Tuesday, November 26, 2019

The Use Of Metal Plates To Preserve Historical Records

Pyrgfi Plates

 There has been discussions for hundreds of years as to the veracity of Joseph Smith’s claim that he found an ancient record written on plates of gold. Especially in his day, scholars scoffed and argued that metal plates were NEVER used to record anything. Even today, this myth  persists among many educated and learned individuals. But, it is still just a myth.

Just because you have never seen the Great Pyramids in Egypt doesn’t mean they don’t exist. There are those who have seen them and testify they are real. Absence of evidence does not prove that something didn’t happen. It only proves that we don’t have any evidence yet that proves it did happened.

The reasons that we don’t have copies of so many ancient records is because the primary forms of writing; papyrus, paper, wood, etc, are subject to decay. Without continual copying of the information onto new media, the records are eventually lost.

Many records have been recorded on pottery, the walls of caves, temples, and other ancient buildings. Because of these we know that many ancient civilizations had written languages and made an effort to preserve their history.

Often in the conquest of war, the victor destroyed all the records and evidence of the existence of the vanquished as a final victory blow. This has happened for millennium in the Middle East, China, Africa, Europe, and the Americas. It even is happening in our day, as the Nazi’s destroyed the records and works of many of the people they conquered. Today, ISIS and other radical Islamic groups are also destroying records, statues, and buildings of those they overthrow because they considered them inferior. In the style of Fahrenheit 451, many communist nations are rewriting history to justify their overthrow of their people. To the victor goes the history.

That aside, here are several efforts by ancient people to preserve their teachings, in stone, clay, and even on metal plates of lead, silver, and gold.

The Sumerians, considered by most scholars to be one of the oldest civilizations on the earth, had a system of writing we know as cuneiform. They lived in the Fertile Crescent of the Middle East in what is present day Iraq. Their characters were etched in clay and dried in the sun to create tablets that were semi-ceramic and very durable. These date back to approximately 3500 BC. There is ample documentation on the Internet regarding their civilization and timelines.

One of the most interesting artifacts discovered is a treaty between the Sumerians and their closest rival. After years of fighting, they came to a draw and created a treaty. The treaty was intended to last “forever” and therefore was imprinted on to clay tablets, to last forever. The fact that we still have this record today, over 5,000 years later is miraculous and smacks of forever. It was printed on 3 separate tablets in 3 different languages, so we have been able to translate it completely.

The following is a list of other records written on metal plates that have been discovered in the past 200 years. These are ones that I have been able to verify, but there are also scores more that I haven’t been able to source. The jury is still out on authenticity of the Etruscan Gold Book, but the rest appear to be authentic. There are records here from 3,500 years ago written on metal plates. Because they were written on metal plates, they have been preserved until now.

Date
Record
Type
Where
Source
1,500 BC
Byblos syllabary
Bronze plates
Byblos, Lebanon
Biblia Grmmata by Maurice Sunard
600 BC
Etruscan Gold Book
Gold Plates
Etruscan, Italy
Now in Museum in Bulgaria
500 BC
Letter from Achillodros to Anaxagoras
Lead
Greece
Life & Letters in the Ancient Greek World
500 BC
Pyrgfi Gold Tablets
Gold
Pyrgfi, Italy
522 BC
King Darius
Gold/Silver Plates
Persepolis
161 BC
Roman-Jewish Treaty
Bronze plates
Judas Maccabaeus
41 AD
Roman Documents
Lead Sheets
Pliny and Pausanias 
100 AD
Dead Sea Scrolls
Copper roll
Qumran, Israel
109 AD
Roman Citizenship Docs
Bronze Plates

These 2 photos are the actual plates, of Darius, made in 522 AD.






As you will note, 4 of these records date back to 500 BC – 600 BC, the very same time that Joseph Smith claimed one of the records of the gold plates, the Small Plates of Nephi were begun. The Book of Mormon also mentions 2 other records written on metal plates; 1 was made of gold, the Plates of Ether and the other plates were made of brass, The Brass Plates. All of these were abridged and combined in a record made by Mormon and his son, Moroni, on gold plates, approximately 380 AD.

The authors expressly stated that they kept their records on metal plates so they would last for generations. They acknowledged that other media they used for writing would decay and not last for their posterity.

The Plates of Ether contained the record of a people that came to the Americas about 2,500 BC to 2,000 BC, but the record was written or compiled about 500 AD – 600 AD at the time the civilization was imploded and was destroyed. The record claims that the people were skilled in metallurgy, making swords, shields, and breastplates, having the skill to create a record on metal plates or sheets of gold is very plausible. Archaeological evidence from these times in the Americas show that the people were skilled in these arts. 

The Brass Plates were supposed to have been made before 590 BC. It contained prophecies of Isaiah, around 650 AD and Jeremiah, killed about 590 AD. We don’t know when it was started as it also had many of the writings of Moses and other prophets and teachers from the Old Testament. It may have been a living history or a record compiled approximately 600 AD.  

