I Survived Communism. Now, It’s Back, Veiled as ‘Environmentalism’

 

By Zuzana Janosova
StoppingSocialism.com

Premiers Nikita Khrushchev of the Soviet Union and Fidel Castro of Cuba shake hands and start to embrace in Moscow. Castro made a state visit to the Soviet Union in 1963. Photo provided by Flickr Creative Commons user Tullio Saba. Photo is in the public domain.

“It was scientifically proven that communism is the only social-economic system providing the masses with justice and equality—100 percent of scientists agree on this. The topic is not up for debate!”

So proclaimed my professor during one of his lectures on the subject of “scientific communism” while the former country of Czechoslovakia was still under communist control. I was reminded of his blustery pronouncement the first time I encountered the spurious claim that “a consensus of 97 percent of scientists agree global warming is man-made.” Most people don’t question scientific statements because they think they are facts. They do not understand that scientific statements must always be challenged, because science is not about “consensus;” ideology is.

In March 2007, the WorldNetDaily.com published an article titled “Environmentalism is new communism.” In it, the former Czech president Vaclav Klaus stated: “It becomes evident that, while discussing climate, we are not witnessing a clash of views about the environment, but a clash of views about human freedom.” Klaus goes on to describe environmentalism as “the biggest threat to freedom, democracy, the market economy and prosperity.”

Klaus has also written a book, Blue Planet in Green Shackles, in which he writes, “Communism and environmentalism have the same roots; they both suppress freedom.” Klaus warns that any brand of environmentalism calling for centralized planning of the economy under the slogan of “protecting nature” is nothing less than a reincarnation of communism, or new communism.

Klaus understands communist propaganda very well, and he should. Most of us who lived—and suffered—under communism can instantly recognize any signs of the communist ideology, no matter how slight or subtle. Since during the first 27 years of my life I received my own vaccination against communist propaganda, I, too, am immune to this disease. Whenever some government tries to “save” me against my will, I’m immediately wary and ready to fight back. So, try to imagine how I feel, now as a Canadian, when I see the same tactics and hear the same phrases I saw and heard for years under communism, only this time in English! If you think I’m paranoid, or that communism in North America is far-fetched, then good luck to you—I hope you enjoy what’s coming your way.

Deception

As Nikita Khrushchev said in 1960, “You [North] Americans are so gullible. No, you won’t accept Communism outright; but we’ll keep feeding you small doses of Socialism until you will finally wake up and find that you already have Communism. We won’t have to fight you; we’ll so weaken your economy, until you fall like overripe fruit into our hands.”

Communism can be characterized by a single word: deception. Communists never disclose their real intentions. They are fraudsters who employ different identities, names, and slogans, all for one goal: totalitarianism.

Since 1970, one of the primary tactics of the Communist Party USA has been to use environmental causes to advance its agenda. For example, in 1972, Gus Hall, then-chairman of the Communist Party USA, wrote in his book Ecology: “Human society cannot basically stop the destruction of the environment under capitalism. Socialism is the only structure that makes it possible … This is true in the struggle to save the environment … We must be the organizers, the leaders of these movements. What is new, is that knowledge of [a] point-of-no-return gives this struggle an unusual urgency.”

This idea was incorporated into the Green Party program in 1989 (the same year Soviet communism collapsed), in which the alleged threats of “global warming” and “climate change” were used to scare the public into believing humanity must “save the planet” by relying on an ever more powerful government: “This urgency,” the program read, “along with other Green issues and themes it interrelates, makes confronting the greenhouse [effect] a powerful organizing tool. … Survival is highly motivating, and may help us to build a mass movement that will lead to large-scale political and societal change in a very short time. … First of all, we [must] inform the public that the crisis is more immediate and severe than [they] are being told, [that] its implications are too great to wait for the universal scientific confirmation that only eco-catastrophe would establish.”

With this in mind, do you still think the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is promoting science rather than socialism? Read the following admission from the co-chair of the UN IPCC Group III, provided during an interview in 2010 with the Swiss newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung:: “We must free oneself from the illusion that international climate policy is environmental policy. We must state clearly that we use climate policy to redistribute de facto the world’s wealth.”

