by Frank Li
Everybody growing up in the East knows the song of “The Internationale“. It was very well composed both in form (e.g. rhythm) and in content (e.g. wording). Growing up in Communist China (1949-1976), I sang it almost daily and I was brainwashed to believe every word in it.
Here is a big problem though: the entire content proved to be completely wrong!
What’s the point? Well, Michigan passed a Right-to-work bill in December 2012. The next day, President Obama showed up in Michigan, criticizing it.
As someone who is now very tired of hearing President Obama talking, I purposefully listened to him this time for the sake of writing this article. Surely, the President did not disappoint me: he practically sang the song of “the Internationale” on the podium!
For this article, I began translating “the Internationale”, which I know by heart in Chinese, to English. Half way through, I got a better idea: why not trying to find something better on the Internet? I did!
Watch this video: [video:youtube:Zk69e1Vcmvg]
It’s a beautiful song, isn’t it? The only problem is that almost every word in it is misleading and false!
Now, compare this song with President Obama’s speech (Obama criticizes Michigan right to work bills): they are so similar!
In my book Saving America, Chinese Style, I identified six similarities between democracy and communism as follows:
Destruction of capitalism
Brainwashing
Ideology
Kleptocracy
‘You didn’t build that’
Stupidity.
I believe democracy, as we know it today, leads inexorably to communism, as illustrated by the image below (which I made for my book).
Now, three notes with regard to communism and democracy:
By “communism”, I am referring to the East, led by the former Soviet Union and seconded by Communist China (1949-1976), although the folks there call it “socialism”.
By “democracy”, I mean the West, led by the U.S.
Although the U.S. has been “loosely” called a democracy for more than 200 years, by the simple but strict definition of one person, one vote, the U.S. was not a democracy until 1964 (America: Republic vs. Democracy).
Bottom line:
Communism collapsed in 1989, with the collapse of the Berlin Wall!
Democracy is now failing in the West in the same way it failed in Rome and Greece more than 2,000 years ago: debts!
The Chinese system (i.e. capitalism + autocracy) appears to be slightly better than democracy, as we know it today.
For more, read my book: Saving America, Chinese Style!
Two quotes:
“Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.”
— John Adams
“Democracy is the road to socialism.”
— Karl Marx
Which side are you on – the right (e.g. John Adams) or the left (e.g. Karl Marx)?
Wake up, America! It’s time to make a U-turn! My proposal, as described in Saving America, Chinese Style, is the best on the table!
Big social changes can happen in two ways:
A violent revolution like Mao succeeded in China in 1949.
A peaceful transformation like Deng did in China from 1978 to his death in 1997.
America is desperately in need of a great transformational leader like China’s Deng! Will that be President Obama (The First 2013 Open Letter to President Obama)? Highly unlikely, given the track record of his first term! But let’s wait and see what he has to say next week in his inaugural speech for his second term. I am afraid he will again sing “The Internationale” on the podium, without realizing it …
President Obama, you still have two choices for your place in history:
Either
OR
For details, read: The First 2013 Open Letter to President Obama.