Bronze and brass are both alloys of copper. Brass has zinc added and bronze has tin, therefore, they are quite similar to make. The Bronze Age, the time man began to make bronze, began about 6,000 BC or 8,000 years ago. Weapons, tools, and statuary were all made during this time from bronze and brass. Is it so far-fetched to assume they could have also made plates that could have been inscribed with records?

Oh, yes, it happened at least once 3,500 years ago just north of Israel in Byblos along the Mediterranean Sea.

Sunday, August 18, 2019

God Talks to All of Us

I have written on many occasions how I have experienced the Spirit of God tell me things that I didn't know before. It's not voices in my head, (like a crazy psychotic,) but revelation that comes in many different forms. 

Sometimes it is vision where I see in my mind things as they will happen, sometimes it is a burst of knowledge or inspiration that I didn't know before, sometimes it is a feeling of peace confirming the decision I made, sometimes the peace does not come after I have acted on the right decision, but it is always unmistakable confidence, light, and peace as I continue and follow the revealed truth. I am not alone, many other people receive revelation for themselves and their stewardships everyday.

Often it is called inspiration, creativity, ESP, listen to your gut, or following your heart. There are many different names for this spontaneous knowledge, but many, many people the world over recognize and act on it every day. 

Revelation is available to anyone in need, but it is most accessible to those who prepare themselves by trying to live like Jesus taught and being receptive to the whisperings of the Spirit of God. This requires putting aside what our 5 senses tell us, and listen to something else inside. Most people receive promptings of the Spirit everyday, but ignore them, thinking they are their own thoughts, coincidence, or fantasy, until they realize later that it was wise counsel and they regret they failed to follow it. 

The Lord restored His Priesthood in 1829 to Joseph Smith. This Priesthood gives to man the authority and ability to speak and act in the name of God, to provide the saving ordinances for mankind. It also affords the bearer insights and revelation into those for whom he is serving. and blessing.

This authority is passed from holder to recipient by the laying on of hands. I received it from my Father, who received it from another and back up the unbroken line to Christ's resurrected Apostles; Peter, James, and John, who gave it to Joseph Smith in 1829. I have also given this authority to my sons and they to their sons.

Many times revelation comes while I am giving a blessing with the Priesthood to a person. As I lay my hands on their heads to pronounce the blessing; thoughts, images, or words come into my mind relative to what the Lord wants them to know. Many times these pronouncements are expected, such as with a blessing of healing or peace. But many times, new information is shared that I didn't know and may even be contrary to the desired or expected blessing.

Rather than this power being some omnipresent force one can turn off and on like a light switch, the power or knowledge comes to you when and only when, it is needed to help another. I can not use the Priesthood to bless or heal myself. As a person prepares themselves by living more like Christ, being kind, sensitive to the needs of others, and compassionate to the trials and hardships of others, the ability to hear and respond to the opportunities to serve with the Priesthood becomes more and more clear and apparent. 

Here are some examples of revelation. in my personal life that are unmistakable and very dear to me..

Back Surgery
Recently, my wife, Laurie, was scheduled for some major back surgery. She had had a back fusion 4 years previous, so we knew what was involved and what to expect. As normal, before she went to the hospital, I gave her a priesthood blessing. 

Usually blessings of this nature consist of promises that things will go well, the doctors will be blessed to perform the surgery properly, and the person will have a speedy and full recovery. This is what the blessing was like 4 years ago for her previous surgery. The person giving the blessing tries to not say what they want to say, but what the Spirit of the Lord instructs them to say. 

This time, the blessing contained all the previous messages, but I also felt to say that even though everything would go well, the doctors would be able to deal with the complications that would follow and she would be surprised at how quickly she recovered. Complications was not something I wanted to give to my wife. 

As promised, the operation went very smoothly and the doctor was pleased with the outcome. The surgery was on Wednesday, and we expected to go home on Friday or Saturday. 

When Friday arrived, she was having trouble weaning off the supplemental oxygen and still keep her O2 levels above 90%. That afternoon when it still wasn't improving, and she began to have a pain in her chest when breathing deeply, Laurie was taken for a CT scan, as they were worried about blood clots. 

The CT scan showed that part of her right lung had collapsed, preventing her from taking in enough air and oxygen. Physical therapy was employed to try and correct the problem. 

Then on Saturday, when we were sure we would go home, her blood pressure spiked to 201/168. Now everyone was excited. The entire day was spent administering different drugs of different doses to bring down her blood pressure. By mid afternoon, they felt comfortable that it had come down and remained in the 150's.

Then Sunday morning we were again expecting to leave, only to find that she had a terrific headache and now concerns of a stroke from the previous high blood pressure occupied all the nurses and doctors. She was wheeled off for a CT scan of her head to rule out a stroke or potential stoke. But fortunately, the scan was negative. 

So, Monday morning dawned and we didn't know what to expect. The doctor came in and said that before anything else went wrong, they wanted to send us home. As soon as they took her off all the machines and monitors, she began to feel better and an hour later she was sitting on the edge of the bed, dressed and ready to head home. 

