Guest Column by Jerrold Dettle

Jerrold Dettle is a member of the Freeborn County Republican Party.

“Have you received a raise lately?” That is a question often asked today in the homes of middle class American families.  Many citizens are concerned that the economic future of their family appears to be threatened.

From a trip to the grocery store to the price of a license, from a check for the heating bill to the next medical payment, all bills seem to be increasing. Those who are in charge at the national and state levels seem to be “cooking the books” and misinforming the public about economic indicators from inflation to GDP.

Never before in history has the world ever experienced such a massive desire to live in the United States. Until the last 10 years, millions have flocked to this land without any promise of free handouts, just the belief in freedom and the belief that as an individual they could pursue and succeed. This immigrant endorsement alone can stand as proof of exceptionalism of the United States.

In the last few years a subversive socialist force has contributed to a rapidly growing gap between the haves and the have nots. This sharp decline of the middle class coincides with the errant philosophy of the socialist and atheistic fraud, Karl Marx.

During the past 200 years, his notorious writings have been manifested in the most popularly read pamphlet in history. And in recent years, a more modern version written by the community organizer Saul Alinsky, “Rules for Radicals,” has become the bible for all aspiring socialist radicals. The core idea to this revolutionary thought is to equalize the playing field for all workers except the needed elites of leadership at the top. This means fundamentally changing our government structure to allow a starting point that is supposedly more just and fair. Thus, we now have the popular use of an abused term “social justice.”  This system appears for some on paper to be better than the one established by our Founding Fathers. My point of view is that this is false:

1. Many nations have attempted this concept and the failures have been universal. Of the many failures even taking place now, the one prominently in the news last week was Venezuela.  A large nation with huge natural resources and 15 years ago was a democracy. Today, the citizens of Caracas are so desperate they have resorted to eating animals from their former world class zoo. Store shelves are empty, the dictator’s police are enforcing order, and even toilet paper has been unavailable for months to ordinary citizens.

2. As the failures in the USSR and China have shown, humans do not accept the concept of everyone starting over at the bottom for the sake of equality.

3. The history of radical socialism has recorded many times the requirement of destroying the middle-class in nations in order to effect fundamental change. The Wall Street Journal in quoting Pew Research states that average middle class usable income has fallen $4,018 annually in recent years. This is largely accomplished by raising fuel taxes, health care taxes and fees. When combined with large increases in governmental debt, this produces overwhelming pressure and fear in the middle class. The tactic has been effective in producing fundamental change to many nations worldwide.

Many in the highest elected and appointed offices across this country are teaching these tactics and ideology. This philosophy is new to America and should be explored by all seeking to becoming an informed voter this fall. Otherwise tyranny and civil unrest will continue to raise their ugly heads in our declining nation. At this critical juncture, reluctance of the voter to research is naught.

Remember this fall when we go to the polls, that we are considered by many elitists that now dominate the nation as backward and “frustrated Midwesterners who cling to their guns and religion.” Saving a future in America is up to the American voter.