By In early 1930s Russia
the Kulaks were the enemy of the state
their crimes?
having an extra cow
owning any kind of machine with a motor that helped them work faster
hiring someone to work on the farm
trying to sell any extra grain that they harvested
or not showing enough signs of starvation
because that meant they were hiding food
and what would happen to one of these privileged peasants
if they were caught?
well, their homes would be pillaged
not that it mattered
because they would never live there again
among the more fortunate rewards for this insubordination
was to board a one-way cruise to a labor camp in Siberia
and if those travel plans didn’t work out
the consolation prize was a beating, a rape
and a shovel
to dig their own grave
the mainstream news continuously abused the Kulaks
accusing them of all of the country’s economic blues
if you listen close
you can still hear the echoes
the crimes of the modern-day Kulak?
having an extra computer
owning any kind of machine with a motor that helps you get to work faster
hiring someone to work at your company
trying to sell any extra goods that you produce
or not showing enough signs of dependence
because that means you’re hiding self-sufficiency
when they come
they’ll tell you they’re trying to solve a wealth deficiency
that they’re freeing people from poverty
but they’ve only ever freed people from property
it is not free stuff
it’s no stuff
because anything that you might think is yours
is only yours until someone that ranks above you shows up at your door
and implores you that it’s not
it doesn’t stop with the rich
or the middle class
or the poor
it doesn’t stop with your property
or your children
or your thoughts you see
no amount of socialist distancing can hide you from this kind of virus
the welfare of humanity is always the alibi of tyrants
when they come
they’ll offer you a green new deal
but the old red deal had guaranteed government jobs too
they were called Gulags
you do not want to start the utopia machine
no regime with collectivist intentions has ever been given an inch and not taken a mile
because at the heart of every socialist scheme
is a communist manifesto
the problem is not the execution
it’s the disillusionment
of any system that
disincentivizes work
cancels charity
annihilates ambition
overthrows ownership
and completely misdiagnoses the human condition
it could never work
it cuts to the very soul of the human plight
because freedom is the first fundamental human right
it’s why no one was ever shot trying to get IN to East Germany or North Korea
but what say ye to the struggle?
what about inequality?
there’s a big difference between humanitarian work
and forced work for the good of humanity
one produces good humans
the other reduces humans to goods
we are absolutely answerable to the call of compassion
but forced compassion is not compassion
it’s just stealing
and listen, we can agree
that capitalism and communism both have extreme greed
but only one has extreme generosity
the other has firing squads
and lest you think you’re not one of the Bourgeoisie
and the hairs on the back of your head will never be the cross kind
bear in mind that every purge of the Bourgeois in history
has also included loyal comrades suspected of individual thought
and ethnic minorities and many of the proletariat
just because they had some extra bullets
history is littered with those who wished for liberty
and those who took it
when they come
they’ll say trust us – this time it’ll be different
but a ruse by any other name
would smell just the same
in a free society we will have to fight inequality
in a society where everyone is forced to be equal
we will have to fight
to be free
which will it be?