Now after a few weeks at home, the physical therapist told her that structurally, she was weeks ahead of most back patients he has seen. We have still had other complications, such as intense nerve damage pain as the nerves begin to heal and a fall which bruised everything except her back, but we are confident that as promised, all things will eventually heal properly and she will be fully functional.


A Ruptured Aneurysm
In March of 2002, Laurie had gone upstairs to take a bath before we retired for the night, while I finished working on the room we were remodeling in the basement. A short time later, I heard her bang on the floor, so I rushed up stairs to see what the problem was. She said she just suddenly had the worst headache of her life and didn't know what to do. I told her I would take her to the hospital right then, but she said, "No", because the pain was so intense, she couldn't imagine riding a car. She wouldn't even let me touch her for fear of increased  pain. She insisted on going to bed.

The next morning, the headache had subsided a tiny bit, but since it was still raging, she let me take her to the clinic. The doctor recommended a CT scan, so we went to the hospital for the scan. Twenty minutes after the scan, I had a doctor tell me that she had a ruptured aneurysm and would be life-flighted to a nearby neuro-trauma hospital. The next thing we knew, we were in an isolated wing of the hospital, lights turned down low, with a personal nurse parked at a desk outside our door waiting for the helicopter. 

I had no idea what an aneurysm was or what it mean't when it ruptured, so I asked. An aneurysm is a bubble on a blood vessel and when it ruptures, blood flows into the body. It is a serious issue. When it is in the brain, it is even more dangerous because blood on the outside of the brain is caustic and actually burns and destroys cells. Brain surgery to clip off the bleeder and evacuate the blood, is the only way to fix the problem. 

I later learned that 50% of people with a ruptured aneurysm die before they reach the hospital, half of those who make it to the hospital are dead in 30 days, and the rest who actually live, have stroke-like symptoms of paralysis, as well as memory or speech loss. 

As the helicopter arrived, one of the male nurses helped me anoint and bless my wife. In the blessing I told her that she didn't need to fear, that everything would be okay. The doctors would know what to do and she would make a complete recovery. She was also promised that she and everyone else, would be amazed at how rapid her recovery would be. 

She was transported, the surgery was completed, and her recovery proceeded. Usually this procedure required a 6 hour surgery but the doctor said everything went so smoothly that he did it in 4 hours. The patient usually stays in the neuro-ICU for 3 weeks and then another 4-6 weeks in the neuro unit. She was 1 week in ICU and released from the hospital 2 weeks later. Her recovery went so quickly and smoothly, that 6 months later when her mother fell and also needed brain surgery, Laurie was able to be her primary caregiver as she lived in our home, a task that brought innumerable blessings to our lives.

Every blessing given her happened better than we could have ever assumed and everyone was amazed.


Stolen Car
Shortly after the ruptured aneurysm experience, we decided to sell our car and posted it on Craigslist. A nice lady in her 20's wanted to buy it and we felt good about selling it to her. She paid with a check for $9,000, which I deposited the next day, but didn't realize until nearly a week later that it bounced and the whole thing was a scam. Boy, did I feel totally stupid!!!

So, I wrote a ad on Craigslist, "To The Woman Who Stole Our Car," expressing our sadness at her deception and hoping she would  repent and turn her life around. 

My wife was so distraught, that she asked for a blessing. In the blessing the Lord told her that she needn't fear because He was handling everything and we would be astonished at how well everything would turn out. That was a shocker to us, they had just stolen our car. 

Two weeks later, a man rang our doorbell and told me he thought he had something that was mine. I had no idea what he was talking about. He told me that 2 weeks earlier, his friend wanted to buy a car that was listed on Craigslist, but he didn't have the cash right then. This man on my porch loaned his friend $9,000 to buy the car, with the understanding that he would pay him back. 

Then a few days later, he noticed my post on Craigslist, "To The Woman Who Stole Our Car." This sounded very strange to him, so he checked the registration of the car and found that my name was listed and I lived a block from his home. He realized that he had been an unwitting party to the scam and felt terrible. 

He came over and gave me back my car. I offered to pay him for the car, or at least split the cost, but he refused and said it was the cost of his education in life. 

So, we were truly astonished as how things turned out. 


Indian Placement Child
In the 1950's to 1990's, the Latter-Day Saint Church was helping the Native American children on the Reservations gain an education and learn better how to cope in the world. This was known as the Indian Placement Program. Native American children who who were members of the Church, could come to Utah or Idaho and live with a member family for the school year and return for the summer to their home. They would attend school, church, and all other activities with the family as though they were one of their own children. It was a foster care situation done with the consent and permission of the parents. Some children participated a year or two, others continued until they graduated from high school, and some even went on to college.

In the 1980's, my wife and I had discussed participating in the program, but I had just lost my job and things were tight raising our other 5 children. One day, the Bishop of the our local congregation, called us in and asked if we would be willing to participate. We said we would, but didn't have the resources to make it happen. He told us that he had wanted to do it, but his wife was not interested. If we were willing, he would donate $200 per month to help defray expenses. He encouraged us to ponder and pray about it and see what the Lord wanted us to do. 

