benefits from this hysteria? The media in modern history have never focused on the body count of flus that take thousands each year.
I am writing this on April 8, using the newly released death projections for April. By the time newspapers print this column on April 10 the projected death rate will be 22,239. By the time LibertyUnderFire subscribers read this April 14, deaths are projected to be 34,068. One week thereafter, April 17, it will be 43,279. By April 21 they are to be 54,857 By April 24, they are to be 62,089 and by April 28, they will be 68,938. Projections to Aug 1st will be 81,766 dead Americans. Deaths per day are to peak April 16 at 3,130 (IHME, COVID-19 Projections assuming full social distancing through May 2020, United States of America view at https://covid19.healthdata.org/united-states-of-america). Readers can compare these numbers against reality as we approach these dates.
Still, the reduction of death by the panicked media is, for the rest of us, manna from heaven compared to the projections just 10 days before of 2.2 million dead Americans. The latest projected death in the United States of 82,000 in three months is unlikely to be reached. It might turn out to be even less than the 61,000 who died of influenza in the 2017-2018 season. Most of us may never know anyone who actually died from it. Body count of the deceased did not lead the news every night causing us to hunker in our homes wondering if we would be next.
So here are the facts that are underreported or ignored by the panicked press The odds of you getting this virus are much smaller than the hype, “based on the population tested, … rates can vary from, at most, eight-tenths of a percent in New York City to two-one-hundredths of a percent in Phoenix.” The few out of 330 million Americans that actually get this virus at least 98% will recover from it. There are models showing 50% of the population may have already had it, never knew they had it, and recovered (“An Advantaged Disease, Indeed.” By William J. Bennett & Seth Leibsohn, April 06, 2020). With these facts accurately reported it is unlikely that we would have shut down the economy.
They did not tell us of the 34,000 who died of influenza in last year’s 2018-2019 flu season, nor that we lose PER MONTH “about 54,000 Americans to heart disease; 50,000 to cancer; 14,000 to asthma, bronchitis, and emphysema; 12,000 to stroke; 10,000 to Alzheimer’s; 7,000 to diabetes; 5,600 to drug overdoses; and 4,700 to influenza and pneumonia.” These deaths give us over 157,000 deaths PER MONTH” and no-one shuts down the economy or cries out for a $2 Trillion stimulus package. Apparently only the coronavirus, amplified by the Democratic press, alerts the panic response.
Again all life matters and these too are horrifying unacceptable death numbers involving those we love. The media have no right to drive a panic without accurate, proportional (including the omissions noted above), supporting evidence that potentially could damage the economy beyond repair for years.
One piece of knowledge that would have helped reduce the media hysteria for young people is that only 7% of those who got it were under 50 years of age. We knew this early on. Allow them to return to work ASAP. Perhaps a better response to this epidemic would have been rather than shut down the economy, quarantine those over 65 and tell those younger not to visit them for a time.
Dr. Harold Pease is a syndicated columnist and an expert on the United States Constitution. He has dedicated his career to studying the writings of the Founding Fathers and applying that knowledge to current events. He taught history and political science from this perspective for over 30 years at Taft College. Newspapers have permission to publish this column. To read more of his weekly articles, please visit www.LibertyUnderFire.org.
Nov 4, 2019 | Healthcare, Liberty Articles
By Harold Pease, Ph. D
Last January 2019, Americans were stunned when they heard Virginia Lt. Governor Ralph Northam (D-Va.) ex-physician casually infer infanticide after a botched abortion. After birth, he said, “the infant would be kept comfortable. The infant would be resuscitated if that’s what the mother and the family desired, and then a discussion would ensue between the physicians & mother.” Until that moment few thought abortion could degenerate to infanticide.
But infanticide is back on the front lines in the weeks-long trial of pro-life journalists David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt of the Center for Medical Progress (CMP). They are charged with filming casual conversations of Planned Parenthood practicers in the Summer of 2015, without their permission, regarding the selling of aborted body parts. In it the desire to have the baby born with a heart beating is preferred. The two face 15 felony counts which, if convicted, could result in up to ten years in prison. Sadly, this story is mostly ignored by the national presses but LibertyUnderFire views it as a giant sign of national moral decay when a population is willing to accept infanticide at all. Many believe the wrong people are on trial.
