Beware the red army in our midst

They will call it Leftism, they will call it Socialism, they will even call it Democratic-socialism but it is time we called it by its real name... 

They walk among us and they are working under the guise of virtue and altruism. They are working to take control of you and everything you hold dear. They are not all bad people, they are, many of them, misguided and intellectually deficient. But some of them are bad people, very bad people, with a very bad agenda. They want the state to seize the means of production and they hate private businesses and the concept of the individual. Most ordinary people, like you and I, might refer to these people in passing as hippies, or headbangers, or loons, or some other disparaging, ambiguous noun. But I think it is time we give them their proper title, the title they don’t want you to use because it describes them too well. I think it is time we called them what they are - Communists.  

These people are dangerous, and are a serious threat to our country and our freedom. They are secular theologians who compulsively force their opinions and beliefs on others, because they think they know what is best for everyone. They believe they are so virtuous that they could not possibly be wrong. They have no faith in individuals to do what is right, and therefore believe individuals must be controlled. If they could, they would police your thoughts. 

They are theocratic in their beliefs and come to every debate looking to convert the other side, and if they cannot convert, they seek to silence, they will never accept the possibility they could be wrong. 

They don’t want open debate and discussion. They don’t want free speech. They are constantly looking for excuses to silence views which differ from theirs and opinions they disagree with. They think free speech should be limited, and that they should be the moral-arbiters who decide the limits of speech for others. They do this because they believe they know what is best for everyone and that their virtue is all that matters.  

They are ideologically blinded by their own virtue, and many of them do not believe what the ultimate result of their efforts will be. They don’t believe it, in the main, because they do not want to believe it. It’s like trying to tell someone their favourite restaurant has rats, deep down they know eating there will make them sick, but the spaghetti tastes so damn good in the moment. To abuse a cliché, they knowingly “drink the Kool-aid.” 

The best friend the communists have are politicians who, as a result of their own lack of intellect, see no issue in allowing government over-reach. These politicians lack the moral-fibre required to shout stop! They lack this moral-fibre because they lack the knowledge of the dangers of what they do. Because they are generally good people, who themselves would not abuse the over-reach they advocate, they fail to understand that not all people are as virtuous as they believe themselves to be. This is the junction at which legality and morality go separate routes.  

Just because the law says something, does not mean it is morally right. In Nazi Germany, the state murdered millions of Jews, among other minority groups. In the USSR, despite Soviet Union authorities and leaders officially condemning nationalism and proclaiming internationalism, including the right of nations and peoples to self-determination, in practice they executed completely opposing policies including but not limited to; systematic large-scale cleansing of ethnic minorities, political repression, and various forms of ethnic and social discrimination, including state-enforced Anti-semitism and Polonophobia. But no doubt our modern-day comrades will say – “That wasn’t real Communism.” 

And there-in lies the problem. It wasn’t real Communism, and there never will be “real Communism”. When you cede unbridled power to the organs of the state, the result is always, always, always, always, always, that the power is abused. It never happens over-night, and it is almost always too late to stop it when the problem is realised by most people. Like climate change, Communism creeps up on society, and before it is realised, it’s too late. Ireland is on that slippery slope, have no doubt. This vocal, violent, and vile grouping are doing all they can to stifle debate and silence those who disagree with their world view. 

This week saw The Democrat came into the firing line of these “thought-nazis”, because we espouse the fundamental rights of freedom of speech and freedom of association. Because we refuse to silence those with whom we disagree, these people attack us with vile slurs and threaten to lobby our advertisers to withdraw their support for this publication. They want us to quiver and backdown, they want to distract us, they want us to apologize for defending their rights, and the rights of every citizen.  

We will never stifle debate or silence those with whom we disagree. That is what those asserting these slurs want. We will continue to facilitate honest, open, and fair debate. We want those who disagree with us and with whom we disagree, as well as those who share our views, to continue to debate in an open and intellectually honest manner. We will not censor fair comment or opinion, nor will we decide what is free speech and what is not. We encourage those who disagree with us to do so publicly and this publication will defend to the death the rights of everyone to freedom of expression, even if we may disagree with what they are saying. Communists wouldn’t do that, Communists would seize the opportunity to silence their intellectual opponents, and end a debate before it even starts. We will not cower and we will not be silenced by this fanatical mob.  

Remember, people have a right to be stupid, as long as they don’t hurt anyone else. So, while I rail against these modern-day-Communists, I would fight to the death to defend their right to exist. I would find it unjust if they were silenced. I would be abhorred if they were censored. I would be sick at the thought of them being oppressed by the State. Unfortunately, they do not extend the same fundamental respect to me. They would be happier if I were wiped from the face of the planet and if they want me to be silent, that is what they will have to do.  

No doubt they will get behind their keyboards and take aim at this opinion piece on the internet. But don’t be fooled, that is one of their favourite tactics: label all and any reasonable criticism of their ideas as; crazy, alarmist, hateful, desperate, sad etc. Again, I say, don’t be fooled.