Western countries and the creep of communism

Western countries are among the most successful in the world. The success of these western countries is derived from the freedom they provide their people.

Yet freedom has been deteriorating in western countries in the past few years. News stories demonstrating that freedoms, in the form of basic human rights, have come under attack emerge on a daily basis. This has left me concerned that western countries are creeping into communism.

I become worried over stories such as Gelsenkirchen, Germany, unveiling a controversial new monument honouring former Soviet Union premier Vladimir Lenin in June. The Marxist-Leninist Party of Germany (MLPG) spearheaded having this statue installed. The MLPG said this statue is the first to be erected in what used to be West Germany, a country that was against what communism is about.

I found it problematic when there was vandalism at the Memorial to the Victims of Communism in Ottawa about two weeks ago. Vandals spray-painted "Communism will win" and three hammers and sickles, the symbol for communism, across a sign at the Memorial to the Victims of Communism.

University professors who refuse to utter politically correct statements like a Zen koan and are punished for it resemble the purgings that took place under former People’s Republic of China chairman Mao Zhedong. University of Toronto psychology professor Jordan Peterson, Acadia University psychology professor Rick Mehta, and Evergreen College biology professor Bret Weinstein were punished for practicing their freedom of expression.

We have observed occupied autonomous zones set up by activists in cities such as Toronto, Seattle, and New York City in the past month, filled with people who believe communism will solve the world’s problems. These autonomous zones have become places where the occupants of them turn to violence to those who disagree with their opinions.

What I find the most concerning is politicians in western countries who have praised communism in the past few months. New Democratic Party MP Niki Ashton said in a tweet in January that it was "shameful" that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was meeting with interim Venezuelan President Juan Guaido, a leader who is trying to defeat communism in Venezuela. Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders praised former Cuban prime minister Fidel Castro, a communist leader who imprisoned political dissidents, for initiating a literacy program in February.

All of these incidents show that communism is exerting influence on western countries. People in western countries need to take action now to stop the spread of communism.

The best way to stop the spread of communism is for people to educate themselves on exactly destructive communism is to society.

Communism has been cited as one of the deadliest ideologies in world history. About 100 million people have been killed as a result of its social reordering over the last 100 years.

Western individuals would come to hate communism if they learned about the tragedies it has caused. For example, Roy Medvedev published a story in Argumenti i Fakti, which was reported on in The New York Times back in 1989, detailing how many millions of people were killed under former Soviet Union premier Joseph Stalin. Medvedev said Stalin is responsible for 20 million deaths from labour camps, forced collectivization, famine, and executions. These lessons are forgotten today.

Another way people can stop the spread of it is by speaking to those who might be unaware of communism's creep. There are plenty of people who do not know that it has failed almost every time it has been tried.

The merits of capitalism, however, speak for themselves. Capitalism has lifted billions of people out of poverty around the world. Capitalism has improved the quality of life for people. The options of communism are limited and undesirable.

In the communist nation of North Korea watching a South Korean soap opera could lead to the death penalty. Cuba was reported by Human Rights Watch for 1,818 arbitrary detentions of government critics, independent activists, political opponents, and others unpalatable to Cuban leadership, from January to August 2019. Venezuela was once a prosperous capitalist country, but it is now a poor communist country with almost 90 percent of citizens living in poverty.

Freedom has made western countries a place where people can prosper. It is why people from around the world long to move to these western countries for better lives. It behooves all of us to maintain the liberty of these nations, to bolster those rights and freedoms, and to never give way to the insidious creep of communism by those who don't understand how good we really have it.