By Tom Klocek

Apparently schools don’t teach about communism or its failures these days, otherwise we would be better about guarding against it. Like the proverbial frog in the gently warming pot of water, America is steadily heading toward communism. Karl Marx, in the Communist Manifesto, sums up the theory of communism in one sentence: “abolition of private property.” He goes on to declare that the family must be abolished and proposes the abolishment of countries and nationalities. And as to religion, the Manifesto states, “Communism abolishes eternal truths, it abolishes all religion, and all morality.” While Marx was primarily addressing economics, and today’s communism is aimed more at societal issues, his summation of what is applicable to communism is still part of Marxist philosophy and pretty scary, especially to those who believe in basic truths and individual freedoms:

1. Abolition of property in land and application of all rents of land to public purposes.
2. A heavy progressive or graduated income tax.
3. Abolition of all right of inheritance.
4. Confiscation of property of all emigrants and rebels.
5. Centralization of credit in the hands of the State, by means of a national bank and State capital and an exclusive monopoly.
6. Centralization of the means of communication and transport in the hands of the state.
7. Extension of factories and instruments of production owned by the State, the bringing into cultivation of wastelands, and the improvement of the soil generally in accordance with a common plan.
8. Equal liability of all to labor. Establishment of industrial armies, especially for agriculture.
9. Combination of agriculture with manufacturing industries; gradual abolition of the distinction between town and country by a more equable distribution of population over the country.
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, etc., etc.

And how will this be implemented? “By the sweeping away by force the old conditions.” Without a bloody revolution, this will be accomplished by the party in power using government agencies to target any of the barriers to the theory and applicability of Marxism. The rampant intimidation of those who support the Constitution by the FBI and the IRS is already well documented.

Let’s recall Obama’s plan to fundamentally change the United States. He railed against those who “cling to their Bibles” and, although initially opposed to it, ended up endorsing same sex marriage. He also instituted other anti-family and anti-faith actions and began directing government intelligence resources against American citizens.

The weaponizing of government agencies continues. Look at the marked difference between the targeting of Catholics and pro-lifers versus the prosecution of those who vandalize churches or pregnancy centers.

So if we go down Marx’s list, we see that many of the things on it have already begun to be implemented. A heavy progressive income tax has been around for some time now, and the cries of “make the rich pay their fair share” keep coming, despite the fact that the top one percent of income earners pay about 37.5% of ALL the income tax, while approximately 50% pay none at all; in fact, many of them get back more than they put in. How does that equate to “fair”?

This “redistribution” amounts to a taking of personal property, one of the goals of communism — eliminate private property. The Catholic Church has long defended the right for people to have private property, although it calls for charity, meaning individuals who have should help those in need. Of course, this is only one of the multitude of reasons that communism wants to eliminate religion and especially Christianity. The COVID experience was a convenient way for the government to restrict the free practice of religion, closing churches or severely limiting attendance while keeping strip joints, liquor stores, and abortion facilities open and prosecuting churches who defied this illegal order.

The inheritance tax and the central bank both are doing their best to implement communism. The current drive to force electric vehicles on everyone (among other policies), while not directly centralizing the means of transport, will allow government to control vehicles and charging stations and thereby essentially control transportation.

I would also argue that the control of public schools as it exists today comes close to number 10 above. Some states continue to try to restrict homeschooling, which has been illegal in Germany since 1919 and is illegal in many other countries. Several states, particularly in the Northeast, highly restrict homeschooling. Refusing to support school choice as well as charter schools is another way government tries to force all children to attend government schools.

The war against the family in the U.S. has been going on for decades. It is accomplished by a wide variety of methods. The destruction of the traditional family was one of the principles of Black Lives Matter along with defunding the police, eliminating prisons, and pushing critical race theory into public schools (and some private schools).

Other government policies today are in direct opposition to the family and the rights of parents, most notably transgenderism (and its identity politics), abortion, and gay marriage. Christianity is and has been one of the most ardent supporters of the family. “Men saw her [the Church] to be order in the midst of chaos, purpose amid aimlessness, and the upholder of marriage and family, the poor, and the defenseless in a society in free fall into savagery” (William Slattery, “Heroism and Genius”). From this historical perspective, it is easy to see why communism, which wants to destroy countries, nationalities, and morality, targets religion and especially Christianity. The current chaos at the U.S. border highlights this effect. And while diversity, inclusion, and equity (DIE) are all the rage today, the application is more one of division, exclusion of any who disagree, and bringing everyone (except the elites) down to the lowest level possible.

Unfortunately, the growth of those who are non-affiliated with any religion as well as the projected reduction of those identifying as Christian pose a bleak future for slowing the descent into paganism and chaos. “We, the People” need to defy the state as a church with its required worship at the feet of the elite. This points to a major strategy by which we can fight this decline and return to God.

As such, church leaders need to step up to fight against government restrictions in violation of the First Amendment, as opposed to the en masse acquiescence to tyrannical restrictions during COVID. And they must be supported or even pressured by the laity to stand up for the Church. As Bishop Sheen said: “Who is going to save our Church? Not our bishops, not our priests and religious. It is up to you, the people. You have the minds, the eyes, and the ears to save the Church. Your mission is to see that your priests act like priests, your bishops act like bishops, and your religious act like religious.” By saving the Church, we will also save our country and vice versa.