Do I have your attention now? Good. Then let me describe to you how communist propaganda and societal takeovers work. There are three main stages:

1. Polarization (KGB term: “demoralization”)
2. Destabilization
3. Revolution

Stage 1. Polarization: Divide and Conquer

To win power, communists first polarize their target society. The notion of injustice is introduced. One group of people—usually impoverished workers—are made to feel victimized by a second group, to the point that they demand societal changes. And who are those people who supposedly victimize the workers? Here’s a clue: “Communists don’t care about poor people; they just hate rich ones.” (George Orwell)

The one thing a communist can never tolerate is a wealthy person. For communists, virtually all business owners are “rich,” especially successful ones. They are loathed and demonized as heartless, spiteful monsters who exploit their employees and don’t care about their welfare. The rich are public enemy number one. They don’t care about people or the environment; they care only about profit and wealth. Dare to disagree? Then you are a “denier” and “imperialist traitor,” and after completion of stage three, you will be physically liquidated.

During the first stage, communists focus on altruistic people – people with big hearts, full of good intentions, who believe in doing good, for goodness’ sake. Why? Because idealistic people are usually naïve and easy to manipulate, especially through their emotions. Recognizing how essential these people are to the success of his revolution, Lenin referred to them as “useful idiots.”

Stage 2. Destabilization

During the second stage, communists target the basic values of society for replacement. This almost always starts with education: Vladimir Lenin once said, “Give me your child for eight years, and [he or she] will be a communist forever.”

Communists always eventually use teachers and the education system to impose their ideology and promote socialistic values. My own indoctrination started in elementary school. In grade four, we all had to become “Young Pioneers.” From that day forward, we were taught about the “imminent danger” posed by capitalistic countries. The curriculum in school gradually but firmly established admiration for communism and loyalty to the Communist Party. We were constantly reminded of how we live in the “best political system in the world,” “the country with the best social justice and equality.”

Our teachers participated in this process, either voluntarily or involuntarily. I remember teachers who actively reinforced communist indoctrination in schools. They exploited their students’ emotional immaturity, lack of experience, and knowledge—our vulnerabilities—to impose their communist ideas, beliefs, and values. They took advantage of their position of authority, of the natural trust that children place in teachers, to brainwash a young and susceptible generation.

Scare-mongering was a favorite tactic: “Embrace communism! Fear capitalism! Otherwise, your country will be overtaken by imperialists and you will be exploited! Whoever is not with us, is against us!”

If you think this can’t happen in Canada or the United States, then I have news for you: It has been happening for some time, in both countries, and environmentalism has been one of left-wing teachers’ favorite indoctrination tools.

As the following examples will show, new communism is based on all the old communist ideological principles and beliefs, but uses environmentalism as one of its primary agents of change, allowing it to subtly alter the core values of Western institutions and destabilize (and demoralize) society.

The following excerpt comes from Captain Eco, written by Jonathon Porrit-Ellis Nadler and published in 1991. In it, you’ll see that children are being indoctrinated in our schools to believe it’s their responsibility to “save the planet” using government: “Your planet is in serious trouble—from pollution, toxic waste and the loss of forest, farmland and fresh water … Your parents and grandparents have made a mess of looking after the earth. They may deny it, but they are little more than thieves. And they are stealing your future from under your noses.”

Some more examples:

• In May 2012, a grade three class took to the streets of Toronto with signs to protest the construction of the Northern Gateway pipeline. The protest was organized by their teacher and a local community volunteer. This is a Marxist tactic. Just like these kids, who marched in protest to “save the planet,” I was also forced by teachers to march with banners and signs to save our country from “imperialists.”
• In 2011, in Laval, Quebec, a six-year-old boy was disqualified from a contest because a Ziploc bag, which has been deemed to be bad for the planet, was found in his lunch box instead of a reusable container. This kind of punishment and ostracization was common practice during my experience under communism.
• In April 2018, an Edmonton father went to an elementary school to watch his daughter in a school play. What he saw shocked him. In the play, the children sabotaged a factory in the name of climate change, then went on to save Alberta from its “evil oil industry” and “greedy oil barons.” This is also textbook communist methodology: demonize the private sector (oil industry) by representing them as “greedy.”

