Marxist Oppression is Alive and Well

When someone points to the terrible, logical conclusion of Marxism, others like to mock and make fun. Reminiscent of "The Screwtape Letters, they like to pretend and make others believe that to condemn Marxism is to condemn a long-dead thing, or perhaps something that never really existed in the first place.

For those who fall into this camp of mockers, I'd like to draw your attention to something: though the USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) is no more, that demon you deny is alive and well in other parts of the world.

Today's Washington Times examines the story of Shin Dong-hyuk, who escaped from the "workers paradise" of North Korea where it is believed that more than 200,000 people are imprisoned for being politically incorrect.

Mr. Shin's mother was imprisoned in "Total Control Camp No. 14" in central North Korea, for political crimes. As reward for good work, she was allowed to marry. The couple's "honeymoon" was five nights together before being separated again. Mr. Shin was born in 1982.

There was no maternal affection: The camp's 40,000 to 60,000 inmates were indoctrinated to spy on each other, including family members. His earliest memory is of following his mother to the camp farm to work; he has no recollection of being embraced.

After a failed escape attempt, Shin was tortured by hanging him over a fire and hitting him in the groin with a hook.

After seven months, Mr. Shin was released to witness his mother's hanging and his brother's execution by shooting. Mr. Shin noticed his father in tears, but he had only one emotion: "I was furious with them; as a result of their crimes, I was subject to torture."

Life continued. His niece was raped and killed by guards. He dropped a sewing machine; guards chopped off a fingertip with a knife. Constantly hungry, he once found three corn kernels in a pile of cow manure, his "lucky day." Unaware of any world beyond the wire, his dreams were to excel at work, gain permission to marry or become a team leader.

All forms of Marxism, whether they be socialism or communism (it's been said that a communist is just a socialist who's in a hurry), when taken to their logical conclusion, inevitably end in the gulag or the firing squad for those who won't agree with the herd.

For the human spirit is too rebellious, in both good and bad ways, to conform to the impractical idealism of Marxism.

The fallen nature of humans will compel some in such an egalitarian society to do as little as possible while reaping the fruits of the labors of others. This inevitable proves a drag on productivity, and a lethal dose of morphine to the human spirit.

And the nobility and God-given sense of justice in the human spirit will rebel against being robbed of the fruits of his labors, and will rebel against being forced by law (for example, can you say "hate crimes"?) to think or not think a certain way, or be denied his inalienable right of free speech.

It's a pity that so many in the free world mock and deny the logical conclusion of where this road leads. They share in the guilt for the suffering of countless millions.