We spent several days discussing and praying about it but still weren't convinced we could do it. 

That next Sunday in Church, the speakers were a couple that had been involved in the Indian Placement Program for decades. They testified of the tremendous good that had come to their family, along with the good that came to these Indian children as they attended school regularly, graduated, and returned to their homes to be productive citizens with their own people. Our hearts were touched so much, that as I looked at my wife, tears were streaming down both our faces and we knew for sure this is what we should do.

We called the Bishop that night and told him we would be willing to make it work. He told us he just heard that a child had dropped out of the program and there wasn't a child for us to take. We were devastated. We had received one of the most powerful witnesses of the truth of this decision and now it wasn't going to happen. We had a lot of questions in our minds.

Then, a week later, just a few days before the children were to arrive, the Bishop called us again and told us that one of the families had decided to drop out and there was an 8 year-old boy available, if we still wanted to do it. Of, course we said, "Yes".

The irony is that the family who dropped out had just lost their job and didn't have the faith or testimony that the Lord would help them succeed. 

So we shared our home for a year and a half with this young boy. He was a tremendous opportunity for all of our family and we loved him so much. We all grew so much from the experience.

Once again, the Lord came through exactly as He said He would and our lives were blessed. 


Conclusion for Me
These are just 4 examples of the Lord's goodness to us. These experiences, along with dozens and dozens of others, have given us the sure witness that the Lord hears and answers prayers and blessings. He also gives us revelation and insights into the future so we are prepared emotionally, physically, and spiritually for what will happen.

Coincidence is when something unexpectedly lines up with another thing. When it happens dozens and dozens of time, it is no longer coincidence. Someone is guiding and directing the actions.

There are times when things did not go as we thought they would, that's most of the time, but eventually they did occur as He said or we are confident they still will.

Too many times people don't understand that timing is relative to everyone, including the Lord. When a child is 4, soon to them means in the next 5 minutes. When they are a teenager, they realize that soon may be a few days or a week. When we mature, we learn that soon can be months or years. In geology, soon can mean hundreds or thousands or millions of years. Soon is short time relative to a longer time. 

Assuming that our time table is the same as the Lord's always portends disappointment. Patience is required to see the fruition of the Lord's hand in our lives.

I know and testify in the name of Jesus Christ, that God is there, that He loves us, and He directs our lives so we can become the best people possible, eventually become like Him, and return to live with Him.














Wednesday, May 08, 2019

The Real Question - When Does Life Begin?

When Roe v Wade was judged in 1973, our knowledge of the development of a fetus was still very juvenile. Ultrasound, MRI's and other non-invasive forms of human exploration were in their infancy. We had not even develop amniocentesis, extracting fluid from inside the placenta, to the point of being able to determine more than a couple of possible problems with the unborn child.

Today, 46 years later, we have miraculous visions into the womb that were not even dreamed of in 1973. Now we can watch and record a child play, laugh, smile, and grasp things. We see twins cuddle and play with each other. We can determine heart and lung anomalies. We even have the ability to perform major surgery on the fetus to correct defects in the womb, enabling the child to grow to maturity and be born at normal gestation.

These miraculous advances have shown all of us that a fetus is not just a mass of useless protoplasm; it is an independent, functioning entity that only relies on the mother for nourishment and protection.

The scale of development to human-hood is a sliding scale as the zygote begins as literally a cell that divides and divides and divides until it takes shape and individual organs appear. Within a few weeks, all the organs and appendages are are there and a heart begins to beat. From there on, it just continues to grow in size and functionality.

Everyone acknowledges that at some point, the fetus is a functioning human being, the question is when?

I am in complete support of a woman's right to choose what she does with her body. She can color her hair, cut it all off, remove moles, blemishes and even appendages, if she chooses. She can be as wise or stupid as she chooses. The same right exists for men.

But as in all of our choices, when our choice infringes negatively on the rights and freedoms of another individual, then society has the responsibility and right to limit those actions. That is why we incarcerate those who steal, rape, and murder others because we want to protect society.

If Roe v Wade were tried today, with the knowledge of medicine we now enjoy, there is no way it could have gone the way it did. The Justices then were grappling with the concept of when life begins. Conventional thinking told them that a baby born more than 5 weeks early had a very low rate of survival. They errored on the side of objective observation and chose birth as that point of viability. But they errored still the same.

Proponents advocate that because a child is dependent on it's mother until birth, it is not autonomous until birth. But a baby is still dependent on mothers and fathers for several years before it can survive alone in the world. Some at 35 and 40 years of age are still not capable of surviving on their own as they grow in womb-like basement bedrooms attached to video monitors, living virtual lives.

Other babies aborted weeks or months before final gestation, survive for hours on abortion tables and in dumpsters until rescued. Many of these children, when rescued and nurtured, survive and grow into adulthood. Today, a child born at 25 weeks,12 weeks early or the beginning of the 3rd trimester, has a 50% rate of survival and at 32 weeks, 5 weeks early, has the same survival rate as a full term baby, 37 weeks.