The children currently attending our elementary schools will vote in 10-12 years. How many of these children are being (or have already been) brainwashed into believing that to “save the planet,” they must vote for a government that will stop “destroying the planet” by eliminating private ownership and taking control of the means of production?

And then, of course, there is the vast communist indoctrination occurring every single day on college campuses in Canada and the United States. I would provide support for such a statement, but it’s so widely accepted, even among many on the Left, that higher education is firmly under the control of those who desire socialistic and communist policies that such proof is completely unnecessary.

Stage 3. Revolution

After gaining the support of a majority in society, communists often call for a democratic election. If they win, they seize power and abolish democratic elections altogether. At this point, members of opposition parties, along with all other opponents deemed to be a potential threat, are silenced or, in the more extreme revolutions, “physically liquidated.” (In case you aren’t familiar with this quaint communist phrase, it means executed.)

Private businesses and property are then immediately seized and confiscated by the national government. Key supporters who now finally realize how they have been manipulated and exploited (i.e. useful idiots who are no longer useful) are either jailed or executed, to prevent the formation of any dissident movements. All other useful idiots, having fulfilled their purpose of bringing communists to power, are now either enslaved into the new ideology or disposed of in a variety of prescribed ways. A new privileged elite of communist party leaders is then formed. Leaders of every key institution or organization in industry, medicine, police, education, etc., are then replaced or overseen by an official member of the Communist Party. Competence, ability, or fitness for the job is no longer the most important requirement; the prerequisite that matters the most is loyalty to the ruling party.

Economic Consequences of Communism

If you think communism failed throughout much of the world because of totalitarian oppression, you weren’t paying close attention. An all-powerful government can brainwash and threaten people and keep them dangling like puppets for as long as they need to. The real danger to communism is that economic reality always prevails. As Margaret Thatcher once rightly noted, “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other’s people money.”

The most important reason communism always results in poverty is that people spend their own money much more carefully than someone else’s. Capitalism is rooted in economic efficiency. Private businesses must spend their capital wisely, or else they risk going out of business. They cannot afford to make investments unless they are sure it will be worthwhile. A mistake could result in an increased price for their product, reduced cash-flow, loss of competitiveness, or even bankruptcy.

However, in a centrally planned economy ruled by the government, all or most production and “markets” are controlled by bureaucrats. The revenue required to operate the government and the economy is obtained through taxation. Because a centrally planned economy is not subject to the laws of supply and demand, financial goals become meaningless, since there are no or few penalties for failing to achieve them. Thus, long-term government plans are often never totally fulfilled. The result is unprecedented and monumental waste and inefficiency.

It’s true that communism institutes mandatory employment with predetermined salaries, but because of the system’s inefficiencies, even those who have money have few opportunities to spend it for their own benefit. There simply aren’t any desirable goods and services in an economy that’s centrally planned.

Life under Communism

What is life under communism like? In the Eastern Bloc countries, shortages of basic goods began in the 1980s. People had to get up at 3 AM to stand in line for basic necessities: bread, milk, meat, eggs, toilet paper, oil, etc. You could stand in line for hours and not even get a chance to buy something, once products ran out.

Other appealing aspects:

• Want an apartment? You can’t buy one; real-estate markets don’t exist. You’ll probably get one (eventually) free, but the government will decide the size, type, location, as well as your position in the queue, which may take years.
• Want a car? You must first submit an application or buy a permit, to buy a car from the government, then wait in line, for years. The wait time might be two or three years, or it could be as long as seven to 10 years.
• Want to use some recreational facilities (government built, of course) for your vacation? You need to be approved by a labor union. And wait.
• Want daycare for your child? Submit an application and wait.
• Want a garage for your car? Submit an application and wait. I submitted an application for a garage in 1988. When I left Slovakia in 1997, I still had not received a response.

