UNCIVIL SOCIETY

Bonfire of the Bureaucrats
Why did Communism fail in Eastern Europe?                              
Because the establishment ran out of steam.

The above three line header appeared recently in the New York Times Review of Books as introduction to a review by Serge Schmemann of the book, Uncivil Society by Stephan Kotkin and Jan Gross.

The authors attribute the failure of Communism in Eastern Europe to the bureaucracy in charge. There is no mention, not even a hint that there may be something about Communism itself that played a role in its failure. It was simply that, in this case, the bureaucrats messed it up.

If you have ever wondered how in the world some people still believe in the ultimate socialist society known as Communism after all its so obvious failures, here’s your answer. The right people have never been  put in charge. All socialism needs to make a better world is the right leader, a messiah if you will.

Enter from stage left, Barack Hussain Obama. A man of vision, a man of diversity, a man who promises to Change America. A man who promises to bring new Hope not just to America, but to the entire world.

If you have ever wondered  why there was so much enthusiasm for Obama, enthusiasm that bordered on worship, caused women to faint and sent tingles up a man’s leg, here is your answer. The democratic election to the Office of President of the sole superpower in the world is heady stuff to believers in the cause.

But be ye not dismayed. Obama is not a messiah nor will he change America from the land of opportunity into some sort of drab socialist nation. He may cause that shining light on the hill to blink, but it will come back on as brilliant as ever.

Bob B