Not the Headlines - Threats to Democracy Pt. 1

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The Listening Tube presents not the headlines.

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I'm Bob Woodley from The Listening Tube. I'm no expert on world history, but I've lived through the last 60 plus years of it. I've lived in historically significant places, including Guam, with its pivotal roles in World War II and Vietnam and as an important part of the United States presence in the Pacific, including West Berlin, the former and current capital of Germany. But when I was there, it was surrounded by a wall and was entirely inside a communist country. Plus, I would be remiss if I neglected to mention Pennsylvania, the birthplace of freedom. Philadelphia, to be precise, but just a few hours' drive from where I grew up. I was never a fan of history while in school, but when I started witnessing it for myself, I grew a greater appreciation for it. I also began to pay closer attention to it. There's a saying that goes, Those who forget history are destined to repeat it. And when you've been paying attention for as long as I have, patterns emerge. New events replace old events. Sentiments change. What was once popular is popular again. You know what I wish was popular again? Love's baby soft. Not bell bottoms, though. Too much flappin'. But the bell bottom line is that having lived through the Cold War and now a quarter of a century removed from the September eleventh, two thousand one terror attacks, there seems to be a lot of people who have not just forgotten, but have never experienced those types of geopolitical upheavals. And without any reference, don't understand what the consequences of poor decisions may bring. As a country, the United States has always relied upon its founding document, the Constitution. To provide some reference, it's been regarded as the foundation of the greatest and most successful form of government the world has ever known. The Constitution has led to the most innovative and diverse country on earth, where the chance of success based on merit or talent or skill can catapult anyone to heights never imagined. Nobody is promised success, but everyone is capable. Everyone has a different definition of success, and most of us are lucky to be happy with our everyday lives. It doesn't mean we can't stop trying to achieve more. It doesn't mean we can't choose to live in a van down by the river. Well, where I live, that would be the Susquehanna River, and that's not actually a bad way to live if you can pull it off. The Constitution makes all of it possible. So that's the benchmark. Democrats and Republicans and libertarians and independents can all agree that the foundation of the United States of America is the Constitution of the United States of America. It's right in the title.

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Not since the end of the Cold War in 1991 have I seen such popularity in socialism in America. Here's a case of forgetting history and repeating it. What seems to be forgotten is that socialism has almost always led to communism, and when it didn't, it led to Nazism. Living in West Berlin at the height of the Cold War, I learned a bit about both. But by the time I got there, Nazism was outlawed. In fact, they even had to make special album covers for KISS Records that didn't have the lightning bolt S's in the logo for sale only in Berlin. I have several of them from the record store in the bottom floor of the Europa Center. I don't know if it's still there. I had more, but they were stolen, so my mom got me more of them when her and my dad traveled through Europe one summer before the wall came down. Berlin was divided into four parts the American sector, the British sector, the French sector, and the Russian sector. The first three sectors had a wall around them. The Russian sector was open to the rest of East Germany. The part inside the wall was ninety miles from West Germany. You needed special papers to drive between the two or take a train. Here's the part where it gets weird. If you lived in the American, British, or French sector of Berlin, you could travel to the Russian sector as a tourist. You needed proper paperwork and transportation across the border was provided by bus, and then you were able to walk around or use public transportation. We were allowed to buy prepared food from street vendors, but we weren't allowed to shop in grocery stores. There was a limited supply of goods, and they were reserved for the people who lived in East Berlin, or the Russian sector of Berlin. In order to buy anything, I had to exchange my dollars to West German Marx and then to East German marks. Because of the exchange rate, a hundred bucks got me so much cash that I had to buy a wallet to put it all in. I also bought a flag of the Soviet Union, both in a little boutique along the path we were led by who knows who. I still have the flag. I don't remember what happened to the cash that I didn't use. There were certain buildings we weren't allowed to photograph. I did get to watch some Russian soldiers in a changing of the guard type ceremony where the sidewalk had indentations from the years of boot heels hitting it at exactly the same place. Many buildings still had marks on them from bullets and other projectiles hitting them during the Battle of Berlin in 1945. Meanwhile, inside the wall was a bustling, freedom-loving, and perhaps the most cosmopolitan city in the world. Berlin was the spy capital of the world at the time. The divide between communism and capitalism was at its peak. But wouldn't you know it? Some media guy comes along and sets the stage for what would lead to the fall of the Soviet Union. Ronald Reagan exposed communism as an unsustainable concept through investment and innovation. America didn't start the space race, but won it, and still leads it. Communism just can't keep up with capitalism. Socialism stifles innovation and reward for effort and success.

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You can hang your hat on that.

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Are you a fan of professional sports? The National Basketball Association? The National Football League? The National Hockey League? Major League Baseball? You can say goodbye to them under socialism. The Democratic Socialists of America have already said they want the government to control corporations. They want to eliminate millionaires and billionaires. Those are the people who own the teams. Those are the people who play the games for our entertainment. Why do you think Russian hockey players and Chinese basketball players want to play in America? When the government controls the businesses, there's no incentive to innovate. Why come up with a good idea that under capitalism would make you wealthy, but under socialism would only be taken over and controlled by the government? If there are no corporations creating wealth, where do the tax dollars come from that are needed to support the government programs? Does the government simply print more money? Well, that would cause inflation and a devaluation of the dollar around the world. The dollar could end up being no more valuable than the ruble.

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And if that wasn't enough.

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No more summer movie blockbusters, all of the production houses would be owned by the government. All of the films in all of the theaters would be some form of propaganda. Not that some of them aren't now, such as the DEI Disney films that keep failing at the box office. If your argument is that socialism isn't communism, you're right. But socialism always fails and then becomes communism, or Nazism. So those are your ultimate choices when you choose socialism. And the socialists want to eliminate the U.S. Senate. That's a big problem, as is their desire to replace the office of the President and create a Supreme Court that is controlled by the House of Representatives. Gone is the system of checks and balances. All of government would be controlled by the House, which would also be reshaped.

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Similar but different.

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Here's an observation. How can you call it putting democracy back in the hands of the people when it never existed in that form to begin with? We've been using the same system for 250 years and very little has changed. Certainly nothing that would have taken democracy away from the people. Our republic was never designed for the people to have direct votes on laws anyway. We elect people who then vote on the bills that want to become laws. Clearly these socialist ideals and ideas are incompatible with the Constitution. Any socialist, democratic socialist, communist, or whatever they want to call themselves, who gets elected to Congress will have to take an oath of office. They will swear to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States of America. And when they take that oath, they will be lying to us. Coming soon, Threats to the Constitution, Part 2. Follow the Listening Tube at thelisteningtube.com. Be sure to keep an ear out for this week in history, and the listening tube welcomes a guest. Thank you for putting your ear to the listening tube. I'm your host, Bob Woodley, for Thou at Infinitum.