Déjà Vu, All Over Again!

By William L. Garvin
“Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
George Santayana

During my college years in the early Sixties, they actually taught American history. In fact, they even held a “Bill of Rights Week” on campus. (Liberal mobs would be howling at the moon and trashing everything in sight if that was to occur today!) I vividly remember one outstanding speaker who spoke eloquently on the dangers of Communism and the threat it represented to our Constitution, those first critical amendments, and our Republic. Afterwards, I was fortunate enough to meet and shake hands with him. Little did I know that he would go on to become not only the thirty-third Governor of California but also the fortieth President of the United States. Of course, that man was Ronald W. Reagan.

At about the same time, Dr. W. Cleon Skousen, a retired FBI agent, was teaching a college course and subsequently wrote a book entitled THE NAKED COMMUNIST. In it, he painstakingly documents the origination and evolution of that movement as well as the tactics and strategies their leaders employed. One can easily see Socialism as the “Gateway Drug” for Communism. Since radicals have become so sensitive to the Socialist moniker, they have relabeled themselves as “Progressives.” Whatever the neo-Socialist name, the game will still smell the same! Ultimately they are looking for State domination, control, or ownership of all means of production and distribution.

Dr. Skousen noted that at the end of the Korean Conflict, a timetable for conquest that had been set out by Communist leaders had been captured. This was read into the Congressional Record by Senator William Knowland on April 29, 1954 (page 5708). The overarching Communist strategy was to take Asia, then Africa, next Europe, and finally America. An essential tactic in this game plan was to isolate the United States by all possible means. If that tactic was successful, then Canada and South America would be in a hopelessly defensive position. When one looks at the anti-US votes in the United Nations and the anti-democratic forces in South America, there may only be a minor error in the Communist sequencing. What is truly frightening in its relevance to today is Skousen’s quote on page 257: “As for the United States, ‘crushing economic collapse and industrial breakdown will follow the European crisis.’” Is this where we are? Is this the fulmination of a long standing game plan?

There were also forty-five specific Communist goals that were listed. Number 3 is “Develop the illusion that total disarmament by the United States would be a demonstration of moral strength.” Number 7 is “Grant recognition of Red China. Admission of Red China to the UN.” Number 11 is “Promote the UN as the only hope for mankind. If its charter is rewritten, demand that it be set up as a one-world government with its own independent armed forces.” In addition to gaining control of one or both political parties, infiltrating schools, courts and media, number 27 is “Infiltrate the churches and replace revealed religion with “social” religion. Discredit the Bible and emphasize the need for intellectual maturity which does not need a “religious crutch.” Number 25 set the stage for this with “Break down cultural standards of morality by promoting pornography and obscenity in books, magazines, motion pictures, radio and TV.”

Obviously, the founding fathers, the Constitution, and traditional American values must all be discredited. Furthermore, Number 40 is “Discredit the family as an institution. Encourage promiscuity and easy divorce.” while 41 says “Emphasize the need to raise children away from the negative influence of parents.”

Attack dogs from the radical left continue to tarnish Skousen’s work with their usual name calling. It’s fantasy, far-fetched, archaic or he’s a conspiracy nut. Generally, that is to protect themselves for being exposed as the self-serving Statists that they really are. They don’t debate the facts or the current, curious cultural parallels. Is it just coincidence? I suggest that you maintain a state of intellectual awareness just in case it isn’t. As the brilliant Thomas Jefferson warned: “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.”