By: T F Stern | Self-Educated American

I read where roughly 52 percent of today’s younger generation believes socialism/communism would be preferable to our constitutional republican form of government; a troubling thought.

What happened that so many of our fellow citizens never figured out what America is all about?

My first thought had to do with an op-ed piece in USA Today written by Marion Smith, 30 years after the Berlin Wall’s collapse, Americans don’t understand communism’s dangers.  Hard as it may be to believe, there’s an entire generation who didn’t learn the lessons associated with the Cold War, the building of/and eventual destruction of the Berlin Wall.

For a quick course in history, one need only watch the movie, Bridge of Spies, which accurately depicts the political tension of the Cold War, one scene, in particular, showing individuals fleeing the oppression of communism

From a window seat vantage point of a train passing over ‘No Man’s Land’, we observe an attempted escape, one that lasts only moments, as border guards shoot down those trying to scale the wall into West Germany.  We watched helplessly as the image disappears from view.

What would make an individual risk his/her life to escape the clutches of communist East Germany?  Was life so bad that such a risk was considered worth it?

A better question might be, why would anyone want to exchange individual liberty under our constitutional republican form of government, imperfect as it may be, and choose to live in servitude under socialism/communism?

Before I answer; there was a devotional talk given last month at BYU Idaho by James Gordon,  Always Remember, in which he brought up the importance of having a firm recollection of the exodus from Egypt.  He brought up the plight of  Israel as they were being pursued by Pharaoh, their backs against the sea and in great fear.

10 ¶ And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and, behold, the Egyptians marched after them, and they were sore afraid: and the children of Israel cried out unto the Lord.

11 And they said unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt?

12 Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness.”

You know the ‘rest of the story’, that Moses parted the sea and they crossed on dry ground. They all made it to the other side, that is, all except Pharaoh’s army who were swallowed up by the sea when it came crashing down on them.

With only a little faith in God, they followed Moses, reluctantly; but they followed and were shown that their God really was God.  The story has survived for thousands of years, a reminder to have faith in God regardless of circumstances.

Fast forward to the present… those pushing for socialism/communism see our circumstances as dire; perhaps they are exaggerating what they see in order to institute their vision of Utopia, the fact remains far too many folks doubt, or never were taught about the divine nature tied with our particular constitutional republic, that would be mixing religion with government and somebody convinced the Supreme Court that schools can’t teach that stuff.

The Founders of our nation understood and referenced our dependence on God at every opportunity.  The Declaration of Independence, Constitution and included Bill of Rights represent an acknowledgment that God is the Author of our Liberty and yet godless historians have been arguing against that very fact for the past two hundred plus years.

In more recent years the public schools and places of higher learning have been taken over by socialists/communists.  We send young minds to become educated and learn how to think; instead, they’re attending indoctrination centers churning out intellectual left-leaning dummies.

There’s an entire generation that thinks we’d all be better off living under socialism/communism.  Everyone would be so much better off if we’re taken care of equally by some perfectly ordered government program.  There would be no income inequality; and besides, property is evil, nobody should have more of it than anyone else.

These young minds were never enlightened or given an explanation as to the divine nature of individual liberty or that we are indebted to our Creator for His having ordained this land to be an inheritance for those willing to follow His commandments.  If only we could impact their minds in the same way the Israelites remember the exodus from Egypt.

Listen to the politicians pandering for votes, promising the fruits of labor to all, not caring that someone else provided the fruit or that there might not be enough to satisfy everyone’s needs, much less desires. The safety net of servitude promises the basics of life; what else could you want?  Become a servant of the state and all this will be yours.

Of course, those who don’t approve will be forced to go along with it once the constitution is shredded; we’ll be a Socialist Democracy where the majority runs the show. There won’t be any restrictions keeping the state from confiscating everything and becoming all-powerful; a sad replacement for the constitutional republic God had intended.

I can hear the pleadings from those marching headlong into socialism/communism, “Let us alone, that we may serve the state…”