I believe that I can say without reservation that Vladimir Lenin, the leader of the Russia Revolution in 1917 and the man who provided the intellectual foundation for the U.S.S.R. and much of 20th century socialism, was certainly a towering figure in world history, one whose speeches and writing resonate today—as a warning.  It is difficult not to read Lenin’s words without a shiver of fear in light of the Marxist philosophies that today permeate America’s educational establishment, law schools, news media, and a shocking number of governmental entities.

Moreover, because Leninist thought has now become commonplace and fashionable even among many of our elected officials, we should pay particular heed to the tyranny and violence that informs this frightening ideology before it is too late.

When one considers the divisive and hateful rhetoric that now turns every political and social discussion into an insult competition that is devoid of either logic or reason, it is difficult not to hear Lenin explaining that “it is, of course, much easier to shout, abuse, and howl than to attempt to relate, to explain.”  It is apparent that little effort is now expended on our college campuses and in much of our news media to have discussions that treat differing viewpoints respectfully—much the opposite is, in fact, now the case.

This habit of attacking others in order to inflame emotions and sow discord would certainly meet with Lenin’s approval, as he wrote “we can and must write in a language which sows among the masses hate, revulsion, and scorn toward those who disagree with us.”  He preached the politics of destruction, not the search for consensus the builds a civil and functional society, and his acolytes—whether they even know they are such or not—are leading America to a dark and dangerous point where reason and respect might soon disappear.

Sadly, Lenin saw journalists as key players in fomenting his revolution, and today’s Woke advocates hiding behind their press credentials are only too happy to push for the abolition of our precious 1st Amendment rights, actively supporting the censorship that undercuts the open debate necessary in our democracy.  After all, as Lenin pointed out, “free speech is a bourgeois prejudice” and, more to the point “it is true that liberty is precious; so precious that it must be carefully rationed.”  We already know that censorship has become a key aspect of governance in America today, and we ignore the daily assaults on our freedom of speech at our own risk—and that of our nation.

Lenin, of course, would have wholeheartedly approved of today’s advocacy journalists, noting that “the press should be not only a collective propagandist and a collective agitator, but also a collective organizer of the masses.”  Although biased reporting undermines the trust of the American people, it is likely that Lenin would have thought this to be a concern of no real consequence because “trust is good, but control is better.”  The sheep must, after all, be herded by journalists rather than informed, which seems to be precisely where we are today.

We can also readily blame our schools and colleges for the dire situation we find ourselves today.  Many decades of anti-American teaching embedded into every aspect of the curriculum have laid the groundwork for the Woke lunacy that now passes for education in America today.

We now graduate legions of illiterates while carrying on pointless and insane debates about whether math is racist, proper spelling and punctuation enables the patriarchy, and biological boys need a tampon dispenser in their bathroom.  However, every graduate is now expert at listing all the ways in which they have been victimized by America and is taught to focus their undying rage at those they deem responsible for the injustices they must daily suffer.  Apparently, living in the freest and most tolerant country the world has ever known is somehow now synonymous with oppression—just ask your teacher.

It doesn’t take much effort to create a student filled with hatred toward his our nation.  As Lenin himself chortled, “give me four years to teach the children and the seed I have sown will never be uprooted.”  Such is the situation we find ourselves in today, and the acolytes of Marxism now rule most of our schools, colleges, teacher unions, teacher training programs, and state school boards.  Tenure policies and civil service job protections have entrenched these individuals throughout our educational systems, and they, ironically enough, demand that American taxpayers continue to spend endlessly in order to provide the funds necessary to poison the minds of our youngest and most easily indoctrinated.

Lenin, unsurprisingly, believed in an all-powerful government that would root out what he saw as the two greatest threats to the imposition of Marxist doctrine and practice: organized religion and an armed citizenry prepared to defend itself from tyranny.

Religious belief elicited the greatest scorn from Lenin and his followers because it provided a moral framework that inoculated people against the infectious hatreds and depredations inherent in Marxist thought.  As Lenin himself made plain, “atheism is the natural and inseparable part of Communism.”  Divide and conquer is a winning strategy when the erasure of religion from public life can also be used to erase the spirituality that binds us together in communities of faith and brotherhood.

We should, therefore, be profoundly worried about the disdain our intellectual, governmental, cultural, and legal elites now direct against religious practice and belief in America, which is perhaps the only remaining bulwark against the ongoing efforts by our leaders to weaken families, normalize crime, legalize drugs, and celebrate what only a few generation ago would have been considered shocking debauchery.  This is, of course, only to be expected.  People who who have be taught to believe in nothing can be convinced to believe anything is normal—and even desirable.

By the same token, Lenin realized a citizenry that was armed was one that could not be easily subjugated by the government, so every care had to be taken to ensure that private gun ownership was prohibited.  Consequently, his instructions to his minions were clear and unmistakable: “You must act with all energy. Mass searches. Execution for concealing arms.”  Why was this necessary?  Why was disarming every private citizens considered so vitally important?  Lenin’s answer to this question is equally clear and unmistakable: “One man with a gun can control 100 without one.”  

Consider this carefully the next time some politician proposes a new gun control measure that is supposed to promote “safety” for us all.  The only reason we are at least somewhat safe from governmental tyranny in America is that we still have the means to protect ourselves if necessary from those who wish to keep us safe in cages of ignorance and fear to which only a select few will have the key.  

I am willing to accept the wisdom of our nation’s founders, who enshrined our right to bear arms in the 2nd Amendment, far more readily than I will submit to the perverse ideas of Vladimir Lenin and his generations of followers.  In addition, given the reticence of Woke legislators, prosecutors, and judges to arrest and incarcerate violent criminals, a loaded gun might be the best—and sometimes only—defense for our homes and families.

Lenin also had no use for national boundaries because patriotism might get in the way of the world revolution he envisaged.  It should, therefore, be no surprise that today’s American leftists and Leninists are so intent on making our borders as porous as possible while expanding voting rights to non-citizens.  This is all according to a plan for one world government, and Lenin’s own words make the intent obvious: “The aim of socialism is to abolish the present division of mankind into smaller states . . . not only to bring the nations closer to each other, but also to merge them.”  The millions of illegal immigrants now being allowed—and even encouraged—to cross our borders are fulfilling a borderless Marxist dream that is a century in the making.

We need less Woke and more wakefulness regarding how problems that perhaps seem unrelated are part of a single strategy that is intent on dividing our citizens, creating hatreds, and destroying our national security with the goal of erasing the America we once knew.  

Attacking a strong and united country is never a good idea, so Lenin understood that to defeat his enemies he must first weaken them.  As he wrote, “The soundest strategy in war is to postpone operations until the moral disintegration of the enemy renders the delivery of the mortal blow both possible and easy.”  Unless we understand the dire nature of the threat now facing our nation due to the efforts of committed Marxist-Leninists now occupying positions of power and trust throughout America, we soon will very possibly be an easy target for those countries who envy and fear our successes—and freedoms.