I have a grandson that was born 2 months early, 29 weeks, and now is a fully functioning teenager with all the dreams, abilities, and aspirations of his fully gestated friends. It is impossible to guess when each was born.

Nearly all the arguments for abortion are based on selfishness or fear.

"This will ruin the girl's life".
"She can't afford to raise another child".
"It is  woman's right to choose to deliver or not." 

We have an innate desire for the easier route.

We shun exercise, balanced diets, and hard work while we indulge in over-eating, laziness, and inactivity.

We seldom realize, until it is too late, that proper diet, abstinence of harmful elements, and vigorous activity are necessary for a long, productive life.

Obstacles make us grow stronger.
Adversity teaches us to succeed.
Challenges give meaning to life.

This blatant disregard for human life by de-humanizing a fetus so it can be cast away, is a shocking revelation of the attitudes of many in our society. This is the continuation of subversive efforts to alienate us from ourselves, to de-value the undesirable or objectionable elements of society, to trivialize those who disagree with the higher or enlightened path of the new "woke" generation.

It is the path to the destruction of all that has made mankind different from the vicious animal kingdom; compassion, empathy, and selfless love.

It is the road to moralistic ruin. - dlm

Monday, February 04, 2019

Why I Don’t Like Socialism or Communism


Definition

First, I must define the terms. Socialism and Communism are two ends of the same stick. They advocate the consolidation of property and income to the State for equal distribution. Karl Marx, in “The Communist Manifesto”, uses the words interchangeably.

Many people today consider them different economies and ascribe Communism to a totalitarian government and Socialism as a psdo-republic economy, but this is really not the case. They are economic systems, not forms of government. Both promote the abolition of private property, profit, or choice. These matters are to be left up to the State, not the individual. How violent and totalitarian the government becomes depends on the willingness of the population to conform to the new doctrine.

Supporting quotes from “The Communist Manifesto”, by Karl Marx are in italics.

In this sense, the theory of the Communists may be summed up in the single sentence: Abolition of private property.

In one word, you reproach us with intending to do away with your property. Precisely so; that is just what we intend.

It is a little hard to protest against his own words. Some moderate Socialists may complain that I went back to the origins, but the teachings today echo the original text.

Promotion of Class Warfare

Marx promoted the reality of class warfare, defining the different participants as the:
    1.  The aristocracy (monarchs and nobles,
          2.  The bourgeoisie (the merchants and business owners), and 
          3.  The proletariat (the poor working class),
          4.   The dangerous class or social scum.

Marx makes no other mention of his 4th class other than to say with true inhuman distain:

The “dangerous class”, [lumpenproletariat] the social scum, that passively rotting mass thrown off by the lowest layers of the old society, may, here and there, be swept into the movement by a proletarian revolution; its conditions of life, however, prepare it far more for the part of a bribed tool of reactionary intrigue.

He claimed that the animosity between the first 3 different classes was intractable and could only be removed by the annihilation of the two first classes. In his day, he felt that the aristocracy had been defeated since so many of them had been challenged and governments changed, leaving only the bourgeoisie to eliminate.

The bourgeoisie were the enemy because they abused the poor working class by retaining most of their earnings to keep them in poverty so they would have to continue to work for less than a living wage to survive. There were and always will be abuses like this of greedy, unscrupulous people, but most employers know that they must pay a competitive wage to keep good workers. Marx tries to always pass on the faults of a few onto the class as a whole to justify his rage.

It is also true that the vices of human nature, such as; greed, anger, hatred, theft, and dishonesty, are just as damaging to Socialism as they are to any economic system. They are problems of mankind, not of a system.

Marx felt that if these first two classes were eliminated, this would leave the proletariat who had no intention or desire to usurp power over their own class members, as the ruling class, so animosity would cease. He rightly recognized that the aristocracy and the bourgeoisie would not willingly accept defeat and capitulate, so that left violent revolution as the only answer to the problem.

We have seen above, that the first step in the revolution by the working class is to raise the proletariat to the position of ruling class to win the battle of democracy.

The proletariat will use its political supremacy to wrest, by degree, all capital from the bourgeoisie, to centralize all instruments of production in the hands of the State, i.e., of the proletariat organized as the ruling class; and to increase the total productive forces as rapidly as possible.

It is novel that they propose the abolition of classes, but the very inception of socialism requires classes; classes to destroy and classes to maintain. Then, once Socialism is established, a political oligarchy is created, and the Party becomes like another class in society to run the government. Every Socialistic society has a Party to run the State. If you belong to the party, you are a good citizen, if you don’t, you are likely an enemy of the State. Monarchs used the nobles, Socialists use the Party.

But, in order for a ruling party system or oligarchy to work, there cannot be more than 2% - 5% of the population members of the Party. If everyone is a member, there would be no one for the Party to control. If there are not enough members, they don’t have the reach to control the population. Experience in many nations has proven that this 2% - 5% ration is what is needed.

