Tea at Trianon: Socialism Is Not Cool

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Sunday, February 14, 2016

Socialism Is Not Cool

From Ave Maria Radio:

Law professor and Instapundit Glenn Reynolds reminds us: For all of human history, extreme poverty has been the norm. “Globally, we’ve changed that ‘normal condition’ by the spread of free markets and free inquiry, which have led to a global growth in knowledge and skills that has made almost everyone rich by human historical standards,” Reynolds wrote in USA Today.

Socialism has been proven not to work in Cuba, Venezuela, North Korea, and Greece for example. A quote from Yeonmi Park – an escapee from North Korea – published a book titled In Order To Live, A North Korean Girl’s Journey to Freedom. Park has said to have lived a privileged life in North Korea. In an interview conducted she was asked what this “privilidged life” meant. She replied,

“That I could eat three times a day. Not having a car, not having 24-hour electricity, but having some candy or an apple once a month. Basically, I didn’t get killed by the [North Korean] famine so that means I was pretty lucky.”

In these socialist countries this is the norm. A socialist system means everyone is equally poor. According to Trading Economics, the personal income tax in Greece is at 46 percent. Do socialists want equality that much that they’re willing to drag everyone down with them? Socialism has been proved time and time again to not work, however millennials are still advocating for it in America – the land of freedom and opportunity. Dear socialists – people in places like Greece love socialism so much that they’re risking their lives to get away from it. Don’t let America come to this as well.

So, free college, free healthcare, free everything. Sounds great in theory, right? According to The Wall Street Journal, Bernie Sanders’s tax plan will cost $18 trillion. That’s almost double our U.S national debt which has been acquired since 1775. And where will Bernie Sanders acquire this excessive amount of money? Taxes – your hard earned money. (Read more.)