Sound idyllic? Just wait—here’s the best part: there’s no guarantee you will ever receive an apartment, car, garage, daycare, recreation access, or anything else you might want. If there is any record (ever) of your non-compliance with communist ideology, you will receive nothing. As one communist leader informed me, after I refused to become a member of a socialist party: “Forget about an apartment, forget about daycare, forget about a salary raise, forget about any benefits.” Communism results in the poverty of an entire society. By comparison, free-market capitalism has lifted the highest number of people out of poverty in human history.

Corruption under Communism:

Because of lack of goods and services, corruption and bribery become endemic under communism. Of course, corruption also exists in capitalist countries, but communism elevates it to a completely different (systemic) level.

“It’s not what you know, but who you know.”

To function and survive, you must have a network of connections and pay bribes for everything:

• Education may be for free, but there’s no guarantee you’ll ever get into your desired school’s program, even if you have top marks. The state might have different plans for you, or for your child. But with good connections, and the timely delivery of a valuable gift to the school principal or party leader, anything is possible.
• Health care may be for free, but if you want your doctor to be sober for your surgery, you better pay up. Paying bribes to doctors in cash or gold was common in the Eastern Bloc. I was even told how much I must pay by the doctor himself.
• Police are a special case: corrupt, enjoying their power immensely. Did you speed? Your choice is between a lesser bribe and a much more expensive ticket. No court, no argument, no place to complain.
• Need anything from government employees? Good luck. Communists invented stamps of different sizes and shapes. To get your document (or permit) stamped, you must pay a bribe.
• Want a new book, new clothes, or a better piece of meat? Better know the saleswoman and be really nice to her.
• Your car has broken down and needs to be repaired? Oh dear, now you’re in real trouble. Leaving a car in a repair shop entails the risk of good (functioning) components in your car being secretly replaced by inferior (or non-functioning) ones. The good components will be sold or exchanged for other goods. This is how exchange markets work under communism.

Due to lack of goods, everyone steals. We used to say: “Who is not stealing from the State is robbing his own family.” Without connections, you will remain in a queue for a very long time.

And finally, here’s a truly delicious irony for you. Do you think communists care about the environment? I remember hills near chemical plants laid bare, denuded of vegetation by polluted air and acid rain from towns where heavy metals were produced, places where aluminum had poisoned the groundwater, cities where the haze from industrial smog was so thick you couldn’t see through it—and it hung there for months, places where noxious compounds in the air forced residents to wear facemasks. Naturally, there were environmental laws, all conveniently ignored, in the name of glorious socialism.

The worst part is fear: of being arrested, of being tortured, of dying as a political prisoner in a prison, labor camp, or uranium mine (slow death from radiation poisoning), incarceration in an insane asylum (you have to be crazy to oppose the regime), or of the same thing happening to someone you love. Fear is the primary tool for keeping people silent and obedient. Those who do not comply are interrogated, tortured, intimidated, put under surveillance as MUKL (destined for liquidation) by the Secret Police, or just killed (quicker and much easier). Those political prostitutes called informers are everywhere, especially universities. They’ll report everything you do or say. Forget about freedom of action, speech, or even thought. The Communist Party controls everything, and you voted for them, didn’t you?

“Freedom is a fragile thing and is never more than one generation away from extinction. Those who have known freedom, then lost it, have never known it again.” – Ronald Reagan

How many people have been murdered in capitalist countries for not being supporters of capitalism? How many have been murdered by a capitalist state for being anti-capitalist?  If we turn the questions around and ask how many have been murdered in communist countries, the answer is between 80 to 100 million, globally.

We are currently in the second stage (destabilization) of the new green communism.

Are we so gullible that we can be taken without one shot, as Khrushchev predicted? Have we all taken our (many) freedoms for granted? Are we prepared to gullibly give up those freedoms to those advocating “socialism,” or are we prepared to resist the tide of radical leftism? As I said before, socialism equals communism—and after reading this article, I hope you have no illusions about what it is or where it leads.

Canadians and Americans will soon have the chance to demonstrate if, and how much, they treasure their freedom.

Good luck!