Abolishing Religion, Morality and Freedom of Thought

Another sticky point is the open abolition of religion and morality without any replacement. While many people abhor religions, claiming that they create more harm than good and tell them what they can’t do, generally religions provide the moral values, or morés, that a society needs to establish laws. Even if values are predicated upon scientifically based ideals rather than religious, there is still a code needed to gauge the value and consistency of laws.

This part of the movement has been under increasing attack since science became the religion of the Secularists in the latter half of the 19th century. They accept no truth, except that which can be confirmed by empirical data or experiment. This completely dissolves any credibility given to; relationships, morality, emotion, intuition, inspiration, or compassion, or as Marx calls them, “eternal truths”.

The Communist’s truth is now to supersede even all past historical experience.

But Communism abolishes eternal truths, it abolishes all religion, and all morality, instead of constituting them on a new basis; it therefore acts in contradiction to all past historical experience.

This also includes the abolition of the family. This is because family ties are usually stronger than ties to the State. As long as there are families, there is someone you will support before the State. Until the family is removed, there is always a threat, even though he admits this is over the top and will be difficult to find support.

Abolition [Aufhebung] of the family! Even the most radical flare up at this infamous proposal of the Communists.

By abolishing religion and morals, Socialist also eliminate personal thought or opinions. In order for Socialism to work, there can be no dissent, no conflicting opinions, and no deviance from the proscribed path.

This has also been the popular mantra of many religions and cults to thwart opposition. It doesn’t matter who espouses it, this philosophy is designed to maintain control, not freedom, and is wrong.

10 Points of Implementation

Therefore, Marx laid out ten steps to bring Socialism into an established country.

These measures will, of course, be different in different countries. Nevertheless, in 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.
2. A heavy progressive or graduated income tax.
3. Abolition of all rights of inheritance.
4. Confiscation of the property of all emigrants and rebels.
5. Centralisation of credit in the hands of the state, by means of a national bank with State capital and an exclusive monopoly.
6. Centralisation of the means of communication and transport in the hands of the State.
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.
8. Equal liability of all to work. Establishment of industrial armies, especially for agriculture.
9. Combination of agriculture with manufacturing industries; gradual abolition of all the distinction between town and country by a more equable distribution of the populace over the country.
10. Free education for all children in public schools. Abolition of children’s factory labour in its present form. Combination of education with industrial production, &c, &c.

It is interesting how much the present-day Socialist mantra follows these edicts word for word and what their implementation would mean..

1.  Abolition of property in land and application of all rents of land to public purposes.
This provision would nationalize all businesses and property to the control of the State. Any income derived from rents or production would also become the property of the State. Retaining any profits, savings, or earnings would be a crime against the State.

2. A heavy progressive or graduated income tax.
Few people today realize that Karl Marx proposed this 100 years before it was instituted in the United States during the 1950’s. It is not a capitalistic proposal but a socialistic ideal designed to cripple capitalism by taking any profits earned and giving them to the State.

3. Abolition of all rights of inheritance.
Another novel concept that was over 100 years ahead of its time. No one can have more than another, whether they earn it themselves or it is given to you by your father. Today we are trying to tax inheritance out of existence.

4. Confiscation of the property of all emigrants and rebels.
This is simply the best way to control dissidents and opposition, remove any assets or money so they are powerless to protest.

5. Centralization of credit in the hands of the state, by means of a national bank with State capital and an exclusive monopoly.
The irony here is that when the State controls all credit and money, you must abide by the wishes and dogma of the State to obtain any credit. With this, they hold rebellion hostage.

6. Centralization of the means of communication and transport in the hands of the State.
The old adage is that the history goes to the victor. It is much easier to shape history, as well as daily life, if you control the means of disseminating information. And this was taught 50 years before radio and 100 years before television.

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.
There is a continued emphasis on increasing production to support the State. As we see in #8, Marx even proposes “industrial armies” to ensure production does not stagnate or decline.

The second portion has some merit, that of using wasted lands and improving soil quality generally. The problem is that we have already addressed this with free-enterprise. Increased profits have motivated the use of previously waste lands as well as improved methods of fertilization and crop rotation that has made production blossom and erased many of the blights and famines of the past.

The other issue is that much of the waste land is that for a purpose, it can’t sustain farming. It is hard to grow potatoes on a lava field or tomatoes on the Matterhorn.

8. Equal liability of all to work. Establishment of industrial armies, especially for agriculture.
Notice he said “equal liability” not “equal opportunity” to work. This mandates that everyone must work, regardless of condition, desire, or ability. Working is a liability, not an opportunity. He proposes actually conscripting an army to do farming because they were afraid that enough people would not voluntarily step up to the task. Marx also believes that farming is the only method to create wealth. Today, most of the wealthiest people on the planet have become that way by selling ideas and services rather than hard commodities, as was believed 150 years ago.

In his book, “Outliers”, Malcom Gladwell tells the story of when the Communist Chinese began to invade and control Southeast Asia, they tried to confiscate all production of rice. Because rice is so labor intensive to grow, when the farmers had to give everything to the State, they simply stopped growing rice. China finally had to agree to let them keep their profits and charge no more than 25% in taxes on the rice before they would work.

