By Bethany Shenberger
Staff Writer
Photo courtesy of http://picapp.com
Have you ever wondered why history repeats itself? I know I have. I am especially concerned with our government and the path that it is on. This path is not good when it includes the passing of The Health Care Reform Bill and the passed Cap and Trade Bill. The Cap and Trade Bill is a big problem. When you restrict capitalism and the flow of money through an economy, it suffers dramatically. The Health Care Bill will not help the economy either. People are not going to want to give more money to a government that is already taking lots of money from them and not giving them very good benefits to supplement the taken taxes. Now, I know I am biased when it comes to all things political, but I still wonder why people think that socialism is the way for our government to head.
So, I decided to do a little research. I went to our school’s library and checked out six different books that talk about socialism. I also borrowed three books from a friend. The books I borrowed are personal narratives from people that suffered in socialist countries. Maybe I should mention what socialism is. Socialism is when the government basically controls everyone’s lives. The government in a socialist country controls business, jobs people have, property, and the freedoms of its citizens. In a socialist country, you do not decide what job you want, where you live, or anything; the government assigns you to your job, where you will live, and how much you will make for the rest of your life. And, by the way, everyone makes the same amount of money, even if you are doing more work than someone else. College does nothing to change your future either. Well, that is if the government decides you can go to college.
The book Life and Death in Shanghai by Nien Cheng is an amazing story of a woman’s suffering and the atrocities she faced during Mao Zedong’s communist rule of China. During Mao’s rule of China, the people had no rights, no freedom; everything was government run. Companies were the enemy, and everyone who worked for them were considered enemies against the government. Company employees were expected to renounce their positions and say publically what they had done and why it was wrong. Citizens with money were big targets. Why? Because, they had money and were able to live in luxury due to western companies “trying to take over China”. All that I have mentioned was only the beginning. Life for Nien Cheng was not easy, and she was one of the unlucky millions that was harassed and imprisoned by the government for six years.
Now, how can I forget? I should mention that Hitler’s rule of Germany originally started out as a Socialist movement. Now, I know I do not want to live in a society that Hitler thought was okay. Do you?