Daleiden and Merritt argue that “California’s penal code, enacted under the California Invasion of Privacy Act, excludes any conversation that can be reasonably overheard or recorded.” (Brandon Showalter, “Daleiden hearing: Planned Parenthood staffer admits to supplying aborted body parts to broker,” Sept. 5, 2019) They also site Section 633.5 which “allows the covert taping of confidential information when collecting evidence of violent crimes.” To them abortion is a violent crime to the one being killed, more especially, babies with heartbeats outside the womb.
When fetuses are known to be for sale, measures are taken to preserve them in the best sellable condition possible. In one audio clip an “abortion consultant is heard saying that abortionists will dilate the cervix to get an intact baby if they know a researcher wants a whole body.” Another “shows a former medical director for Planned Parenthood in Los Angeles flippantly talking about prices of fetal remains while sipping wine and joking about wanting a ‘Lamborghini.’ She also spoke about adjusting abortion procedure technique to make it less ‘crunchy,’ therefore keeping baby body parts better intact” (Deborah Bunting, “Abortionist Testifies That Babies Likely Born Alive in Abortion to Harvest Their Body Parts for Sale,” Sept. 20, 2019).
But the most damning testimony came from Dr. Forrest Smith, an obstetrician gynecologist, admitting having performed at least 50,000 abortions over 25 years of practice. Called by the defense as an expert on the subject, he said that “not only did Daleiden’s and Merritt’s now-famous videos expose the gruesome truth about the abortion industry’s trade in fetal body parts, but that things are even worse than they knew.”
Smith told the San Francisco court that “it is almost certain that some of the abortionists featured in the undercover videos deliberately altered abortion procedures in a way that both led to the birth of living babies with beating hearts, and put women at risk. The goal in these cases would be to obtain fresher, more intact organs.” Adding: “There’s no question in my mind that at least some of these fetuses were live births.”
One reason for such certainty was that the safest normal way to abort was to get in and out as quickly as possible. Changing procedures is risky to the mother. Normally one uses digoxin to stop the babies heart before abortion as that defines death. “The baby’s heart will continue to beat for six-and-a-half to seven minutes.” Most abortionists want to ensure that the baby is fully dead before extraction. Intentionally failing to use digoxin signals that they want the baby born live. Another is the over use of misoprostol which shortens delivery from three days to one by the enlargement of the cervix. This apparently is what Planned Parenthood was doing which is sometimes referred to as fetus falling or fetus expulsion—this often live.
Smith testified that “the proper standard of care for babies born alive during an abortion was to institute promptly all resuscitative care.” Adding, “If this was not done, the fetus dies by neglect.”
Dr. Therese Deisher, confirmed Smith’s testimony. “They want those babies coming out with beating hearts,” she said, adding that Smith’s testimony made it “very clear that this is intentional” (“Abortionist testifies at Daleiden hearing: ‘No question…some of these fetuses were live births,’” Sept. 18, 2019). Fetus expulsion is the easiest way to get a whole body intact and alive.
Why the importance of a beating heart to researchers? “The babies’ hearts have to be harvested while still beating … as otherwise the organ would have no research value because once in ‘contracture,’ the heart’s cells would no longer be capable of regenerative growth.” Institutions receiving beating hearts, like Stanford University, must immediately place them on a Langendorff perfusion machine to insure their continued beating ((Stephen Wynne, “Daleiden, Merritt trial reveals beating hearts cut from abortion survivors,” Oct. 11, 2019).
The trial is expected to continue through mid-November and the issue is not getting the coverage a “civilized” nation deserves. One thing is clear. Infanticide for profit, now more common place than imagined, would never have been tolerated by any generation in American history prior to our own.
Dr. Harold Pease is a syndicated columnist and an expert on the United States Constitution. He has dedicated his career to studying the writings of the Founding Fathers and applying that knowledge to current events. He taught history and political science from this perspective for over 30 years at Taft College. Newspapers have permission to publish this column. To read more of his weekly articles, please visit www.LibertyUnderFire.org.
Aug 5, 2019 | Healthcare, Liberty Articles, Taxes
By Harold Pease, Ph. D.
