



     Karl Marx and Frederick Engels wrote the following in their
Communist Manifesto:

" These measures will of course be different in different countries.
Nevertheless, in the most advanced countries the following will be
pretty generally applicable:

1. Abolition of property in land and application of all rents of land
to public purposes."

     This one is fairly self-explanatory.  Marx also stated: "You are
horrified at our intending to do away with your private property.
Precisely so, that is just what we intend."

"2. A heavy progressive or graduated income tax."

     This is merely a method of taking property away from the "well
off" in order to redistribute it to the working class.  This plank
lays the groundwork for Marx's statement: "From each according to his
ability, to each according to his need."  This is Robin Hood at work.
Government now becomes the distributor of wealth.  It takes from
those who produce and gives it to those who don't.

"3. Abolition of all right of inheritance."

     This is an extension of the first two planks.  After the
government takes away your land, taxes your production, and gives you
only what you need, it takes away everything else when you die so
that nothing can be passed on to future generations.

"4. Confiscation of the property of all emigrants and rebels."

     This is the institution of the old saying: "You can't take it
with you."  If you want to leave the Communist state, you have to
leave your property behind.  That's a polite way of saying that your
property will be confiscated.  Those that don't like this or any
other aspect of the government and complain are obviously rebels, as
evidenced by their opposition to the government, and this also gives
the government the right to confiscate their property.  You can't win
for losing.

"5. Centralization of credit in the hands of the State by means of a
national bank with State capital and an exclusive monopoly."

     This is important as it gives the Communist government the sole
power to cause inflation.  This is used today to further reduce the
property rights of those who keep their property in the form of cash.

"6. Centralization of the means of communication and transport in the
hands of the state."

     By controlling communication and restricting the people's right
to speak out against the state (be careful, you may be considered a
rebel and your property could be confiscated), and by controlling
transport, whether personal or commercial, we now have to think about
changing the spelling of citizen to s-l-a-v-e.

"7. Extension of factories and instruments of production owned by the
State, the bringing into cultivation of waste lands, and the
improvement of the soil generally in accordance with a common plan."

     The shackles are now being cinched tighter.  Not only does this
government control your ability to communicate and travel, it takes a
giant step into your life by assuming ownership of all capital goods
and by telling you what you will grow on the land.

"8. Equal liability of all to labor.  Establishment of industrial
armies, especially for agriculture."

     In addition to all capital goods, the State now claims ownership
of YOU!  You now become part of an industrial army that your
commander could move to whatever part of the country the State felt
required your labor, especially for agriculture.

"9. Combination of agriculture with manufacturing industries; gradual
abolition of the distinction between town and country by a more
equable distribution of population over the country."

     I guess you thought you had pretty much lost all your rights by
now, but there is at least one more freedom that can be taken from
you: the freedom to live where you choose.  Some have speculated that
Marx saw the growth of the labor union as the vehicle to combine
"agriculture with manufacturing industries."

"10. Free education for all children in public schools.  Abolition of
children's factory labor in its present form.  Combination of
education with industrial production...etc."

     This may sound innocuous on the surface, but let's look deeper.
It is presumed that Marx would not have allowed private schools,
where parents could decide what their children learned.  If the only
school was the State, then it could teach the children whatever it
wanted.  This would be used to establish societal values that the
State saw as being harmonious with their plan of government.  Some
say that Marx wanted to completely do away with the family unit
itself, since the state had assumed the role not only of the educator
of children, but also the parent.

     These ten planks were written in 1848.  Let's see how far these
planks have progressed in American society since then.

1. Abolition of private property in land.

     The U.S. government now "owns" 33.5% of the land in the U.S.
This is in direct contradiction to the U.S. Constitution.  The
Constitution, in Article I, grants Congress the power "To exercise
exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever over such district (not
exceeding ten miles square) as may, be cession of particular States
and the Acceptance of Congress, become the seat of government of the
United States, and to exercise like authority over all places
purchased by the consent of the Legislature of the State in which the
same shall be, for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals,
dockyards, and other useful buildings."

     This means that any land that the government owns over and above
Washington, D.C., Guam, Puerto Rico, etc., and all military
installations is owned in direct violation of the Constitution.  The
government now "owns" just over one third of the land in the U.S.
Want to guess whether it's increasing or decreasing?

     Just because the government doesn't own a particular piece of
land doesn't mean that they have no control over it.  Who establishes
land use regulations, various bureaucratic decrees, zoning laws,
property taxes, rent controls, etc.?  The government may not own all
the land, but they can sure control all of it.  Consider one of the
characteristics of Fascism: control of the means of production.
Would you like to own a car if someone else can tell you when you can
and cannot drive it - or where you can drive it?  Or that you had to
pay so much a mile for every mile driven?

     In 1972, the Democratic Party in Oregon passed the following
platform plank at the annual state convention: "Land is a common
resource and should be held in public ownership."  The Communists are
definitely getting closer.

2. Progressive or graduated income tax:

     Congress passed a graduated income tax in 1913.  Much
maneuvering had been done up to that time to get such a tax adopted.
There were several failures before it finally "stuck" in 1913.

3. The Inheritance Tax:

     Congress gave us the "gift" of the Inheritance Tax in 1916.

4. The confiscation of the property of emigrants and rebels:

     Congress, in 1980, passed H.R. 5691, making it a crime to
transport or attempt to transport "monetary instruments" totalling
$5000 or more into or out of the country without filing certain
required reports with the government.

5. Centralization of credit; a national bank:

     The Federal Reserve was established in 1913 - the same year an
income tax was imposed.

6. Centralization of communication and transport:

     In 1916, the Federal Trade Commission was created.  In 1934, the
Federal Communications Commission was created.

7. Factors of production owned by the state:

     How about the federally owned Amtrak railway system?  Other
examples only approach Fascism (government control of the means of
production), such as the loan in 1980 from the federal government to
Chrysler.  There are also countless government bureaus issuing edicts
to private businesses for them to carry out.

8. Equal liability to labor:

     There has not been much progress in this area as yet.  The
government has, however, become the employer of last resort.  This is
seen in programs such as the Civilian Conservation Corps, the
Comprehensive Employment and Training Act, the military draft, and
others.  There also exists a proposal called the Universal Military
Service, which allows for everyone of military age to be obligated to
serve their country in some capacity.

9. Forced distribution of the population:

     Not much has been done in this area, either.  What has been done
has been called "Urban Renewal."  Under the name of "Urban Renewal",
the government forces people out of the low rent areas for the
purpose of "renewing urban decay."  Very few of the people who were
forced out ever return when the "renewal" has been completed.

10. Free education in schools:

     Lacking any constitutional grounds to base it on, Congress
decided in 1957 to fund certain colleges and universities.  More
advancement was made on this plank in 1980, when the Department of
Education was established as a separate governmental department.