9. Combination of agriculture with manufacturing industries; gradual abolition of all the distinction between town and country by a more equable distribution of the populace over the country.
If you like your house, you can keep it. NOT! This required the mandatory redistribution of the population and the elimination of urban areas, as well as the redistribution of wealth. This was tried in Cambodia during the bloody reign of Pol Pot and the Kamer Rouge in the 1970’s. It was a total chaotic disaster. It destroyed the economy, not to mention the 2.5 Million people who were butchered in the rebellion and the ensuing redistribution.

10. Free education for all children in public schools. Abolition of children’s factory labour in its present form. Combination of education with industrial production, &c, &c.
Nothing comes for free. The purpose here is to control the education of the children so as to indoctrinate them in the principles of socialism without competition. Notice that it also abolished “children’s factory labour in its present form”, not the “abolition of child labour”. This still leaves the window open to use child labor when it is combined with education. Therefore every child can be taught correct principles and still spend a portion of each day in school work houses for the benefit of the State.

Ironic Conclusion

Then I find the most ironic declaration of the entire manuscript. After claiming that the only way to change society is through violent revolution, Marx makes the following contradictory statement.

When, in the course of development, class distinctions have disappeared, and all production has been concentrated in the hands of a vast association of the whole nation, the public power will lose its political character. Political power, properly so called, is merely the organised power of one class for oppressing another. If the proletariat during its contest with the bourgeoisie is compelled, by the force of circumstances, to organise itself as a class, if, by means of a revolution, it makes itself the ruling class, and, as such, sweeps away by force the old conditions of production, then it will, along with these conditions, have swept away the conditions for the existence of class antagonisms and of classes generally, and will thereby have abolished its own supremacy as a class.

In place of the old bourgeois society, with its classes and class antagonisms, we shall have an association, in which the free development of each is the condition for the free development of all.

The undeveloped state of the class struggle, as well as their own surroundings, causes Socialists of this kind to consider themselves far superior to all class antagonisms. They want to improve the condition of every member of society, even that of the most favoured. Hence, they habitually appeal to society at large, without the distinction of class; nay, by preference, to the ruling class. For how can people, when once they understand their system, fail to see in it the best possible plan of the best possible state of society?

Hence, they (Socialists) reject all political, and especially all revolutionary action; they wish to attain their ends by peaceful means, necessarily doomed to failure, and by the force of example, to pave the way for the new social Gospel.

Marx claims they want this to be a peaceful transition, but they know it is doomed to failure. Therefore, all the previous violent programs are still in force.

It is much the same mantra of radical Islam. They claim to be the Gospel of Peace but there will only be peace when all those who refuse to be subjugated to the will of Allah are annihilated, then there will be peace.

And you have to love Marx’s closing address:

The Communists disdain to conceal their views and aims. They openly declare that their ends can be attained only by the forcible overthrow of all existing social conditions. Let the ruling classes tremble at a Communistic revolution. The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains. They have a world to win.

Socialism, An Economic Failure

The basic premise of socialism, where all the gain is consolidated and equally distributed, has merit. The problem is implementation. It is impossible to coerce or take from an unwilling participant, something they don’t want to give, and expect them to remain passive. That is why we have nearly a dozen armed conflicts today around the world where one group is claiming that the other group took away their land 50 – 3,000 year ago and they want it back, now.

So, where many people are opposed to violent confiscation, the “democratic Socialists” propose a gradual re-distribution of wealth to those in need. If these re-distributions actually solved problems and the recipients became productive citizens who began helping others, this would have merit. But since Pres. Lyndon Johnson began the “War On Poverty” in the 1960’s, the welfare rolls have continued to expand, rather than decrease over the past 60 years.

We how have generational poverty on welfare to the 3rd and 4th generations, with no end in sight. We are inviting poor people from all over the world to come and belly up to the bar of social welfare. Since we are not siphoning off the drain on the economy, it is beginning to hemorrhage. We have people complaining that one paycheck cannot support one family while they insist in the next breath that half of us are obligated to support the other half.

The math works out this way. We all know that a + b = c. When a = income and b = welfare paid, we are okay as long as c is still a positive number. But when a becomes smaller than b, then we have a negative c and economically we are under water.

It is not different than the dinner table. If the appetites or number of mouths are greater than the food available, there is unhappiness. If this goes on for too long or the difference between them becomes too great, we have death.

Since they have failed to produce one country in the world on socialism that has remained solvent without resorting to capitalism, to some degree or another, I would conclude that socialism is a flawed system, not one that wasn’t given a fair shake.

Limited Socialism

Some people have challenged the opposition to socialism by claiming that many countries use some form of socialism in their economies. This is very true, but not a conclusive argument for Socialism. Limited drains on the economy can be compensated for, but prolonged drainage becomes crippling.