I met R. Sellner Reese about 9 years ago and found her story one of the most compelling and unusual ever; she lived under two of the most murderous socialist governments ever: Adolph Hitler and Joseph Stalin. “I was born under Hitler, grew up under Stalin and worked under communist dictators Walter Ulbricht and Erich Honnecker in East Germany,” she told me. Few had more practical experience under socialism than she.
She and her three children came to America in 1985 for political and religious freedom requesting political asylum. Her main message: “socialism never worked under these regimes and it will never work in America either.” Even then, under Obamacare, she saw America falling into the same trap of repeated lies and false promises that duped her German friends and neighbors.
She spoke to my classes when I got to the section dealing with socialism. I introduced her as having lived under two of the three biggest tyrants in world history, with China’s Mao Tse Tung being the third. She vehemently objected to my using the term communist instead of socialists. She made it clear that there was no difference and that the distinction only existed in the West. “We only used the term socialist.” I never made that mistake again. I had tried to separate the two as though one was tolerable, the other the more violent of the same thing.
“Hitler promised National Socialism but gave us tyranny instead,” she said. “Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it, and eventually they will believe it.” Some warned the people but the promises were so desirable and powerful. “My friend’s father told other people, that Hitler is a liar and will bring Germany down. One evening, two men came to his apartment and took him in for questioning before the police. Five days later, the wife received a letter that he has passed away with a heart problem. The family was told his grave was at the city cemetery. The family was so afraid to ask questions, and nobody knew what the Gestapo had done. No paper concerning his death was ever found. I personally know so many people who have suffered in the Nazi time.”
A second Hitler promise: “Through clever and constant application of propaganda, people can be made to see paradise as hell, and also the other way around, to consider the most wretched sort of life as paradise.” The socialist promise that the government would take from the rich and give to the poor only made everyone poor and resulted in human suffering and death, and eventually war. “In my school class of 40 children, only 8 had a father after the war. Women had to take all the responsibility for family and their future.” So much for the socialist promises.
After the war the Soviets held the eastern part of Germany where she lived, (renamed East Germany) under socialism with Joseph Stalin. “We had to learn how wonderful the Red Army was and that socialism will take over the whole world to make all people free.” She remembered the fruitless promises of prosperity under Hitler. Socialism never delivered then or under Stalin. “We had little food and I never saw a banana, and chocolate was only a dream. We had to stand in long waiting lines for food. When I finally got to the counter, there might not be anything left. To buy a car, there was a 10-15 year waiting time. Of course, you must have cash!”
Still, even midst all this poverty, the message went out, “SOCIALISM IS THE ONLY TRUTH ON THIS EARTH!” But the real truth was that the people could not choose their education or occupation. “The government had control over your personal life, our work, living place, childcare, school and the ‘STASI’ (Socialistic Secret Service) constantly watched us. If you resisted you ended up in prison and your children could be taken from you and adopted.”
A visit to Russia, the motherland of socialism, in 1982 revealed the failure of the promise of socialism there as well. “The citizens of Russia were so poor. Bad housing, not enough food and clothing.”
In 1985 Reese was finally able to leave socialist East Germany and come to the United States under political asylum. What she sees here in recent years is too similar to the socialist worlds’ from which she escaped, Reese says, and it frightens her that we are taking the same path of forced sharing the wealth and socialized medicine and so many other things, and she is forced to watch tyranny return one more time.
When she sees Congress having its own healthcare plan rather than taking the same one forced on the people, visions of privileged healthcare for the socialist leaders in East Germany comes to mind. She experienced rationed healthcare when her mother was declared too old for an operation and died two years later because resources would be better spent on the young, but knew that such would not be denied a government official.
Reese then warned, .”It can happen in America!!” What is happening in America right now is scary! I’d like to tell everybody, socialism will never work in America either.”
What would she now say with the Democratic Party openly promoting socialism.
Dr. Harold Pease is a syndicated columnist and an expert on the United States Constitution. He has dedicated his career to studying the writings of the Founding Fathers and applying that knowledge to current events. He taught history and political science from this perspective for over 30 years at Taft College. Newspapers have permission to publish this column. To read more of his weekly articles, please visit www.LibertyUnderFire.org
