One good thing: Americans got to test drive socialism

FPI / May 15, 2020

By Frank Luber

Even in the worst of times, and certainly today's pandemic-induced lockdown of America qualifies as one of the worst in our lifetime, there is a "silver lining",  if you are an optimist.

In September of 2019, President Donald Trump went before the UN General Assembly and told representatives of member states that socialism is "a destroyer of societies" and is "one of the most serious challenges the world faces".  Since most of the UN member states are led by tin-horn dictators, communists and strong arm regimes, it had to be unsettling and unnerving for them.

But, Trump even had more for them to digest as they ran for a quick swig of Pepto-Bismol.

"America will never be a socialist country," said Trump who added "socialism is just power for the ruling class" and reminded those totalitarians that it was "socialism and communism" that was responsible for over 100-million deaths due to executions, starvation and poverty.  Another swig of Pepto-Bismol.

Trump may well be the first president to make socialism a campaign issue. He vowed several times during his campaign rallies that America will never be a socialist country under his watch.

Of course he had a lot of help from Democrat presidential candidates Bernie Sanders, an avowed socialist, Elizabeth Warren and others who effectively nudged Joe Biden to embrace many of their socialist ideas.

Spend, spend, spend.  Free, free, free.  It's music to the ears of would-be socialist leaders and for a lot of their unsuspecting followers.

Jorge Galicia is from Venezuela and has experienced first-hand the perils of socialism.  In an article for The Epoch Times, Galicia said "socialism doesn't happen overnight with a dictator sweeping in and making violent changes.  It happens progressively."  He added, "It sounds really good (all the spending and free stuff) when the politicians sell it to you, but when you try to implement it, it destroys lives."

That brings us to the "silver lining" as we suffer through this coronavirus pandemic.  The lockdowns, panic-buying, empty store shelves, travel restrictions, factory closures, bankruptcies, suspension of medical procedures, threatened arrests and fines for disobeying dubious executive orders by politicians have given us a taste of socialism we could have never predicted here in America.

We have all been able to sample socialism for ourselves without casting a vote.

Fortunately, this pandemic crisis and all its restrictive and draconian orders will be temporary. At least we hope so.

However, there are those in the Democrat Party who see this time period as an opportunity to not only block President Trump from winning a second term but to replace him with a candidate who will create more government dependency and more central government control  over our lives.

A candidate like that (take your choice of any of today’s Democrats) would result not in a temporary experience with socialism but rather a <u>lasting</u> one.

It's a decision America will make in November and gives the incumbent president  not just words of warning regarding socialism but something to illustrate by current example what he meant by "socialism destroys societies."

He won’t have to reference Venezuela anymore. Socialism is for all to see and experience right here at home.

How did we like it?

Trump has no intent of destroying what he so successfully built up before the pandemic. As the 2020 presidential campaign heats up, this “silver lining” adds another potent arrow in his quiver en route to re-election.

Frank Luber is a broadcast journalist who has spent more than 60-years informing Marylanders of current events via radio and television. After starting his radio career in Annapolis he worked for WCAO Radio and WJZ TV in Baltimore. Last year he completed 31 years as a Talk Show Host and News Anchor on WCBM Radio in Baltimore.

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