America has several programs in this category and some that aren’t.
1.      Social SecurityThis is not a Socialist program. The money for Social Security was taken from the paychecks of Americans as a forced retirement or pension. The money I receive was not taken from another to give to me. It was taken from me to be returned in good faith when I fulfilled the requirements. The fact that the program has been mismanaged and the money never invested, so the dollar I received today was taken from you yesterday, doesn’t negate the argument, that was the deal. I balked at this because I knew that if I took the same money and placed it in a reasonable investment of 5%, over 40 years, I would have had much more money than what Social Security will pay to me from retirement to death. But it is the law.

      2.      Medicare This is not a Socialist program. Money has been taken from my paychecks every year just to go into supplement Medicare and I also pay a low premium each month. I would rather have had that money to put towards private insurance and have had the Government butt out of health insurance so that premiums today would not be sky high. Competition in the market  place is the best remedy to lower prices and improve service, not State control. Regulation always leads to higher prices while competition always lowers them.

      3.      Un-employment insurance Again, this is not a Socialist program. It was deducted from my check and my employers. It is also a waste of time. One time while unemployed for nearly a year, I applied and received unemployment insurance. The problem was that I could only collect no more than 25% of what I had been earning and every dollar I earned over the limit was deducted from my payments. So, not matter what I did, I couldn’t have more than 25% of my previous income. I couldn’t live on 25%, so I quit and just found another job.

      4.      Let’s see, we still have CHIPS, Medicaid, Welfare, and a host of other programs that deserving needy people can apply for. These can help as a stop gap, but do nothing to help a person get out from under the need. It has become so bad, that in many poor housing projects, they have multi-level marketing type meetings in apartments where residents share techniques and skills needed to qualify for various welfare programs. If a woman doesn’t get married and has several children, she can bring home more money than if she worked by milking the system properly. This is not the intention. Welfare is not supposed to be a right or forever. 

Socialism in Communities

There have been many experiments with communal living throughout time. The Disciples of Jesus reportedly had all things in common. It was voluntary, but disobedience was harsh as Ananias and Sapphira found when they colluded to not give all. The Lord struck them down, not because they were unfaithful, because they lied about it.

The Book of Mormon also records a period of nearly 200 years after the visit of Jesus Christ to the Americas that they also had all things in common and there were no poor among them. This too was a voluntary program and was disbanded when the people set their hearts on riches rather than helping those around them.

Other conservative religions have also had communal living which they shared everything. Some were short lived while others have lasted for over a hundred years. Mennonites and Hutterites still have systems operating today in many places.

The Hippies in the 1960’s preached of communal living where everyone shared equally and there are some communities still in existence today, but most have dissolved.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saint, (also known previously as Mormons) also had a time when this was tried in a couple communities. Some members wanted to do it and it was voluntary. Anyone leaving was given back everything they put in to it. It worked for about 10 years until it fell apart from envy. It is interesting that even today, faithful members of the Church covenant to give all that the Lord has given them or will give them to the Church for the building up of the kingdom of God. For me it is not an idle promise. Whatever I have is his and he can have it anytime he chooses.

I actually had an ancestor that this happened to. He was from Kentucky and joined the Church in the 1830’s. When he was asked to move to Missouri with the rest of the Church, the Lord gave him a dream where he saw a beautiful spot in a grove of trees where he was to build a cabin for his family.

He went to Missouri, found the spot where the dream told him it would be, homesteaded it, and built a cabin to raise his family. A couple of years later, the Prophet Joseph Smith was in the area and stopped by to visit. He said, “Brother Woodland, you have a beautiful spot here and the Lord has said that he needs it for Zion.” My grandfather answered, “If the Lord wants it he can have it. I only hope he gives me another almost as good.”

The prophet lowered his head in thought for several minutes and said, “Brother Woodland, the Lord is touched by your willingness and promises you that this piece of ground will be an inheritance for you and your family forever. You can keep it.”

Conclusion

So, my major concerns of Socialism or Communism are as follows: 
       1.      Socialism creates class warfare, whether it exists already or not.
       2.      Socialism requires violent revolution to implement.
       3.      Socialism confiscates property and assets for re-distribution.
       4.      Socialism centralizes all sectors of the economy under the control of the State. 
       5.      Socialism controls education, and thereby thought and opinions.
       6.      Socialism calls for the centralization of all communication, controlling expression & dissent.
       7.      Socialism calls for the redistribution of housing, as well as, property and money.
       8.      After centralization, all control resides in the State and public officials.

This last one is what most people never think all the way through. Who are the people making these life and death decisions for us and our future?

Most Socialist economies eventually become run by totalitarian governments and Socialists love to shy away from that discussion. But the reality is, that this is what happens, all the time. Even in our Republic, we have to fight tooth and nail to keep the balance of power in the government. Socialism makes it that much harder. The more Socialistic the economy becomes, the more totalitarian the government grows.

When the State controls all:
       1.      The property,
       2.      The factories and production capability,
       3.      The credit and money,
       4.      The education, and
       5.      All the housing,

What is left for the people other than to be the serfs of the State?